“ ‘You went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand. I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with your sword, nor with your bow. I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you didn’t build, and you live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive groves which you didn’t plant.’
Parallel Translations
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“ ‘You went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand.
I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with your sword, nor with your bow.
I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you didn’t build, and you live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive groves which you didn’t plant.’
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And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand.
And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.
And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.
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And ye went over the Jordan, and came unto Jericho; and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand.
And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.
And I gave you a land whereon thou hadst not laboured, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell therein; of vineyards and olive-yards which ye planted not do ye eat.
Cross-references (22)
- Deuteronomy 6:10-12 (v13) It shall be, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you,…
- Deuteronomy 8:7 (v13) For Yahweh your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of springs, and underground water flowing into valleys and…
- Exodus 23:28 (v12) I will send the hornet before you, which will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before you.
- Deuteronomy 7:20 (v12) Moreover Yahweh your God will send the hornet among them, until those who are left, and hide themselves, perish from before you.
- Joshua 21:45 (v13) Nothing failed of any good thing which Yahweh had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.
Show all 22 cross-references
- Proverbs 13:22 (v13) A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored for the righteous.
- Joshua 3:14-17 (v11) When the people moved from their tents to pass over the Jordan, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant being before the people, and…
- Joshua 4:10-12 (v11) For the priests who bore the ark stood in the middle of the Jordan until everything was finished that Yahweh commanded Joshua to speak to…
- Joshua 11:13 (v13) But as for the cities that stood on their mounds, Israel burned none of them, except Hazor only. Joshua burned that.
- Psalms 44:3-6 (v12) For they didn’t get the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but your right hand, your arm, and the…
- Exodus 23:23 (v11) For my angel shall go before you, and bring you in to the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite;…
- Deuteronomy 7:1 (v11) When Yahweh your God brings you into the land where you go to possess it, and casts out many nations before you—the Hittite, the…
- Joshua 4:23 (v11) For Yahweh your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you until you had crossed over, as Yahweh your God did to the Red Sea,…
- Joshua 6:1-27 (v11) Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the children of Israel. No one went out, and no one came in. Yahweh said to Joshua, “Behold, I…
- Joshua 10:1-11 (v11) Now when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it; as he had done to Jericho and her king,…
- Nehemiah 9:24-25 (v11) “So the children went in and possessed the land, and you subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them…
- Psalms 78:54-55 (v11) He brought them to the border of his sanctuary, to this mountain, which his right hand had taken. He also drove out the nations before…
- Psalms 105:44 (v11) He gave them the lands of the nations. They took the labor of the peoples in possession,
- Psalms 114:3 (v11) The sea saw it, and fled. The Jordan was driven back.
- Psalms 114:5 (v11) What was it, you sea, that you fled? You Jordan, that you turned back?
- Acts 7:45 (v11) which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with Joshua when they entered into the possession of the nations, whom God drove out…
- Acts 13:19 (v11) When he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land for an inheritance for about four hundred fifty years.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (16 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v11 Because it was the chief city, under it he…
Because it was the chief city, under it he containeth all the country: else they of the city fought not.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv11–13 Jos 24:11 And ye went over Jordan, and came…
Jos 24:11 And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand.
