Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Joshua
Joshua is the book of entering the promise. Under a leader whose name means 'The LORD saves,' Israel crosses the Jordan, sees Jericho fall, and takes possession of the land God swore to Abraham. It is a book about faith, courage, and the faithfulness of God to keep His word. This commentary walks through it verse by verse.
About This Commentary
Joshua carries the story from the wilderness into the Promised Land. Where Numbers and Deuteronomy showed a generation that fell short through unbelief, Joshua shows a people who go in and take hold of the promise. The Jordan parts, Jericho falls, battles are won and lost, and the land is divided among the tribes. Running through it all is a single theme: God keeps His word, and His people enter His rest by faith and obedience.
This commentary covers Joshua verse by verse, with the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, verified background, and an Apostolic reading. The name Joshua is the name Jesus, and Hebrews teaches that the rest Joshua gave was only a shadow of the rest Christ gives (Hebrews 4:8-9). References are given at the foot of each chapter.
All twenty-four chapters of Joshua are now complete, from the crossing of the Jordan to the death of Joshua and the burial of Joseph's bones in the Promised Land.
Author
Traditionally Joshua, with the account of his death added later.
Setting
Canaan, at the crossing of the Jordan and the conquest of the land.
Key Name
Joshua (Yehoshua), 'The LORD saves', the Hebrew form of the name Jesus.
Theme
Entering the promise: God keeps His word; His people take hold by faith.
Translation
King James Version (KJV) throughout.
The Chapters
Joshua Commentary
The chapters below are available now. The rest are being written and will open here as they are finished and verified.
Joshua 1:1-18
Be Strong and Courageous
After Moses' death God commissions Joshua to cross the Jordan and take the land, promising His presence, commanding courage three times, and tying success to meditating on His Word.
Read Chapter 1 →Joshua 2:1-24
Rahab and the Scarlet Cord
Two spies are sheltered by Rahab the harlot, whose faith in the LORD saves her and her household. She confesses that the LORD is "God in heaven above, and in earth beneath," and binds a scarlet cord in her window, a shadow of the blood that saves.
Read Chapter 2 →Joshua 3:1-17
Crossing the Jordan
Israel follows the ark of the covenant to the flooded Jordan. Joshua calls them to "sanctify yourselves," declares "the living God is among you," and as the priests step into the water it stands in a heap, and the nation crosses on dry ground.
Read Chapter 3 →Joshua 4:1-24
What Mean These Stones?
Twelve stones are carried from the midst of the Jordan to build a memorial, so that when children ask, "What mean these stones?" the fathers can tell what the LORD did, "that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD... that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever."
Read Chapter 4 →Joshua 5:1-15
The Captain of the LORD's Host
Before any battle, God consecrates Israel: the new generation is circumcised at Gilgal, "the reproach of Egypt" is rolled away, and the Passover is kept as the manna ceases. Then Joshua meets and worships the captain of the LORD's host on holy ground, the LORD Himself come to lead His people.
Read Chapter 5 →Joshua 6:1-27
The Walls of Jericho Fall
God gives a battle plan of faith: march around Jericho for six days, and seven times on the seventh, with the ark and the trumpets. At the shout of faith the walls "fell down flat," and Rahab the believing Gentile is saved alive with all her house.
Read Chapter 6 →Joshua 7:1-26
The Sin of Achan
After Jericho, Israel is routed at Ai because of hidden sin: Achan took of the accursed thing. "I saw... then I coveted... and took." His secret sin defeated the whole nation, and judgment falls in the valley of Achor, which God later makes "a door of hope."
Read Chapter 7 →Joshua 8:1-35
Victory at Ai and the Altar on Ebal
With sin purged, God says "Fear not" and gives Ai into Israel's hand. The king is hanged on a tree, a shadow of Christ "made a curse for us." Then Joshua builds an altar on Mount Ebal, writes the law on stones, and reads all its blessings and cursings before the whole congregation.
Read Chapter 8 →Joshua 9:1-27
The Gibeonite Deception
The Gibeonites disguise themselves as travelers from a far country to obtain a treaty. Israel inspects their provisions but "asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD," and swears an oath. When the deceit is found, Israel keeps its word because it swore by the LORD, and Gibeon is spared to serve near God's altar.
Read Chapter 9 →Joshua 10:1-43
The Day the Sun Stood Still
Five kings attack Gibeon, and Israel marches all night to its rescue. The LORD casts down hailstones, and at Joshua's word "the sun stood still... about a whole day." The kings are subdued, feet on their necks, and the south is conquered, "because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel."
