Commentary on Joshua

1And it came to pass after the death of Moses, that Jehovah addressed Joshua, saying, —

2Moses my servant is dead: now therefore rise, pass over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, to the land which I give to them, namely, to the children of Israel.

3Every place which the sole of your foot shall have trod upon, I have given to you; as I said to Moses,

4From the desert and that Lebanon, even to the great sea, the river Euphrates, the whole land of the Hittites, even to the great sea toward the setting of the sun, will be your boundary.

5No one shall stand before thee all the days of thy life; because as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee: I will not desert nor forsake thee.

6Be firm therefore and strong; for thou shall divide to this people as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers that I would give them.

7Only be firm and strong exceedingly; that thou may keep and do according to the whole law which Moses my servant commanded thee: thou shall not draw back to the right hand or to the left, that thou may act prudently (orprosperously) in all things.

8Let not the book of this law depart from thy mouth; but meditate in it day and night, that thou may keep and do according to all which has been written in it. For then shall thou render thy ways prosperous, and then shall thou act prudently.

9Have not I commanded thee to make thyself firm and strong? Fear not, nor be dispirited; since I, Jehovah thy God, am with thee in all the places to which thou goes.

10Then Joshua commanded the prefects of the people, saying, —

11Pass through the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying, Make ready provision for yourselves; for after three days shall you pass over this Jordan, that you may enter and possess the land, which Jehovah your God give you to possess.

12And to the Reubenites, and Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh, spoke Joshua, saying, —

13Remember the word which Moses, the servant of Jehovah, commanded you, saying, Jehovah your God has rendered you quiet, and has given you this land:

14Your wives, your little ones, and your flocks will remain in the land which Moses has given you beyond the Jordan; but you, as many of you as are men of war, will pass over armed before your brethren, and assist them,

15Until Jehovah shall have given rest to your brethren as to you; and they, too, possess the land which Jehovah your God give to them; and then shall you return to the land of your inheritance, and possess that which Moses, the servant of Jehovah, gave you beyond Jordan toward the rising of the sun.

16Then they answered Joshua, saying, All things which thou has commanded us will we do, and to all places to which thou shall send us, will we go.

17As in all things we obeyed Moses, so will we obey thee; only let Jehovah thy God be with thee as he was with Moses.

18Whoever he shall be that shall rebel against thy mouth, and shall not acquiesce in thy words in all the things which thou shall command him, let him be put to death. Only be thou firm and strong.