John Calvin Commentary Joshua 24:2

"And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: and they served other gods." — Joshua 24:2 (ASV)

Your fathers dwelt on the other side, etc. He begins his address by referring to their gratuitous adoption, by which God had anticipated any request from them, so that they could not boast of any special excellence or merit. For God had bound them to Himself by a closer tie, having, while they were no better than others, gathered them to be His special people, out of no regard for anything but His mere good pleasure. Moreover, to make it clear that there was nothing in which they could glory, he leads them back to their origin and reminds them how their fathers had lived in Chaldea, worshipping idols in common with others, and differing in no way from the majority of their countrymen. From this, it is inferred that Abraham, when he was immersed in idolatry, was raised up, so to speak, from the deepest depths.

The Jews, indeed, to give a false dignity to their race, tell fables that Abraham became an exile from his country because he refused to acknowledge the Chaldean fire as God. But if we pay attention to the words of the inspired writer, we will see that he is no more exempt from the guilt of the common idolatry than Terah and Nachor. For why is it said that the fathers of the people served strange gods, and that Abraham was rescued from the country, if not to show how the free mercy of God was displayed in their very origin? If Abraham had been unlike the rest of his countrymen, his own piety would distinguish him. The opposite, however, is explicitly stated to show that he had no special excellence of his own which could lessen the grace bestowed upon him, and that therefore his descendants needed to acknowledge that when he was lost, he was raised from death to life.

It seems almost an incredible and outrageous thing that while Noah was still alive, idolatry had not only spread everywhere over the world, but even entered into the family of Shem, in which, at least, a purer religion should have flourished. How insane and indomitable human infatuation is in this respect is proven by the fact that the holy Patriarch, on whom the divine blessing had been specially bestowed, was unable to restrain his descendants and prevent them from abandoning the true God and prostituting themselves to superstition.