A Brighter Day Begins with His Word.

PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible — Joshua

Gill, John, 1697-1771 · 121,573 words · 331 reading sections

SECTION 1

Joshua 1:1

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible. Joshua 1:1 INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA The Jews distinguish the prophets into former and latter; the first of the former prophets is Joshua, or Sepher Joshua, the book of Joshua, as it is commonly called in the Hebrew copies; the Syriac inscription is, "the book of Joshua, the…

1,638 words
SECTION 2

Joshua 1:2

Joshua 1:2 Ver. 2. Moses my servant is dead,.... Which was said not for the information of Joshua, but to lead on to, and show the cause and reason of what he was about to say to him: now therefore arise, go over this Jordan; near to which the whole body of the people of Israel were, and very probably were in sight o…

263 words
SECTION 3

Joshua 1:3

Joshua 1:3 Ver. 3. Every place that the sole of your feet shall tread upon,.... That is, in the land of Canaan: that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses: See Gill on "De 11:24"; though the Jews extend this to all without the land subdued by them, and even to all the countries they now tread on, and are exiles…

82 words
SECTION 4

Joshua 1:4

Joshua 1:4 Ver. 4. From the wilderness,.... The wilderness of Kadesh and Sin, on the border of Edom; in the southeast corner, as Jarchi says, see Nu 34:3; and this Lebanon; which though on the other side Jordan, and at a considerable distance, being the northern border of the land towards Syria, might be seen afar of…

275 words
SECTION 5

Joshua 1:5

Joshua 1:5 Ver. 5. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life,.... What is promised to the people in common, De 11:25; is here particularly promised to Joshua their general; and which was fulfilled in him, and still more in Christ his antitype, who made an end of sin, destroyed the d…

207 words
SECTION 6

Joshua 1:6

Joshua 1:6 Ver. 6. Be strong, and of good courage,.... The same exhortation Moses gave him, De 31:7; and is afterwards repeated in this chapter, as being of great moment and importance, as it is in the general of an army to show greatness and strength of mind, valour and courage, and not be dismayed at the number and …

190 words
SECTION 7

Joshua 1:7

Joshua 1:7 Ver. 7. Only be thou strong, and very courageous,.... For though Joshua was a man of valour and courage, as appears by his war with Amalek, yet there was need of this exhortation, and of repeating it, since he was to engage with a people more and mightier than those with him, and who dwelt in strong and for…

395 words
SECTION 8

Joshua 1:8

Joshua 1:8 Ver. 8. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth,.... He was often to read it, frequently repeat it, and speak of it, to refresh his own memory with it, and the memory of those about him. Jarchi restrains it to the book of Deuteronomy now before him: but thou shalt meditate therein day and ni…

131 words
SECTION 9

Joshua 1:9

Joshua 1:9 Ver. 9. Have not I commanded thee?.... The above things, to go over Jordan with the people into the land of Canaan, and to observe the law of Moses in all things, and to be of good courage, which is again repeated; consider who it is that has given these orders and instructions, the great Jehovah, the everl…

218 words
SECTION 10

Joshua 1:10

Joshua 1:10 Ver. 10. Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people,.... The same word is used in De 16:18; where it seems to design such officers that attended on the judges, and executed their orders; but one would think it should here rather signify officers in the army, as captains, and the like; unless it shoul…

94 words
SECTION 11

Joshua 1:11

Joshua 1:11 Ver. 11. Pass through the host,.... The whole camp of Israel, consisting of six hundred thousand fighting men: and command the people; even all the people of Israel; this includes women as well as men, for the one, as well as the other, were to do what follows, and especially it may seem the business of t…

1,412 words
SECTION 12

Joshua 2:1

Joshua 2:1 INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 2 This chapter gives an account of the spies sent by Joshua to Jericho, and of their entrance into the house of Rahab, who hid them from the king's messengers, Jos 2:1; of the relation she gave them of the fear and dread of Israel, which were fallen upon the Canaanites, Jos 2:8; and …

1,104 words
SECTION 13

Joshua 2:2

Joshua 2:2 Ver. 2. And it was told the king of Jericho, saying,.... Who being alarmed at the near approach of the Israelites, and knowing their claim to the land of Canaan, and their design upon it, employed men to watch and observe what passed in the city, and parts adjacent, and inform him of it; or some persons of …

204 words
SECTION 14

Joshua 2:3

Joshua 2:3 Ver. 3. And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab,.... Not merely because she kept a public house, or being a prostitute had often strangers in it, and so conjectured that the men he had notice of might be there; but he sent upon certain information that they were seen to go in there, as it follows: saying, …