Ver. 11. And the men of Jericho fought against you.] Non pugnarunt, sed clausis portis propugnarunt et restiterunt, saith Vatablus. They shut up their gates and fortified themselves against you; and when their town was taken, it is probable they sold their lives at as dear a rate as they could.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv11–13 Fought against you; made opposition against you, by shutting…
Fought against you; made opposition against you, by shutting their gates, by endeavouring to cut off your spies, &c.; they warred against you, if not by an offensive, yet by a defensive war. In the names of these nations he seems to comprise all their wars, which being so fresh in their memory, he thought it needless particularly to mention.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv11–13 And ye went over Jordan,.... In a miraculous manner,…
And ye went over Jordan,.... In a miraculous manner, the waters parting to make way for the host of Israel:
and came unto Jericho; the first city of any size and strength in the land, which was about seven or eight miles from Jordan; See Gill on Num 22:1,
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and the men of Jericho fought against you; by endeavouring to intercept their spies, and cut them off; by shutting up the gates of their city against Israel; and it may be throwing darts, arrows, and stones, from off the walls of it at them. Kimchi thinks that some of the great men of Jericho went out from thence, to give notice and warning to the kings of Canaan of the approach of the Israelites, and in the mean time the city was taken; and that these afterwards joined with the kings in fighting against Joshua and the people of Israel:
the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; the seven nations of Canaan; this they did at different times, and in different places:
and I delivered them into your hand; these nations and their kings.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv11–12 Deliver them - Namely, successively; for in these few…
Deliver them - Namely, successively; for in these few words he seems to comprise all their wars, which being so fresh in their memory, he thought it needless particularly to mention.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv11–12 Verse 11. The men of Jericho fought against you]…
Verse 11. The men of Jericho fought against you] See the notes on Jos 3:1-16 and Jos 6:1, &c. The people of Jericho are said to have fought against the Israelites, because they opposed them by shutting their gates, &c., though they did not attempt to meet them in the field.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v11 Jos 24:11-12. I delivered them into your hand —…
Jos 24:11-12. I delivered them into your hand — Namely, successively; for in these few words he seems to comprise all their wars, which, being fresh in their memories, he thought it needless particularly to mention. I sent the hornet before you — This may signify, either that before the Israelites came into those parts, God sent hornets, which so infested the inhabitants, that many of them were compelled to leave their country; or that, when they were actually engaged in battle with their enemies, these dreadful swarms, which first appeared in their war with Sihon and Og, tormented the Canaanites with their stings, and terrified them with their noise, so that they became an easy prey to Israel. God had promised to do this for them, Exo 23:27-28; and here Joshua reminds them of the fulfilment of the promise.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv11–12 Men. Hebrew, "the masters of Jericho," which may denote…
Men. Hebrew, "the masters of Jericho," which may denote either the king or the inhabitants. It is thought that people of the different nations were come to defend the city, or the text may signify that not only Jericho, but these different people, (Calmet) fought successively against the people of God, but all in vain. (Haydock) --- The fighting of the inhabitants of Jericho was only intentional; a miracle rendered all their efforts abortive. Yet this is called fighting in scripture (ver. 9,) as well as in other authors. "We judge of actions by the intention, says St. Isidore: (Pelus. ii. ep. 289,) the person who intended to murder is punished, though he only inflicted a wound; and on the other hand, he who dills undesignedly receives a pardon." So Orion was said to have violated Diana, because he wished to do it; and Virgin, (Æneid viii.) speaking of some who already thought they were in possession of the capital, says, Galli per dumos aderant, arcemque tenebant, "they seized the citadel," though they never entered it. (Calmet) --- Yet it is probable that the inhabitants of Jericho would defend themselves. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v12 I sent the hornet before you--a particular species of…
I sent the hornet before you--a particular species of wasp which swarms in warm countries and sometimes assumes the scourging character of a plague; or, as many think, it is a figurative expression for uncontrollable terror (see on Exo 23:28).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv11–12 11. The men of Jericho — Hebrews, lords or…
11. The men of Jericho — Hebrews, lords or property-holders.
Fought — No active warfare is intended, but a standing on the defensive, with closed gates.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv11–13 11. And ye went over Jordan] The fourth proof…
11. And ye went over Jordan] The fourth proof of the Divine favour: (a) the Passage of the Jordan, and (b) capture of Jericho; and the fifth (c) the victory over the Canaanites.
the men of Jericho] i. e. the citizens of Jericho. Comp. Jdg_9:2-3, “the men of Shechem;” Jdg_20:5, “the men of Gibeah;” 2Sa_21:12, “the men of Jabesh-gilead.”
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the Amorites] On this enumeration of the nations, see above, ch. Jos_3:10.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v12 (12) The hornet.—There appears no reason for taking this…
(12) The hornet.—There appears no reason for taking this word in any other than a literal sense. The possibility of what is recorded here has been abundantly illustrated by events reported in our own times.
The two kings of the Amorites.—Apparently, but not necessarily, Sihon and Og are intended. There were kings of the Amorites on both sides of Jordan.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv11–13 And ye went over Jordan. This epitome of Joshua"s…
And ye went over Jordan. This epitome of Joshua"s deals with his own narrative just as it does with that of Moses. The miraculous portions of the history are passed over, or lightly touched, but there is not the slightest discrepancy between the speech and the history, and the miraculous element is presupposed throughout the former. The men of Jericho. Literally, the lords or possessors of Jericho. The seven Canaanitish tribes that follow are not identical with, but supplementary to, the lords of Jericho. Fought against you. The word is the same as that translated "warred" in ver. 9. The people of Jericho did not fight actively.
They confined themselves to defensive operations. But these, of course, constitute war.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv12–13 Not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.
