Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Joshua
Chapter 23: Cleave Unto the LORD Your God
Old and near death, Joshua gathers the leaders of Israel for a farewell charge. He reminds them that 'the LORD your God is he that hath fought for you,' that 'one man of you shall chase a thousand,' and that God will drive out the remaining nations. But everything hinges on one command: 'cleave unto the LORD your God.' They must not mix with the nations, marry them, or serve their gods, or those nations will become 'snares and traps... and thorns in your eyes.' And Joshua seals it with a solemn double truth: as surely as 'not one thing hath failed of all the good things' God promised, so surely will evil come if they forsake Him. God keeps every word, for blessing and for warning.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Joshua chapter 23. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Here the aged Joshua charges Israel to cleave to the LORD who fought for them, warns against mixing with the nations, and seals his charge with the double certainty of God's word. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
One Chases a Thousand
Joshua recalls that God won all their battles.
Cleave Unto the LORD
The one thing on which everything hangs.
Snares and Thorns
Mixing with the nations will ensnare and ruin them.
God Keeps Every Word
As good came, so evil will come if they turn.
Cleave Unto the LORD Your God (Joshua 23:1-13)
The aged Joshua reminds Israel that the LORD fought for them and will drive out the rest, and charges them to cleave to God and never to mix with the nations, lest those nations become snares and thorns.
The LORD Your God, He It Is That Fighteth for You
"And it came to pass a long time after that the LORD had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua waxed old and stricken in age. And Joshua called for all Israel, and for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said unto them, I am old and stricken in age: And ye have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto all these nations because of you; for the LORD your God is he that hath fought for you. Behold, I have divided unto you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even unto the great sea westward. And the LORD your God, he shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and ye shall possess their land, as the LORD your God hath promised unto you. Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left; That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them: But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day. For the LORD hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day. One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you. Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God. Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you: Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you."
Word Study
"cleave," Hebrew dabaq (דָּבַק). The word means to cling, to stick fast, to join closely and hold on; it is the very word used of marriage, "a man... shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). It speaks of a devoted, clinging union. Joshua's central command is, "cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day." Everything else in the charge, courage, obedience, love, separation from the nations, flows from this one thing: cling to the LORD, hold fast to Him, be joined to Him as a wife to her husband. And Joshua sets the great alternative in the very same word: if they "cleave unto the remnant of these nations" (23:12), clinging to the world instead of to God, those nations will become "snares and traps... and thorns in your eyes." The heart cleaves to something; the only question is what. To cleave to the LORD is life; to cleave to the world is ruin. This is the language of covenant love throughout Scripture: "to him shalt thou cleave" (Deuteronomy 10:20); "with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord" (Acts 11:23); "he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:17). And it is the opposite of the double heart: we cannot cleave to God and to the world at once, "no man can serve two masters" (Matthew 6:24). So dabaq presses the one great question of the devoted life: to what, or to whom, do you cling? Joshua's dying charge is to cleave to the LORD, to hold fast to Him with the whole heart, refusing every rival attachment. The soul that cleaves to God is safe and blessed; the soul that cleaves to the world is snared. Cleave unto the LORD your God.
Explanation
Old Joshua gathers Israel's leaders for a farewell charge built on one great fact: "the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you." From that he draws the duties: be very courageous to keep all the law, "cleave unto the LORD," and above all do not mingle with the nations still left in the land — do not intermarry with them or serve their gods. For if they do, those surviving peoples will become "snares and traps... and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes." The un-driven-out nations were the standing danger, and compromise with them was the road to ruin.
