Charles Ellicott Commentary Joshua 24:16

"And the people answered and said, Far be it from us that we should forsake Jehovah, to serve other gods;" — Joshua 24:16 (ASV)

God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods. —The feelings of the people are naturally shocked by the bare mention of apostasy. They will not forsake Jehovah on any account. But their answer only betrayed their want of intelligence. They missed the point of Joshua’s argument, as may be seen by his reply.