Jos_24:12
Not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.
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Not with sword or bow
A very necessary reminder, applicable to both the hour of conflict and victory. Both seasons have their own dangers. There is no final conflict or victory in this life; only when death has finished our course should we be hopeless or exultant. Each contest is but a single event of a series, and the one, though leading to others, does not of necessity determine the character of them all. Defeat to-day does not mean defeat to-morrow, any more than success to-day means the same in the next encounter with the hidden powers of darkness. No man is safe on this side the grave. So for each, for all, these words may be for encouragement and direction. The cause of failure may be discovered, and the remedy be pointed out, or the way which shall lead to entire possession of the fulness of Gods blessedness may be known, as each and all shall remember that it is not by thy sword or thy bow.
I. Lifes conflict must be met by human effort and energy. The promise of the land as an inheritance to the people of Israel is most distinct. Everywhere God said He would give it. Was there not some reason, then, in the expectation that they should have the land without any very special trouble? Is there so much to be wondered at in the disappointment of the spies when they saw they had to fight? One would have thought that the people would have walked in at one side while the inhabitants walked out at the other. God could have done it without the intervention of human effort at all. But this is not the point. What God did, as we learn from the history of this period, was, He used the sword and the bow of the people to secure to them the promise He had given to their fathers. And though no such stipulation is anywhere directly stated, yet universally we find that the human effort and skill are needful to the attainment of the gift of God. And it is just so with all that has to do with God. He has endowed us with certain powers which He calls upon us to exercise. When, then, on the one hand we sit down quietly and say, God has promised and will perform--there is nothing for me to do, or when we refuse to do anything because of our great weakness, or when we fail to call upon our powers of mind and heart to rise against the inroads of our spiritual enemies, or quietly submit when we are taken captive in the snares of the devil, we are just putting ourselves outside the pale of the directions which God has given us. So, too, when we ask God to work for us, and make supplication to Him to remove trouble or give us light and peace, if we say, God can and will work, and we do nothing ourselves, then we are forgetting this part of Gods ways. It is not by longing, wishing, desiring, however ardent, that God fulfils His loving purposes towards us; but by prayer, girding up our minds, and resolute, undaunted courage, that we must meet our foe--with thy sword and with thy bow. But what is the energy and activity here indicated? You will observe that God has not endowed man with any natural modes of offence or defence. The smallest insect is apparently better equipped for the dangers of its life than we are. But God has given man a stronger force than all. Will--moral force--the power of doing--are his; so that though unarmed he is more fully equipped against the multifarious dangers of his way. Nothing can assault him, but he can adopt such means as shall protect--such measures as shall totally defeat the foe. He has the sword and the bow. Moral dangers must be met by moral means, e.g., conscience must be kept clear, its voice must be listened to, and when heard the will must without hesitation obey. Spiritual blessings must be obtained by spiritual effort. God has promised them, He will give; but you must overcome the obstacles. Will you have the promise? then adopt the means needful. If you would scale the mountains, you look for a guide, and take provisions, and put on suitable dress. Put on the whole armour of God. Just as the poor shipwrecked one lays hold of the floating spar for very life, so you must lay hold of God, and laying hold of Him, do what He tells you. Cannot! No such word ought to be used. I can, I will! these are your sword and bow, and if you would extract blessing out of everything it must be by their use, and only thus will you gain the end you desire. But then it must be thy sword and thy bow. There is a speciality here. It is the act of the individual, the perseverance of the man.
II. Lifes conflict is not won by the human effort and energy. The greatest effort cannot obtain the victory; the most stupendous energy cannot save from defeat. It is one thing to meet the foe, it is another thing to win the day. And so our text tells us that it is not by thy sword nor by thy bow. You must fight, but God gives the victory. It is not won by your fighting, but by Gods aid. It is not secured by your prowess, but by Gods strength. It is all God, not you. (H. W. Butcher.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv11, 13 General Information:
General Information:
Joshua continues quoting what Yahweh said about his dealings with his people.
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You
The word "you" is plural throughout this speech and refers to the entire nation of Israel. (See: Forms of You)
the Jordan
This is a short name for the Jordan River.
the hornet
A small fast flying stinging insect that lives in colonies. Here, many "hornets" are spoken of as only one.
translationWords
Jordan River
Jericho
Amorite
Perizzite
Canaan
Hittite
Girgashites
Hivite
Jebus
sword
bow and arrow
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv11–13 24:11 See study note on 3:10.
24:11 See study note on 3:10.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.