Joshua 1:13

Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, The LORD your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(13) Hath given you rest.—Observe this phrase. as applied to the settlement of Israel in the land of promise, on either side of Jordan. Those who condemn the two and a half tribes (or the persons whom they suppose to be spiritually represented by them) for not going far enough, should notice that on both sides of Jordan equally there was the “rest of God.” But this “rest” is only the first stage of several in Israel’s history. We find it again in the reign of David (2Samuel 7:1), Solomon (1Chronicles 22:9), Esther (Joshua 9:16-18; Joshua 9:22), and we must not forget the comment in Hebrews 4, obtained from Psalms 95 : “For if Joshua had given them rest, then would He not afterward have spoken of another day.” “These all received not the promise.” “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” The last rest is Sabbatical; the rests that precede it are halting-places on the way.

Benson Commentary

Joshua 1:13-14. Which Moses commanded you — His charge to you, and your promise to him. Rest — That is, a place of rest, as that word signifies. Before your brethren — In the front of all of them; which was but reasonable; because they had the advantage of their brethren, having actually received their portion, which their brethren had only in hope; because they were freed from those impediments which the rest were exposed to, their wives, and children, and estates being safely lodged; and to prevent their withdrawing themselves from the present service, which they otherwise would have had temptations to do, because of the nearness of their habitations. Armed — For by this time they were well furnished with arms, which they had either from the Egyptians, Amalekites, or Amorites, from whom they had taken them; or, by purchase, from those people by whose borders they passed. Men of valour — All such were obliged to go over, if occasion required it, but Joshua took only some of them, because they were sufficient for his purpose, and because it was proper some should be left, both to secure their own wives, children, and possessions, and to prevent their enemies on that side from giving them disturbance while engaged in their enterprise upon Canaan.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:10-15 Joshua says to the people, Ye shall pass over Jordan, and shall possess the land; because God had said so to him. We honour the truth of God, when we stagger not at the promise of God. The two tribes and a half were to go over Jordan with their brethren. When God, by his providence, has given us rest, we ought to consider what service we may do to our brethren.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Prepare you victuals - The order was probably given with the knowledge that the manna would cease when the host crossed the Jordan Exodus 16:35, and possibly because amidst their preparations there might not be opportunity to gather it in sufficient quantity. Nor does it appear that manna ever formed the whole and sole sustenance of the people. (Compare Numbers 20:1 note.)

It is the view of the majority of commentators - Jewish and Christian, ancient and modern - that the "three days" here named are identical with those of Joshua 3:2; and that the command of Joshua in the text was not in fact given until after the return of the spies. Here, as elsewhere in the Hebrew historical books and frequently in the Gospels, the order of time is superseded by the order of thought. For the purpose if the writer was not historical merely; it was, on the contrary, mainly religious and theoretical. Intending, then, to exhibit God as accomplishing His promises to the covenant-people, he begins by informing us that God gave the word and set Joshua and the host actually in motion to take possession of their inheritance. Having placed this leading fact in the forefront, he returns to mention in Joshua 2 certain transactions closely relevant to the early stages of Joshua's conquests, but which had in fact happened before the camp was removed from the plains of Moab and immediately after the expiration of the thirty days' mourning for Moses. Deuteronomy 34:8. The order of events was probably the following - 3rd Nisan, the spies are sent out Joshua 2:1; 6th, the spies return Joshua 2:23; 7th, the camp is removed from Shittim to the bank of Jordan Joshua 3:1, and the command Joshua 1:11 is issued; 10th, the river is crossed Joshua 4:19.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

11-13. command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals—not manna, which, though it still fell, would not keep; but corn, sheep, and articles of food procurable in the conquered countries.

for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan—that is, the third day, according to Hebrew idiom—the time allotted for getting ready before the encampment in Abel-Shittim broke up and they removed to the desert bank of the river where no victuals were available. At the same time Joshua himself convened the two and a half tribes which had settled east of Jordan, to remind them of their promise (Nu 32:1-42) to assist their brethren in the conquest of western Canaan. Their readiness to redeem their pledge and the terms in which they answered the appeal of Joshua displayed to great advantage their patriotic and pious feelings at so interesting a crisis.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Remember his charge to you, and your promise to him, which they were obliged to keep; and Joshua was to see that they did so. Rest i.e. a place of rest, as that word signifies: See Poole "Genesis 49:15".