174 words
SECTION 15

Joshua 2:4

Joshua 2:4 Ver. 4. And the woman took the two men,.... Or "she had taken" them {z} before the messengers came, upon a rumour she understood was gone abroad, that she had got Israelitish spies in her house, and so might expect to be visited and searched by the king's officers, and therefore took this precaution: and h…

253 words
SECTION 16

Joshua 2:5

Joshua 2:5 Ver. 5. And it came to pass, [about the time] of the shutting of the gate,.... Of the city, which was done every night, and at a certain time: when it was dark; the sun set, and night come on: that the men went out; out of her house, and out of the city too, as she said, though it was a downright lie, as …

217 words
SECTION 17

Joshua 2:6

Joshua 2:6 Ver. 6. But she had brought them up to the roof of the house,.... Before the messengers came; though Abarbinel thinks it was after they were gone, when she took them from the place of their concealment, and had them to the roof of the house, where she thought they would be safe and secure, should the messen…

345 words
SECTION 18

Joshua 2:7

Joshua 2:7 Ver. 7. And the men pursued after them,.... As they thought: the way to Jordan; on the other side of which the people of Israel lay encamped, to which they supposed, according to Rahab's account, these two men directed their course: unto the fords; the fords of Jordan, the passages through it; for in some…

243 words
SECTION 19

Joshua 2:8

Joshua 2:8 Ver. 8. And before they were laid down,.... Under the stalks of the flax; or rather, since they are said to be hid in them, before they were fallen asleep, so Kimchi and Abarbinel: she came up unto them upon the roof; to acquaint them how things were, and to converse with them on the following subjects.…

60 words
SECTION 20

Joshua 2:9

Joshua 2:9 Ver. 9. And she said unto the men,.... The two spies: I know that the Lord hath given you the land; the land of Canaan, of which she was an inhabitant, and in which they now were; this she knew either by some tradition that was among them; or by divine revelation, a supernatural impulse upon her mind: or b…

210 words
SECTION 21

Joshua 2:10

Joshua 2:10 Ver. 10. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt,.... To make a passage for them through it, to walk in as on dry land; this they had heard of and remembered, though it was forty years ago: and what you did unto the kings of the Amorites that [w…

146 words
SECTION 22

Joshua 2:11

Joshua 2:11 Ver. 11. And as soon as we had heard [these things], our hearts did melt,.... Particularly what were done to the two kings of the Amorites, who, and their people, were utterly destroyed, their goods made a prey of, and their countries seized upon and possessed: neither did there remain any more courage in…

218 words
SECTION 23

Joshua 2:12

Joshua 2:12 Ver. 12. Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord,.... Which being a religious action, and done by men that feared the Lord, she knew it would be binding upon them: the Targum is, "swear to me by the Word of the Lord:'' since I have showed you kindness; by receiving them with peace into her h…

195 words
SECTION 24

Joshua 2:13

Joshua 2:13 Ver. 13. And [that] ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters,.... She makes no mention of any husband or children she had, as harlots seldom have, and which seems to confirm her character as such; and so Abarbinel observes, that her father's house is only mentioned to te…

219 words
SECTION 25

Joshua 2:14

Joshua 2:14 Ver. 14. And the men answered her,.... The two spies:our life for yours; or "our souls in your stead to die" {i}; that is, we engage for the security of your lives, should they be in danger; we promise to die in your room and stead rather than you should: this they said not as though their lives would be r…

2,278 words
SECTION 26

Joshua 3:1

Joshua 3:1 INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 3 Joshua removed from Shittim to Jordan, where he stayed three days, Jos 3:1; the people are directed to move when they saw the ark bore by the priests, and what distance they should keep from it, Jos 3:3; are bid to sanctify themselves against the morrow, when wonders would be wroug…

362 words
SECTION 27

Joshua 3:2

Joshua 3:2 Ver. 2. And it came to pass after three days,.... At the end of the three days they were bid to prepare food for their expedition, and to go over Jordan, Jos 1:11; that the officers went through the host; the camp of Israel; very probably the same as in Jos 1:10; this was, no doubt, by the order of Joshua,…

75 words
SECTION 28

Joshua 3:3

Joshua 3:3 Ver. 3. And they commanded the people,.... In the name of Joshua, by whom they were sent: saying, when ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it: the Targum reads, the priests and Levites; so the Septuagint: it was the business of the Levites, particularly …

428 words
SECTION 29

Joshua 3:4

Joshua 3:4 Ver. 4. Yet there shall be a space between you and it,.... The ark; the Keri or marginal reading is, "between you and them"; the priests that bear it: hence sprung a fiction among the Jews, that there were two arks, the ark of the Shechinah or divine Majesty, and the ark of Joseph, in which his bones were p…

