Joshua

After Moses, the servant of the LORD, died, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' assistant. The LORD said:

1Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,

Note"Servant of the LORD" is a formal title of honor, used of Moses the way a royal court would speak of a king's chief minister. Joshua's own role up to this point, "minister" or assistant, is a subordinate one: he attended Moses personally and had been his second in military and religious matters. The chapter opens at the moment that subordinate becomes the leader.

2"My servant Moses is dead. So now get up and cross this Jordan River, you and all these people, into the land I am giving to them, the people of Israel.

2Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.

NoteThe people are camped on the east bank of the Jordan, at the end of forty years of wandering; "this Jordan" is the river directly in front of them. Crossing it means entering Canaan, the land the previous generation had refused to enter.

3Every place where you set your foot, I have given to you, just as I promised Moses.

3Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

NoteSetting the sole of the foot on ground was a standard ancient way of speaking about taking legal possession of territory, not merely walking across it. The tense is worth noticing: the land is spoken of as already given, before any of it has been entered.

4Your land will reach from the desert and Lebanon as far as the great river, the Euphrates River, taking in all the land of the Hittites, and west to the Great Sea, where the sun goes down.

4From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.

NoteThe boundaries name the outer limits of the territory as an ancient reader would have understood them: "the wilderness" is the desert to the south, Lebanon the mountains to the north, the Euphrates the great river to the northeast, and "the great sea" the Mediterranean to the west, hence "toward the going down of the sun," the standard Hebrew phrase for west. "The land of the Hittites" is used loosely in the Old Testament for the whole region of Syria and Canaan, not only for the Hittite empire proper.

5No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you just as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.

5There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Note"Stand before thee" is military language: to hold one's ground against an attacker rather than merely to be in someone's presence.

6Be strong and brave, because you are the one who will divide this land among these people as the property they inherit, the land I promised their ancestors I would give them.

6Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.

Note"Inheritance" here does not mean property left by someone who has died. It is the technical term for the permanent share of land allotted to each tribe and family, which could not be sold off for good and passed down the generations. Dividing the land among the tribes was one of the leader's defining tasks.

7Only be strong and very brave. Be careful to obey all the law that my servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn away from it to the right or to the left, so that things will go well for you wherever you go.

7Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.

Note"The law" translates Hebrew *torah*, which means instruction or teaching as much as legislation, the whole body of direction given through Moses, not just a legal code. "Turn not to the right hand or to the left" is the language of keeping to a road.

8This Book of the Law must never leave your mouth. Think it over day and night, so that you will be careful to do everything written in it. Then things will go well for you, and you will succeed.

8This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

NoteAncient reading was done aloud, so "shall not depart out of thy mouth" means the text is to be recited continually, not silently remembered. The Hebrew word behind "meditate" means to mutter or murmur under the breath, repeating the words aloud to oneself rather than silent reflection.

9Have I not commanded you? Be strong and brave. Do not be afraid, and do not lose heart, because the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

9Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

10Then Joshua gave orders to the officers of the people. He said:

10Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,

NoteThese "officers" (Hebrew *shoterim*) were record-keepers and marshals who kept lists, passed orders down through the camp, and mustered the people, administrators rather than military commanders.

11"Go through the camp and tell the people, 'Get your food supplies ready. Within three days you will cross this Jordan River to go in and take the land the LORD your God is giving you to own.'"

11Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it.

Note"Victuals" simply means food supplies. The instruction matters because the people had been living on manna gathered daily; preparing provisions in advance signals a shift to a campaign footing.

12But to the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said:

12And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying,

NoteThese two and a half tribes had already been given land on the east side of the Jordan, outside Canaan proper, because the grazing there suited their herds. Moses granted it on one condition: their fighting men had to cross over and fight alongside the other tribes until the whole land was taken. Joshua is now calling in that agreement.

13"Remember what Moses, the servant of the LORD, commanded you when he said, 'The LORD your God is giving you rest, and he is giving you this land.'

13Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, The LORD your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land.

Note"Rest" here is not sleep or leisure but the settled security of a people no longer at war or on the move, living safely on their own land with no enemy pressing them.

14Your wives, your small children, and your livestock may stay in the land Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But all your strong fighting men must cross over ahead of your relatives, armed and ready, and help them.

14Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help them;

Note"On this side Jordan" reflects the standpoint of the writer, and here means the east side, where the speaker and hearers are standing. "Mighty men of valour" is a set phrase for able-bodied fighting men of standing in the community, not simply brave individuals.

15Keep helping until the LORD gives your relatives rest, as he has given you, and they too have taken the land the LORD your God is giving them. Then you may go back to the land that belongs to you, the land east of the Jordan that Moses, the servant of the LORD, gave you, and you may enjoy it."

15Until the LORD have given your brethren rest, as he hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the LORD your God giveth them: then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and enjoy it, which Moses the LORD’s servant gave you on this side Jordan toward the sunrising.

16They answered Joshua, "We will do everything you command us, and we will go wherever you send us.

16And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go.

17We listened to Moses in everything, and we will listen to you the same way. Only may the LORD your God be with you, as he was with Moses.

17According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the LORD thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses.

Note"Hearken" means more than hearing. In Hebrew the verb for listening carries the sense of obeying; to listen to someone's words is to act on them.

18Anyone who refuses to obey your orders and will not listen to your words, whatever you command him, will be put to death. Only be strong and brave!"

18Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.

NoteThe people are stating the customary penalty for insubordination during a military campaign, not inventing a new law. Their closing words repeat back to Joshua the same charge God gave him in verses 6, 7 and 9.