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you,.... In Numbers 32:29; and to which they had solemnly agreed; and, now the time was come to put it into execution, Joshua reminds them of it:

saying, the Lord your God hath given you rest: from their travels, and a settlement in a country agreeably to their own desire:

and hath given you this land; where they now were, and which they had taken from Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites, and joined to Moab, on the borders of which Israel lay encamped; and by this it appears, that the settlement of these tribes, on the other side Jordan, was according to the will of God; he gave it to them.

Geneva Study Bible

Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, The LORD your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this {h} land.

(h) Which belonged to Sihon the king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

13. Remember the word] Numbers 32:20-24 is quoted, not literally, but freely according to the sense.

hath given you rest] Comp. Deuteronomy 25:19, “It shall be, when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it.” Into this “rest” the disobedient did not enter (Numbers 14:28-30; Psalm 95:7-11; Hebrews 3:11-18), but the true “Rest,” the complete “Sabbath-keeping,” still remaineth for “the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9).

this land] Compare Joshua 1:2 and Deuteronomy 3:18, the land in which the whole people as yet and the speaker also were, the land east of the Jordan.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 13. - Remember the word. The substance, and not the ipsissima verba, of the directions of Moses in Numbers 32. is here given (see also Deuteronomy 3:16-20). Hath given you rest. Perhaps, rather, hath caused you to rest - hath permitted you to settle; though the LXX. here has κατέπαυσεν, and the Vulgate, dedit vobis requiem (cf. Hebrews 3:11-18; Hebrews 4:1-11; and Psalm 95:11). This land, i.e., that in which they then were, on what we call the further side of Jordan. Joshua 1:13

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Joshua's appeal to the two tribes and a half, to remember the condition on which Moses gave them the land on the east of the Jordan for an inheritance, and to fulfil it, met with a ready response; to that these tribes not only promised to obey his commandments in every respect, but threatened every one with death who should refuse obedience. In recalling this condition to the recollection of the tribes referred to, Joshua follows the expressions in Deuteronomy 3:18-20, where Moses himself recapitulates his former command, rather than the original passage in Numbers 32. The expression "this land" shows that the speaker was still on the other side of the Jordan. חמשׁים, with the loins girded, i.e., prepared for war, synonymous with חלצים in Deuteronomy 3:18 and Numbers 32:32 (see at Exodus 13:18). חיל כּל־גּבּורי, all the mighty men of valour, i.e., the grave warriors (as in Joshua 6:2; Joshua 8:3; Joshua 10:7, and very frequently in the later books), is not common to this book and Deuteronomy, as Knobel maintains, but is altogether strange to the Pentateuch. The word "all" (v. 14, like Numbers 32:21, Numbers 32:27) must not be pressed. According to Joshua 4:13, there were only about 40,000 men belonging to the two tribes and a half who crossed the Jordan to take part in the war; whereas, according to Numbers 26:7, Numbers 26:18, Numbers 26:34, there were 110,000 men in these tribes who were capable of bearing arms, so that 70,000 must have remained behind for the protection of the women and children and of the flocks and herds, and to defend the land of which they had taken possession. On Joshua 1:15 see Deuteronomy 3:18; and on the more minute definition of "on this side (lit. beyond) Jordan" by "toward the sun-rising," compare the remarks on Numbers 32:19. The answer of the two tribes and a half, in which they not only most cheerfully promise their help in the conquest of Canaan, but also express the wish that Joshua may have the help of the Lord (Joshua 1:17 compared with Joshua 1:4), and after threatening all who refuse obedience with death, close with the divine admonition, "only be strong and of a good courage" (Joshua 1:18, cf. Joshua 1:6), furnishes a proof of the wish that inspired them to help their brethren, that all the tribes might speedily enter into the peaceable possession of the promised inheritance. The expression "rebel against the commandment" is used in Deuteronomy 1:26, Deuteronomy 1:43; Deuteronomy 9:23; 1 Samuel 12:14, to denote resistance to the commandments of the Lord; here it denotes opposition to His representative, the commander chosen by the Lord, which was to be punished with death, according to the law in Deuteronomy 17:12.