Read Chapter 10 →Joshua 11:1-23
And the Land Rested From War
A vast northern coalition with "horses and chariots very many" gathers, but God says "Be not afraid" and has Israel hough the horses and burn the chariots. Joshua takes the whole land, cuts off the giant Anakim, and "left nothing undone," and at last "the land rested from war."
Read Chapter 11 →Joshua 12:1-24
A Roll of Thirty-One Kings
A victory roll of every king the LORD gave into Israel's hand: the two kings east of Jordan under Moses, then the thirty-one kings of Canaan under Joshua, named one by one, "all the kings thirty and one", a memorial that every promise was kept.
Read Chapter 12 →Joshua 13:1-33
The LORD Was Their Inheritance
Joshua is old, yet "there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed." The division of the inheritance begins with the eastern tribes, and the chapter twice declares of Levi, who received no land, that "the LORD God of Israel was their inheritance", God Himself the portion of His people.
Read Chapter 13 →Joshua 14:1-15
Give Me This Mountain
The land is divided by lot, and Caleb, who "wholly followed the LORD" when the other spies made the people fear, claims the promise made forty-five years before. Still strong at eighty-five, he asks for the hardest prize, the mountain of Hebron where the giant Anakim dwelt: "Now therefore give me this mountain."
Read Chapter 14 →Joshua 15:1-63
Give Me Also Springs of Water
Judah, the royal tribe from which Christ came, receives its inheritance, its border passing the valley of Hinnom that would become Gehenna. Achsah boldly asks her father for springs of water and receives "the upper springs, and the nether springs." Yet the Jebusites of Jerusalem "the children of Judah could not drive them out."
Read Chapter 15 →Joshua 16:1-10
The Inheritance of Joseph
The children of Joseph, through Ephraim and Manasseh, receive the double portion of the birthright. But the chapter closes with a subtle compromise: Ephraim "drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer," but kept them for gain, "under tribute", a warning against keeping what God said to remove.
Read Chapter 16 →Joshua 17:1-18
Though They Have Iron Chariots
Manasseh receives its portion, and the daughters of Zelophehad "came near" and claimed the inheritance God promised them. Yet the Canaanites are put to tribute, not driven out. When Joseph complains their lot is too small, Joshua calls them to faith and effort: clear the forest and "drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong."
Read Chapter 17 →Joshua 18:1-28
How Long Are Ye Slack?
The tabernacle is set up at Shiloh, but seven tribes still have not taken their inheritance. Joshua rebukes their slackness: "How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you?" The land is surveyed and divided by lot, and Benjamin, "son of the right hand," receives its portion.
Read Chapter 18 →Joshua 19:1-51
The Leader Served Himself Last
The last six tribes receive their inheritance, Simeon within Judah's abundance, then Zebulun, Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan. When all are settled, Israel gives Joshua his own portion last of all, only the city he asked for, a shadow of the greater Joshua who took the lowest place.
Read Chapter 19 →Joshua 20:1-9
The Cities of Refuge
God appoints cities of refuge where the slayer may flee from the avenger of blood, and be safe until "the death of the high priest," when he goes free. One of the clearest pictures of the gospel: Christ our refuge, safety only in Him, freedom by the death of our High Priest, and open to "whosoever" will flee.
Read Chapter 20 →Joshua 21:1-45
There Failed Not Ought of Any Good Thing
The Levites receive forty-eight cities among all the tribes, the cities of refuge among them, joining mercy and priesthood. Then the book of conquest reaches its triumphant summary: God gave the land and rest exactly as He swore, and "there failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken... all came to pass."
Read Chapter 21 →Joshua 22:1-34
The Altar Called Ed, a Witness
The eastern tribes are sent home and build a great altar by the Jordan; the nation fears apostasy and gathers for war, but first sends Phinehas to inquire. The altar proves to be "a witness" of shared faith, that their children would never be told they had "no part in the LORD." They call it Ed, "a witness that the LORD is God."
Read Chapter 22 →Joshua 23:1-16
Cleave Unto the LORD Your God
Old and near death, Joshua charges Israel's leaders: the LORD fought for you, so "cleave unto the LORD your God," and do not mix with the nations, lest they become "snares... and thorns in your eyes." He seals it with a double certainty: as "not one thing hath failed" of God's good promises, so evil will surely come if they forsake Him.
Read Chapter 23 →Joshua 24:1-33
Choose You This Day Whom Ye Will Serve
At Shechem Joshua rehearses all God's grace from Abraham onward, then presses the great decision: "choose you this day whom ye will serve... but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." The people covenant to serve Him, a great stone is set up as witness, and Joshua dies at 110, Joseph's bones at last buried in the land, the book closing on a nation at rest in the promise.
Read Chapter 24 →