Let’s take a quick look at what Israel’s situation was at this point in their history.
The first thing you need to know is they were far from being a unified nation.
They were still just a bunch of tribes held loosely together by their Commander-in-Chief Joshua.
And now that his death was on the horizon, this loose coalition of tribes was about to become a heck of a lot looser.
Since the Hebrew population was scattered all across the land of Canaan, there was no way every Israelite man, woman and child could travel to one central location to hear Joshua speak.
Therefore, in their stead, it was the tribal leaders who attended.
So don’t be taking the phrase “all Israel” literally.
Because more often than not, it was NOT “all Israel” but only a select group of tribal princes, elders, judges and officers who showed up.
This was so every type of leader could be there to vouch for every different societal class in the Hebrew community.
At the end of the day, we’re talking about thousands of men.
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