Gospel Focus
Joshua, "old and stricken in age," gathers the leaders for a farewell charge, and it is a model of godly counsel. He begins not with what Israel did but with what God did: "the LORD your God is he that hath fought for you." Every victory was God's gift; "one man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you." The foundation of the charge is God's proven faithfulness. On that foundation Joshua builds his central appeal: "cleave unto the LORD your God." And he is clear about the great danger, not open apostasy at first, but gradual mixing with the surrounding nations, "make marriages with them," share their ways, "make mention of the name of their gods." Compromise with the world begins subtly and ends in ruin: the nations Israel failed to drive out would become "snares and traps... and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes." What is tolerated becomes entangling; what is embraced becomes enslaving. For the Apostolic reader this charge is timeless. Our victories, too, are God's doing; He fights for us, and one with God is a majority. The heart of the faithful life is to cleave to the LORD, to cling to Him with undivided devotion, holding fast as a bride to her husband. And the great danger to God's people is not usually a sudden renunciation of faith, but a slow, comfortable mingling with the world, its friendships, its values, its idols, until what we would not drive out ensnares us. "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers" (2 Corinthians 6:14); "love not the world, neither the things that are in the world" (1 John 2:15). So we take Joshua's dying counsel to heart: we remember that God has fought for us, we cleave to Him with all our heart, and we refuse the subtle compromise with the world that begins in friendship and ends in bondage. Cling to the LORD, and let nothing rival your hold on Him.
Not One Thing Hath Failed (Joshua 23:14-16)
Facing his own death, Joshua testifies that not one of God's good promises failed, and warns with equal certainty that as every good thing came, so evil will come if Israel forsakes the LORD.
The Way of All the Earth
"And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof. Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things, until he have destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you."
Word Study
"the way of all the earth," Hebrew derek kol ha-arets (דֶּרֶךְ כָּל־הָאָרֶץ). Joshua says, "this day I am going the way of all the earth", a solemn, dignified way of speaking of death, the path that every person on earth must walk. King David used the same phrase on his deathbed: "I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man" (1 Kings 2:2). Death is the appointment none escapes; "it is appointed unto men once to die" (Hebrews 9:27). Yet notice how Joshua faces it: not with fear or despair, but with a clear testimony to God's faithfulness. On the threshold of death, what fills his heart is that "not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake." A life spent following the LORD ends not in regret but in a witness to His faithfulness. And from the edge of the grave, Joshua speaks with the weight that a dying man's words carry. He uses his last breath to point Israel to the two-sided certainty of God's word: as surely as every good promise came to pass, so surely will the threatened judgment come if they forsake the LORD. The God who cannot fail to keep His good word cannot fail to keep His warning either; His faithfulness cuts both ways. So derek kol ha-arets sets before us both our mortality and its meaning. We are all walking the way of all the earth; death is certain. The question is what our lives will testify at the end. Joshua, having cleaved to the LORD, could die declaring that God kept every good word. May we so live, cleaving to the LORD, that when we come to the way of all the earth, our last testimony is his: not one good thing that God has promised has failed; all came to pass.
Explanation
"I am going the way of all the earth," says Joshua — a dignified confession of his coming death — and he stakes his final warning on God's proven track record. "Not one thing hath failed of all the good things" God promised; every blessing came true. But that same faithfulness cuts both ways: the God who so surely kept His promises of good will just as surely bring "all evil things" upon them if they break covenant. God's reliability is not one-sided. The very consistency that made every blessing come to pass guarantees that His warnings are not idle either.
Gospel Focus
Joshua closes his charge with a testimony and a warning, and both rest on the same truth: God keeps His word. The testimony is triumphant, and it echoes the great summary of chapter 21: "ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass." Every good promise was kept; the aged leader stakes his dying witness on it. But then comes the sober other edge of the same faithfulness: "as all good things are come upon you... so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things," if they "transgress the covenant" and "serve other gods." The God who faithfully kept every promise of blessing will just as faithfully bring every threatened judgment upon covenant-breakers. His word does not fail in either direction. This is a truth God's people must hold together. The faithfulness of God is our comfort, He will surely keep every good promise; and it is also our warning, He will surely execute every righteous judgment. We cannot claim His promises while presuming upon His warnings. For the Apostolic reader this is deeply relevant. The gospel is good news of God's kept promises, forgiveness, the Spirit, adoption, eternal life; and it comes with the sober reality that God is also faithful to judge sin. "The same God who is faithful to save is faithful to warn." The New Testament sounds the same double note: "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God" (Romans 11:22). So we take Joshua's dying words to heart. We rejoice that not one good promise of God will fail, and we tremble that His warnings are just as sure. We cleave to the LORD, we do not presume upon His grace while walking in disobedience, and we live in the fear and the love of the God whose every word, of blessing and of warning alike, will surely come to pass. And we remember that the way of all the earth comes to us all; blessed is the one who, having cleaved to the LORD, meets it testifying that God kept every word.
