Joshua 18:3
in Joshua 18So Joshua said to the Israelites, “How long will you put off entering and possessing the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go in to possess the land, which Jehovah, the God of your fathers, hath given you?
KJV
And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you?
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This verse in Joshua 18
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
This backwardness probably arose from the indisposition of the people to abandon the nomad life in which they had been born and bred, and to settle in fixed abodes, and perhaps also from a dislike of the exterminating warfare incidental to a complete dispossessing of the Canaanites.
This site's exposition
How long will you put off entering
on Joshua 18:3-7
Joshua rebukes his own people for slowness rather than rebellion, the one place in the book where he does. Barnes reads the delay as reluctance to leave the camp life they were born into for the fighting that settlement would still cost. Three men from each tribe survey the land before the lot, and verse 7 leaves the Levites no portion, since "their inheritance is the priesthood of the LORD".
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
How long are you slack - This slackness is supposed to arise from an opinion of the impossibility of making any regular distribution of the parts, 'till the whole were more exactly surveyed, which accordingly is here done.
And Joshua said unto the children of Israel,....
God by his grace has given us a title to a good land, the heavenly Canaan, but we are slack to take possession; we enter not into that rest, as we might by faith, and hope, and holy joy; we live not in heaven, as we might by setting our affections on things above and having our conversation there.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you--This reproof conveys an impression that the seven tribes were dilatory to a criminal extent.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:21w-of-36
How long are ye slack to go to possess the land - We find an unaccountable backwardness in this people to enter on the inheritance which God had given them! They had so long been supported by miracle, without any exertions of their own, that they found it difficult to shake themselves from their inactivity. When it was necessary that all the people should go out to battle, they went with a measure of confidence, expecting miraculous help from God, and confiding in their numbers, but when each tribe found it necessary to fight for itself, in order to its establishment and the extension of its borders, it was discouraged, and chose rather a life of inglorious ease than the possession of an inheritance which would cost it much labor to conquer.
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֥אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוֹשֻׁ֖עַ | yehoshua' | Joshua | H3091 → | 218 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| אָ֙נָה֙ | ʾanah | when? | H575 → | |
| אַתֶּ֣ם | ʾatem | [will] you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| מִתְרַפִּ֔ים | mitrapim | [be] showing yourself slack | H7503 → | 46 times |
| לָבוֹא֙ | lavo' | to go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| לָרֶ֣שֶׁת | lareshet | to take possession of | H3423 → | 231 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָאָ֔רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| אֲשֶׁר֙ | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נָתַ֣ן | natan | he has given | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָכֶ֔ם | lakhem | to <the> you | ||
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֥י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶֽם׃ | ʾavoteikhem | ancestors your | H1 → | 1212 times |
וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוֹשֻׁ֖עַJoshua
yehoshua'H3091 →218 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בְּנֵ֣י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
אָ֙נָה֙when?
ʾanahH575 →
אַתֶּ֣ם[will] you
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
מִתְרַפִּ֔ים[be] showing yourself slack
mitrapimH7503 →46 times
לָבוֹא֙to go
lavo'H935 →2568 times
לָרֶ֣שֶׁתto take possession of
lareshetH3423 →231 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָאָ֔רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
אֲשֶׁר֙which
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
נָתַ֣ןhe has given
natanH5414 →2011 times
לָכֶ֔םto <the> you
lakhem
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵ֥י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
אֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶֽם׃ancestors your
ʾavoteikhemH1 →1212 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 10:4Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
it leads to
- Proverbs 19:15
Laziness brings on deep sleep, and an idle soul will suffer hunger.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 20:4
The slacker does not plow in season; at harvest time he looks, but nothing is there.
- Proverbs 13:4
The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.
- Proverbs 21:5
The plans of the diligent bring plenty, as surely as haste leads to poverty.
- Proverbs 19:15
Through
Proverbs 13:4The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.
it leads to
- Proverbs 12:24
The hand of the diligent will rule, but laziness ends in forced labor.
- Proverbs 12:11
The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks judgment.
- 2 Peter 1:5–11
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge;
- Proverbs 2:2–9
if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding,
- Proverbs 12:24
About Joshua
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.