460 words
SECTION 30

Joshua 3:5

Joshua 3:5 Ver. 5. And Joshua said unto the people,.... On the third day; and the thirtieth day of the mourning for Moses, Jarchi says, was the first of the three days, and that being the seventh day of the month, this must be the ninth, as it is most clear the morrow was the tenth: sanctify yourselves; in a ceremoni…

175 words
SECTION 31

Joshua 3:6

Joshua 3:6 Ver. 6. And Joshua spoke unto the priests,.... On the morrow, that is, on the tenth day of the month, the day on which they went over Jordan: saying, take up the ark of the covenant; in which the law was put, which was the covenant between God and the people, from whence the ark had this name; and in which…

215 words
SECTION 32

Joshua 3:7

Joshua 3:7 Ver. 7. And the Lord said unto Joshua,.... Out of the tabernacle: this day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel; by working the miracle afterwards related; dividing the waters, which was done on this day, and was but the beginning of wonders; for other great and marvellous things were do…

173 words
SECTION 33

Joshua 3:8

Joshua 3:8 Ver. 8. And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the Lord,.... Who were subject to Joshua, the chief governor of the nation, and general of the army, as well as the common people; and whose commands they were to obey, and especially when they appeared to be from the Lord: saying, when ye com…

265 words
SECTION 34

Joshua 3:9

Joshua 3:9 Ver. 9. And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, come hither,.... Very probably to the door of the tabernacle: and hear the words of the Lord your God; which he was about to deliver to them as from him, and in his name.…

47 words
SECTION 35

Joshua 3:10

Joshua 3:10 Ver. 10. And Joshua said,.... To the people as follows: hereby ye shall know that the living God [is] among you; who has life in and of himself, and is the author of life to all his creatures; and is so called in opposition to the lifeless idols of the Gentiles: and it may be, as Abarbinel observes, to su…

180 words
SECTION 36

Joshua 3:11

Joshua 3:11 Ver. 11. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth,.... Some both Jewish and Christian interpreters, because there is a distinguishing accent on the word "covenant", read the words "the ark of the covenant, even the Lord of all the earth"; so in some copies of our English Bible, as if th…

247 words
SECTION 37

Joshua 3:12

Joshua 3:12 Ver. 12. Now therefore take ye twelve men,.... For what end and purpose is not mentioned. Abarbinel is of opinion, that they were chosen and appointed, that every man might pitch upon and take a place for his tribe to encamp in, when they came on the other side Jordan: whether this was Joshua's view or no …

135 words
SECTION 38

Joshua 3:13

Joshua 3:13 Ver. 13. And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord,.... Which they were bid to take up and carry, Jos 3:6; the Lord of all the earth; this shows that not the ark, but the Lord, is called "the Lord of all the earth", See Gill on "Jos 3:11": sh…

215 words
SECTION 39

Joshua 3:14

Joshua 3:14 Ver. 14. And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents to pass over Jordan,.... Which they had pitched very near it, upon their removal from Shittim, and in which they had lodged the night past: and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people; at the distance of two thous…

61 words
SECTION 40

Joshua 3:15

Joshua 3:15 Ver. 15. And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan,.... Not to the bank, which was overflowed, but to the extremity of the water overflowing: and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water; which was doubtless the first they came to, and not the brim or extrem…

571 words
SECTION 41

Joshua 3:16

Joshua 3:16 Ver. 16. That the waters which came down from above,.... Above where the priests' feet rested, and which came down from Mount Lebanon, and the fountains of Jordan northward: stood [and] rose up upon an heap; they stopped their current, and as the water came down they rose up on high, and made one vast hea…

458 words
SECTION 42

Joshua 3:17

Joshua 3:17 Ver. 17. And the priests that bare the ark of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan,.... Which for its breadth Mr. Maundrell, the above mentioned traveller, says {c} might be about twenty yards over, and its depth exceeded his height; but Dr. Shaw {d}, a later traveller still, says, "th…

486 words
SECTION 43

Joshua 4:1

Joshua 4:1 INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 4 This chapter relates an order, that is men, should take twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, and carry them to the first place they lodged at as a memorial of their passage over it, Jos 4:1; and how Joshua set up twelve other stones in the river itself, Jos 4:9; and how many o…

178 words
SECTION 44

Joshua 4:2

Joshua 4:2 Ver. 2. Take you twelve men out of the people,.... Joshua had before this ordered twelve men to be taken from among them, which seems to have been done of himself; and now he has a direction from God for it, and what to employ them in: out of every tribe a man; so that what they did was in the name of the …

