Joshua23
New King James Version
1Now it came to pass, a long time after the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua was old, advanced in age.
2And Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them: “I am old, advanced in age.
3You have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the Lord your God is He who has fought for you.
4See, I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, as far as the Great Sea westward.
5And the Lord your God will expel them from before you and drive them out of your sight. So you shall possess their land, as the Lord your God promised you.
6Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left,
7and lest you go among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them; you shall not serve them nor bow down to them,
8but you shall hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day.
9For the Lord has driven out from before you great and strong nations; but as for you, no one has been able to stand against you to this day.
10One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, as He promised you.
11Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the Lord your God.
12Or else, if indeed you do go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations—these that remain among you—and make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you,
13know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you.
14“Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.
15Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all the good things have come upon you which the Lord your God promised you, so the Lord will bring upon you all harmful things, until He has destroyed you from this good land which the Lord your God has given you.
16When you have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you.”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Joshua 23.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Joshua's exhortation before his death. (1–10). Joshua warns the people of idolatry. (11–16).
vv1-10
Joshua was old and dying, let them observe what he said now. He put them in mind of the great things God had done for them in his days. He exhorted them to be very courageous. Keep with care, do with diligence, and regard with sincerity what is written. Also, very cautiously to endeavour that the heathen idolatry may be forgotten, so that it may never be revived. It is sad that among Christians the names of the heathen gods are so commonly used, and made so familiar as they are. Joshua exhorts them to be very constant. There might be many things amiss among them, but they had not forsaken the Lord their God; the way to make people better, is to make the best of them.
vv11-16
Would we cleave to the Lord, we must always stand upon our guard, for many a soul is lost through carelessness. Love the Lord your God, and you will not leave him. Has God been thus true to you? Be not you false to him. He is faithful that has promised, Heb 10:23. The experience of every Christian witnesses the same truth. Conflicts may have been severe and long, trials great and many; but at the last he will acknowledge that goodness and mercy followed him all the days of his life. Joshua states the fatal consequences of going back; know for a certainty it will be your ruin. The first step would be, friendship with idolaters; the next would be, marrying with them; the end of that would be, serving their gods. Thus the way of sin is down-hill, and those who have fellowship with sinners, cannot avoid having fellowship with sin. He describes the destruction he warns them of. The goodness of the heavenly Canaan, and the free and sure grant God has made of it, will add to the misery of those who shall for ever be shut out from it. Nothing will make them see how wretched they are, so much, as to see how happy they might have been. Let us watch and pray against temptation. Let us trust in God's faithfulness, love, and power; let us plead his promises, and cleave to his commandments, then we shall be happy in life, in death, and for ever.
Key Words
רַב: abundant (in quantity, size, age, number, rank, quality)
יוֹם: a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)
אַחַר: properly, the hind part; generally used as an adverb or conjunction, after (in various senses)
נוּחַ: to rest, i.e. settle down; used in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, intransitive, transitive and causative (to dwell, stay, let fall, place, let alone, withdraw, give comfort, etc.)
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
סָבִיב: (as noun) a circle, neighbour, or environs; but chiefly (as adverb, with or without preposition) around
אֹיֵב: hating; an adversary
יְהוֹשׁוּעַ: Jehoshua (i.e. Joshua), the Jewish leader
זָקֵן: to be old
בּוֹא: to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)
Cross References
Joshua 23Explicit prohibition of marriages with the remaining Canaanite nations, which Joshua warns against here.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
The covenant promise that one shall chase a thousand, which Joshua reiterates.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Warning that remaining nations and their gods will become snares and traps.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Warning that remaining Canaanites will be pricks in eyes and thorns in sides.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Joshua exhorts the leaders using the same command of courage he received from God.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Prohibition against taking the names of false gods upon one's lips.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Commandment not to make mention of the name of other gods.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The Mosaic injunction to cleave unto the Lord, echoed by Joshua here.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The fulfillment of Joshua's warning when God refuses to drive out the nations.
Supported by JFB
The covenant curses and evil things threatened if Israel disobeyed God.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The fundamental command to love the Lord your God, requiring diligent self-watchfulness.
Supported by JFB
The Torah's strict prohibition of making covenants and marriages with Canaanites.
Supported by JFB
David uses the same expression ('going the way of all the earth') at his death.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Confirms that not one good thing promised by God had failed.
Supported by JFB