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Joshua 1:16-18

They answered Joshua, saying, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we listened to Moses in all things, so will we listen to you. Only may Yahweh your God be with you, as he was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your commandment, and doesn’t listen to your words in all that you command him shall himself be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.”

World English Bible · Public Domain

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Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    They answered Joshua, saying, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.

    Just as we listened to Moses in all things, so will we listen to you. Only may Yahweh your God be with you, as he was with Moses.

    Whoever rebels against your commandment, and doesn’t listen to your words in all that you command him shall himself be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.”

  • KJV King James Version

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

    According 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.

    Whosoever 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.

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  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    And they answered Joshua, saying: 'All that thou hast commanded us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us we will go.

    According 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.

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

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Cross-references (28)

  • Joshua 1:5 (v17) No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you nor…
  • Ephesians 6:10 (v18) Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might.
  • Joshua 1:9 (vv17–18) Haven’t I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go.”
  • Ezra 10:4 (v18) Arise; for the matter belongs to you, and we are with you. Be courageous, and do it.”
  • 1 Corinthians 16:13 (v18) Watch! Stand firm in the faith! Be courageous! Be strong!
Show all 26 cross-references
  • Titus 3:1 (v16) Remind them to be in subjection to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,
  • Romans 13:1-5 (vv16, 18) Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by…
  • Deuteronomy 5:27 (v16) Go near, and hear all that Yahweh our God shall say, and tell us all that Yahweh our God tells you; and we will hear it, and do it.”
  • 1 Samuel 11:12 (v18) The people said to Samuel, “Who is he who said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring those men, that we may put them to death!”
  • 1 Kings 1:37 (v17) As Yahweh has been with my lord the king, even so may he be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king…
  • Hebrews 10:28-29 (v18) A man who disregards Moses’ law dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think he…
  • Hebrews 12:25 (v18) See that you don’t refuse him who speaks. For if they didn’t escape when they refused him who warned on the earth, how much more will we…
  • 1 Peter 2:13-15 (v16) Therefore subject yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king, as supreme; or to governors, as sent by…
  • Deuteronomy 17:12 (v18) The man who does presumptuously in not listening to the priest who stands to minister there before Yahweh your God, or to the judge, even…
  • Joshua 1:6-7 (v18) “Be strong and courageous; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong…
  • Psalms 2:1-6 (v18) Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together,…
  • Luke 19:27 (v18) But bring those enemies of mine who didn’t want me to reign over them here, and kill them before me.’ ”
  • Numbers 32:25 (v16) The children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do as my lord commands.
  • 1 Samuel 20:13 (v17) Yahweh do so to Jonathan, and more also, should it please my father to do you evil, if I don’t disclose it to you, and send you away, that…
  • 1 Chronicles 28:20 (v17) David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do it. Don’t be afraid, nor be dismayed; for Yahweh God, even my God, is with…
  • Psalms 20:1 (v17) May Yahweh answer you in the day of trouble. May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high,
  • Psalms 20:4 (v17) May he grant you your heart’s desire, and fulfill all your counsel.
  • Psalms 20:9 (v17) Save, Yahweh! Let the King answer us when we call!
  • Psalms 118:25-26 (v17) Save us now, we beg you, Yahweh! Yahweh, we beg you, send prosperity now. Blessed is he who comes in Yahweh’s name! We have blessed you out…
  • Matthew 21:9 (v17) The multitudes who went in front of him, and those who followed, kept shouting, “Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in…
  • 1 Timothy 2:1-2 (v17) I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks be made for all men: for kings and all who…

26 distinct cross-references across this passage (28 total citations).

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

Explain this passage (16 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On v16 16. And they answered, etc They not only acquiesce,…

16. And they answered, etc They not only acquiesce, but freely admit and explicitly detail the obedience which they owe. Our obligations are duly discharged only when we perform them cheerfully, and not in sadness, as Paul expresses it. (2 Corinthians 9:7.) If it is objected that there is little modesty in their boast of having been obedient to Moses whom they had often contradicted, I answer, that though they did not always follow with becoming ardor, yet they were so much disposed to obey, that their moderation was not only tolerable, but worthy of the highest praise, when it is considered how proudly their fathers rebelled, and how perversely they endeavored to shake off a yoke divinely imposed upon them. For the persons who speak here were not those rebellious spirits of whom God complains (Psalm 95:8-11) that he was provoked by them, but persons who, subdued by the examples of punishment, had learned quietly to submit.

Indeed, it is not so much to herald their own virtues as to extol the authority of Joshua, when they declare that they will regard him in the same light in which they regarded Moses. The groundwork of their confidence is at the same time expressed in their wish or prayer, that God may be present to assist his servant Joshua as he assisted his servant Moses. They intimate that they will be ready to war under the auspices of their new leader, because they are persuaded that he is armed with the power and hope that he will be victorious by the assistance of God, as they had learned by experience how wonderfully God assisted them by the hand of Moses. We may infer, moreover, that they actually felt this confidence, both because they call to mind their experiences of God’s favor to animate themselves, and because they regard Joshua as the successor of Moses in regard to prosperous results.

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The epithet thy God is not without weight, as it evidently points to a continued course of divine favor. The form of expression also is intermediate between the confidence of faith and prayer. Accordingly, while they intimate that they cherish good hope in their minds, they at the same time have recourse to prayer, under a conviction of the arduousness of the work. Immediately after, when they of their own accord exhort him to constancy, they show that they are ready to follow and to imitate him in his confidence. Here, it is to be observed, that though Joshua was a model of courage, and animated all, both by deed and precept, he was in his turn stimulated onwards, that his own alacrity might be more effectual in arousing that of the people.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v17 They do not only promise to obey him so…
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv16–18 Jos 1:16 And they answered Joshua, saying, All that…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv16–18 They answered, i.e. the Reubenites, &c., mentioned Jos 1:12,…
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v16 This answer was given not by the two tribes…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv16–18 And they answered Joshua,.... The two tribes of Gad…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv16–17 And they answered - Not the two tribes and…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv16–18 Verse 16. All that thou commandest us we will…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v16 Jos 1:16-17. And they answered — Not the two…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv17–18 Moses. Thus they express their ardent wish, that God…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv16–18 OATH OF ALLEGIANCE TO JOSHUA, Jos_1:16-18.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv16–17 16. All that thou commandest us] A joyful answer…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v16 (16) They answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv16–18 And they answered Joshua, saying. We may compare this…
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v16 General Information:
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv17–18 1:17 Israel often did not obey . . .…
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