Bible Commentaries
Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Joshua 1
The Preamble - Joshua 1:1-9
After the death of Moses the Lord summoned Joshua, the servant ofMoses, whom He had appointed as the leader of Israel into Canaan, to gowith all the people across the Jordan, and take the land which had beenpromised to the fathers on oath, assuring him at the same time of Hispowerful aid, on condition that he observed the law of Moses faithfully. This summons and promise of God form the preamble to the whole book,which is linked on to the conclusion of the Pentateuch by the introductorywords, “And it came to pass after the death of Moses, the servant of theLord,” though it is not so closely connected as to warrant the conclusionthat the two works have been written by the same author.
The imperfect with vav consec., the standing mode of expressing acontinued action or train of thought, “simply attaches itself by theconjunction 'and' to a completed action, which has either been mentionedbefore, or is supposed to be well known” (Ewald, §231, b.). “After thedeath of Moses,” i.e., after the expiration of the thirty days of generalmourning for him (vid., Deuteronomy 34:8). “Servant of Jehovah” is a standingepithet applied to Moses as an honourable title, and founded upon Numbers 12:7-8 (vid., Deuteronomy 34:5; 1 Kings 8:56; 2 Kings 18:12; Psalm 105:26, etc.). On“Joshua, Moses' minister,” see at Exodus 17:9 and Numbers 13:16. Minister((meshareth)), as in Exodus 24:13, etc. Although Joshua had already been calledby the mouth of the Lord to be the successor of Moses in the task ofleading the people into Canaan (Numbers 27:15.), and had not only beenpresented to the people in this capacity, but had been instituted in thisoffice by the Lord, with the promise of His help (Deuteronomy 31:3-7 and Deuteronomy 31:23), theword of the Lord came to him a second time after the death of Moses, withthe command to enter upon the office to which he had been called, andwith the promise that He would help him to fulfil its duties, as he hadalready helped His servant Moses. “Because even some of the bravestmen, although fully prepared beforehand, either stand still or hesitate whenthe thing has to be done: this exhortation to Joshua, to gird himself at oncefor the expedition, was by no means superfluous; though his call wasratified again not only for his own sake, but in order that the people mightnot hesitate to follow him with their minds collected and calm, when theysaw that he took no step without the guidance of God” (Calvin). - Joshuareceived this word of the Lord by a direct address from God, and notthrough the intervention of the Urim and Thummim of the high priest; forthis appointed medium for the revelation of the will of God, to which hehad been referred on the occasion of his first call (Numbers 27:21), wheneverdifficulties should arise in connection with his office, was not sufficient forthe renewal and confirmation of his divine calling, since the thing requiredhere was not merely that the will of God should be made known to him,but that he should be inspired with courage and strength for the fulfilmentof it, i.e., for discharging the duties of his office, just as he afterwards wasthen in front of the fortified town of Jericho which he was directed to take,where the angel of the Lord appeared to him and assured him of its fall(Joshua 5:13). Moreover, the conquest of Canaan formed part of the workwhich the Lord entrusted to His servant Moses, and in which thereforeJoshua was now Moses' successor. Consequently the Lord would be withhim as He had been with Moses (Joshua 1:5); and for this reason He revealed Hiswill directly to him, as He had done to Moses, though without talking withhim mouth to mouth (Numbers 12:8).
As Moses had died without having brought the Israelites to Canaan,Joshua was to arise and go with all the nation over this Jordan (i.e., theriver then before him) into the land which the Lord would give them.
“Namely, every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon,” i.e., I have given you the whole land, not excepting a single foot's breadth. The perfect, “I have given,” refers to the counsel of God as having been formed long before, and being now about to be carried into execution. These words, which are connected with Deuteronomy 11:24, so far as the form is concerned, rest upon the promise of God in Exodus 23:30-31, to which the words “as I said unto Moses” refer.