Chapter 23 in Review
Joshua 23 records the aged Joshua's farewell charge to Israel's leaders. He grounds it in God's proven faithfulness: "the LORD your God is he that hath fought for you," "one man of you shall chase a thousand." On that foundation he gives his central command, "cleave unto the LORD your God," and warns against the subtle danger of mixing with the nations, which would become "snares and traps... and thorns in your eyes." Then, facing "the way of all the earth," he seals his charge with a double certainty: "not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake... all are come to pass"; but "as all good things are come upon you... so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things" if they forsake the covenant.
For the Apostolic reader this chapter is a dying man's wisdom, and it holds several enduring lessons. First, our victories are God's doing; He fights for us, and one with God prevails against a thousand. Second, the heart of the faithful life is to cleave to the LORD, to cling to Him with undivided devotion as a bride to her husband, and the great danger is not usually sudden apostasy but slow, comfortable compromise with the world, its friendships and values and idols, until what we fail to drive out ensnares us. Third, and sealing it all, God keeps His word both ways. Joshua, on the edge of the grave, could testify that "not one thing hath failed" of God's good promises; and with the same breath he warned that God's righteous judgments are just as certain. The faithfulness of God is our comfort and our warning: He will keep every promise, and He will execute every righteous judgment. So we take the charge to heart. We remember that God has fought for us, we cleave to Him with all our heart, we refuse the entangling compromise with the world, and we live in the fear and the love of the God whose every word will surely come to pass, that when we come to the way of all the earth, we may meet it, like Joshua, testifying that God kept every good word He ever spoke.
- Our victories are God's doing: "the LORD... he it is that fighteth for you" (23:3, 10).
- The central command of the faithful life: "cleave unto the LORD your God" (23:8; Genesis 2:24).
- The great danger is slow compromise with the world, not usually sudden apostasy (23:12-13).
- What we fail to drive out becomes "snares... and thorns in your eyes" (23:13).
- Joshua faced death testifying that "not one thing hath failed" of God's good promises (23:14).
- God keeps His word both ways: as good came, so judgment comes on covenant-breakers (23:15-16; Romans 11:22).
Questions for Reflection
- To what, or to whom, does your heart cleave, the LORD, or the world?
- Where is a subtle compromise with the world beginning to ensnare you?
- Do you hold together God's faithful promises and His faithful warnings?
- If you came today to "the way of all the earth," what would your life testify?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. The LORD fought for Israel; one chases a thousand: Joshua 23:1-5, 9-10; Exodus 14:14; Deuteronomy 3:22; 32:30; Leviticus 26:8. Cleave to the LORD; do not mix with the nations: Joshua 23:6-8, 11-13; Genesis 2:24; Deuteronomy 7:1-4; 10:20; Exodus 34:12-16; 2 Corinthians 6:14-17; 1 John 2:15-17; Matthew 6:24. The way of all the earth; God keeps every word: Joshua 23:14-16; 1 Kings 2:2; Hebrews 9:27; Joshua 21:45; 1 Kings 8:56; Romans 11:22; Numbers 23:19. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- God fought for Israel; one chases a thousand: Joshua 23:1-10; Deuteronomy 32:30.
- "Cleave unto the LORD your God"; do not mix with the nations: Joshua 23:6-13; Genesis 2:24; 2 Corinthians 6:14.
- "The way of all the earth"; "not one thing hath failed": Joshua 23:14; 1 Kings 2:2; Joshua 21:45.
- God keeps His word both ways: blessing and warning: Joshua 23:15-16; Romans 11:22.