73 words
SECTION 45

Joshua 4:3

Joshua 4:3 Ver. 3. And command you them, saying,.... As follows: take you hence out of the midst of Jordan; so that they were obliged to go back into the midst of Jordan, having already passed over it, as appears from Jos 4:1; out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm; where being stones, they chose to sta…

200 words
SECTION 46

Joshua 4:4

Joshua 4:4 Ver. 4. Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had prepared of the children of Israel,.... It may be for some other purpose, Jos 3:12; but this was the destination of them eventually, and as by divine direction: out of every tribe a man: as he had before ordered, and was now directed to.…

59 words
SECTION 47

Joshua 4:5

Joshua 4:5 Ver. 5. And Joshua said unto them,.... The twelve men: pass ye over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan; that is, they were to go back to Jordan again, which they had passed over, and go into the midst of it, where were the priests bearing the ark; for it is not to be imagined that…

170 words
SECTION 48

Joshua 4:6

Joshua 4:6 Ver. 6. That this may be a sign among you,.... A commemorative one: [that] when your children ask [their fathers] in time to come; or "tomorrow" {g} and so in all time, or any time hereafter: saying, what mean you by these stones? what is the reason of setting them up, and in this place, and being just of…

72 words
SECTION 49

Joshua 4:7

Joshua 4:7 Ver. 7. Then ye shall answer them,.... By informing them of the design and use of them: that the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord when it passed over Jordan; the waters below from those that were, above, which stood up on an heap; so that they were divided and separa…

220 words
SECTION 50

Joshua 4:8

Joshua 4:8 Ver. 8. And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded,.... That is, the twelve men taken out of the twelve tribes of Israel, and who were the representatives of them in this action; and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the t…

150 words
SECTION 51

Joshua 4:9

Joshua 4:9 Ver. 9. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan,.... Twelve other stones, as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, and so Jarchi; which he set one upon another, so that they might be seen above the water; or however the water of Jordan being clear, they might easily be discerned by those…

421 words
SECTION 52

Joshua 4:10

Joshua 4:10 Ver. 10. For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan,.... Though on dry ground, the waters being divided: until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua; that is, until all the people had passed over J…

350 words
SECTION 53

Joshua 4:11

Joshua 4:11 Ver. 11. And it came to pass, when the people were clean passed over,.... Every one of them, as in Jos 3:17; that the ark of the Lord passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people; that is, the priests bearing the ark came out of the midst of Jordan in the sight of all the people, who were o…

120 words
SECTION 54

Joshua 4:12

Joshua 4:12 Ver. 12. And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh,.... Who were settled on the other side Jordan, in the countries taken from Sihon and Og: passed over armed before the children of Israel; the rest of the tribes: as Moses spake unto them; or ordered them, and as…

67 words
SECTION 55

Joshua 4:13

Joshua 4:13 Ver. 13. About forty thousand prepared for war,.... Accoutred with proper armour to defend themselves, and their brethren, and annoy their enemies: this is to be understood of such a number of the above mentioned tribes; otherwise the number of all Israel that went over Jordan, even armed or fighting men, …

218 words
SECTION 56

Joshua 4:14

Joshua 4:14 Ver. 14. On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of Israel,.... Made him great and honourable in their esteem, by doing what he foretold would be done, dividing the waters of Jordan, drying up the river to make a passage for them through it, as on dry land: and they feared him, as they feared M…

90 words
SECTION 57

Joshua 4:15

Joshua 4:15 Ver. 15. And the Lord spake unto Joshua,.... When all the people had passed over jordan: saying; as follows.…

22 words
SECTION 58

Joshua 4:16

Joshua 4:16 Ver. 16. Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony,.... In all places before, in this history, the ark is called the ark of the covenant, here the ark of the testimony, which signifies the same thing, the law; which was both the covenant between God and the people, and a testimony of his will …

95 words
SECTION 59

Joshua 4:17

Joshua 4:17 Ver. 17. Joshua therefore commanded the priests,.... In obedience to the Lord, and sent them an order: saying; as follows: come ye up out of Jordan; from the midst of the river to the bank of it, which was properly an ascent.…

45 words
SECTION 60

Joshua 4:18

Joshua 4:18 Ver. 18. And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord were come up out of the midst of Jordan,.... According to the command of Joshua in the name of the Lord: [and] the soles of the priests' feet were lift up upon the dry land; and set upon it, on the bank of Jordan,…

149 words
Page 1 of 6Next →

Source & rights

Public domain; John Gill (1697–1771). Source item is marked Public Domain on Internet Archive.

Project Gutenberg source record →

Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.