The boundaries of the land are given as in Deuteronomy 11:24, with the simpledifference in form, that the boundary line from the desert (of Arabia) andLebanon, i.e., from the southern and northern extremity, is drawn first ofall towards the east to the great river, the Euphrates, and then towards thewest to “the great sea, toward the going down of the sun,” i.e., theMediterranean; and then between these two termini ad quem the moreprecise definition is inserted, “all the land of the Hittites;” whereas inDeuteronomy the southern, northern, and eastern boundaries are placed inantithesis to the western boundary, and the more precise definition of thecountry to be taken is given by an enumeration of the different tribes thatwere to be destroyed by the Israelites (Deuteronomy 11:23). On the oratorical characterof these descriptions, see at Genesis 15:18. The demonstrative pronoun “this,”in connection with Lebanon, may be explained from the fact that Lebanon,or at all events Anti-libanus, was visible from the Israelitish camp. Theexpression “the Hittites” (see at Genesis 10:15) is used here in a broader sensefor Canaanites in general, as in 1 Kings 10:29; 2 Kings 7:6; Ezekiel 16:3. Thepromise in Joshua 1:5 is adopted from Deuteronomy 11:25, where it was made to thewhole nation, and specially transferred to Joshua; and Joshua 1:5 is repeatedfrom Deuteronomy 31:8, as compared with Joshua 1:6.
The promise is followed by the condition upon which the Lord wouldfulfil His word. Joshua was to be firm and strong, i.e., well-assured,courageous, not alarmed (vid., Deuteronomy 31:6). In the first place (Joshua 1:6), he wasto rely firmly upon the Lord and His promise, as Moses and the Lord hadalready told him (Deuteronomy 31:7 and Deuteronomy 31:23), and as is again repeated here, whilstat the same time the expression, “thou shalt divide for an inheritance,”recalls to mind Deuteronomy 1:38; Deuteronomy 3:28; and in the second place (Joshua 1:7, Joshua 1:8), he wasto strive to attain and preserve this firmness by a careful observance of thelaw. “Observe to do,” etc., as Moses had already impressed upon thehearts of all the people (Deuteronomy 5:29, cf. Deuteronomy 28:14 and Deuteronomy 2:27). The suffix inממּנּוּ is to be explained on the supposition that the speakerhad the book of the law in his mind. The further expansion, in Joshua 1:8, is notonly attached to the exhortations, with which Moses urges upon all thepeople in Deuteronomy 6:6-7, and Deuteronomy 11:18-19, an uninterrupted study and laying toheart of the commandments of God, but even more closely to thedirections to the king, to read every day in the law (Deuteronomy 17:19). “Not todepart out of the mouth,” is to be constantly in the mouth. The law is inour mouth, not only when we are incessantly preaching it, but when weare reading it intelligently for ourselves, or conversing about it with others. To this there was to be added meditation, or reflection upon it both dayand night (vid., Psalm 1:2). הגה does not mean theoreticalspeculation about the law, such as the Pharisees indulged in, but a practicalstudy of the law, for the purpose of observing it in thought and action, orcarrying it out with the heart, the mouth, and the hand. Such a mode ofemploying it would be sure to be followed by blessings. “Then shalt thoumake they way prosperous,” i.e., succeed in all thine undertakings (vid.,Deuteronomy 28:29), “and act wisely” (as in Deuteronomy 29:8).
In conclusion, the Lord not only repeats His exhortation to firmness, butthe promise that He gave in Joshua 1:5 and Joshua 1:6. “Have I not” (nonne) is arhetorical mode of saying, “Behold, I have,” the assurance being clothed in the form of an affirmative question. On the words “be not afraid,” etc., see Deuteronomy 31:6 and Deuteronomy 31:8.
Joshua 1:10-11
Preparations for Crossing the Jordan. - Joshua 1:10-11. For thepurpose of carrying out the commands of the Lord, Joshua first of alldirected the officers of the people ((shoterim): see at Ex 5-6), whose duty itwas, as the keepers of the family registers, to attend not only to thelevying of the men who were bound to serve in the army, but also to thecirculation of the commands of the general, to issue orders to the people inthe camp to provide themselves with food, so that they might cross theJordan within three days, and take the land that was promised them byGod. By (zedah), provision for a journey (Genesis 42:25, etc.), we are not tounderstand manna, for that had already ceased (see at Joshua 5:12), butsimply the natural produce of the inhabited country. The expression “inthree days,” i.e., as we may see from comparing Genesis 40:13, Genesis 40:19, with Genesis 40:20,on the third day from the publication of the command, “will ye go over theJordan,” is not to be regarded as a prediction of the time when the crossingactually took place, but to be taken as the latest time that could be allowedto the people to prepare for crossing: viz., in this sense, “Prepare youvictuals for crossing over the Jordan within three days,” i.e., that you may be able to leave Shittim within that time, to cross over the Jordan, and commence the conquest of Canaan. If we understand the words in this way, they are in perfect harmony with Josh 2 and 3. According to Josh 2, Joshua sent out spies from Shittim to Jericho, who were obliged to hide themselves for three days in the mountains after their flight from that city (Joshua 2:22), before they could return to the Israelitish camp; so that they were absent three or four days at any rate, and came back at the earliest in the evening or night of the fourth day after they had been sent out. It was not till the morning after this that the Israelites left Shittim and proceeded to the Jordan, where they halted again. Then, three days afterwards, they went across the river (Joshua 3:1-2), so that at least 4 + 1 + 3, i.e., eight whole days must have intervened between the day when the spies were sent out and the day on which the people crossed the river. Joshua no doubt intended to proceed to the Jordan and cross it within three days after despatching the spies; he therefore sent the spies to Jericho on the same day on which he issued the command to the people to prepare for crossing within three days, so that he might reasonably hope that they would fulfil their commission and return in two or three days. But as they were compelled to hide themselves for three days in the mountains, in consequence of the unexpected discovery of their arrival in Jericho, and the despatch of men in pursuit of them, Joshua could not remove with the people from Shittim and proceed to the Jordan till the day after their return; and even then he could not cross the river at once, but waited three days after reaching the bank of the river before he crossed to the other side (vid., Joshua 3:1.).
(Note: In this way the different statements in the three chaptersharmonize perfectly well. But the majority of commentators havearranged the order of succession differently and in a very arbitraryway, starting with the unwarrantable assumption that the timereferred to in this verse, “within three days,” is identical with that inJoshua 3:2, “it came to pass after three days.” Upon the strength of thisgroundless assumption, Knobel maintains that there is great confusionin the order of succession of the events described in Josh 1-3, that Joshua 1:11 is irreconcilable with Joshua 3:1-6, and that accounts written bythree different authors have been mixed up together in these chapters. (For the different attempts to reconcile the accounts, see Keil'sCommentary on Joshua, pp. 72-75, note, Eng. trans. Clark, 1857.))
Joshua 1:12-18
Joshua's appeal to the two tribes and a half, to remember the condition on which Moses gave them the land on the east of the Jordan for an inheritance, and to fulfil it, met with a ready response; to that these tribes not only promised to obey his commandments in every respect, but threatened every one with death who should refuse obedience. In recalling this condition to the recollection of the tribes referred to, Joshua follows the expressions in Deuteronomy 3:18-20, where Moses himself recapitulates his former command, rather than the original passage in Num 32. The expression “this land” shows that the speaker was still on the other side of the Jordan. חמשׁים, with the loins girded, i.e., prepared for war, synonymous with חלצים in Deuteronomy 3:18 and Numbers 32:32 (see at Exodus 13:18). חיל כּל־גּבּורי, all the mighty men of valour, i.e., the grave warriors (as in Joshua 6:2; Joshua 8:3; Joshua 10:7, and very frequently in the later books), is not common to this book and Deuteronomy, as Knobel maintains, but is altogether strange to the Pentateuch. The word “all” (v. 14, like Numbers 32:21, Numbers 32:27) must not be pressed. According to Joshua 4:13, there were only about 40,000 men belonging to the two tribes and a half who crossed the Jordan to take part in the war; whereas, according to Numbers 26:7, Numbers 26:18, Numbers 26:34, there were 110,000 men in these tribes who were capable of bearing arms, so that 70,000 must have remained behind for the protection of the women and children and of the flocks and herds, and to defend the land of which they had taken possession. On Joshua 1:15 see Deuteronomy 3:18; and on the more minute definition of “on this side (lit. beyond) Jordan” by “toward the sun-rising,” compare the remarks on Numbers 32:19. The answer of the two tribes and a half, in which they not only most cheerfully promise their help in the conquest of Canaan, but also express the wish that Joshua may have the help of the Lord (Joshua 1:17 compared with Joshua 1:4), and after threatening all who refuse obedience with death, close with the divine admonition, “only be strong and of a good courage” (Joshua 1:18, cf. Joshua 1:6), furnishes a proof of the wish that inspired them to help their brethren, that all the tribes might speedily enter into the peaceable possession of the promised inheritance. The expression “rebel against the commandment” is used in Deuteronomy 1:26, Deuteronomy 1:43; Deuteronomy 9:23; 1 Samuel 12:14, to denote resistance to the commandments of the Lord; here it denotes opposition to His representative, the commander chosen by the Lord, which was to be punished with death, according to the law in Deuteronomy 17:12.
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