Joshua 23:11
in Joshua 23Therefore watch yourselves carefully, that you love the LORD your God.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love Jehovah your God.
KJV
Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the Lord your God.
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This verse in Joshua 23
Commentary
8 notes on this verseTake good heed - unto yourselves that ye love the Lord - לנפשתיכם lenaphshotheychem, Take heed To Your Souls, literally; but נפש nephesh and nefs, both in Hebrew and Arabic, signify the whole self, as well as soul and life; both soul and body must be joined in this work, for it is written, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength.
This site's exposition
The LORD has driven out great and powerful nations
on Joshua 23:9-11
No one standing against Israel is the second half of 21:44, with one exception at 7:12 after Achan. One putting a thousand to flight raises Leviticus 26:8, where five pursue a hundred, and Deuteronomy 32:30, "How could one man pursue a thousand"; Judges 2:14 turns it around. Clarke reads verse 11 as watching your souls, the Hebrew word covering the whole person.
This site's exposition
watch yourselves carefully
Joshua gave the eastern tribes this charge in the same order at 22:5, be very careful, to love the LORD your God. The love is the command of Deuteronomy 6:5, with all the heart, soul and strength, and Jesus names it the first and greatest commandment at Matthew 22:37 to 38. Watchfulness here guards love.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
What we do in religion we must do from a principle of love, not by constraint or from a slavish fear of God, but of choice and with delight. " Lord the Lord your God, and you will not leave him." II. He urges God's fidelity to them as an argument why they should be faithful to him (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Take heed - Now it requires more watchfulness and diligence than it did in the wilderness, because your temptations are now stronger; from the examples and insinuations of your bad neighbours, the remainders of this wicked people; and from your own peace and prosperity: and the pride, security, forgetfulness of God, and luxury, which usually attend that condition.
Take good heed therefore unto yourselves,.... To be upon their guard, and to be watchful, were very necessary to them, that they might not be ensnared by the Canaanites, and drawn aside by them into idolatry, and so apostatize from the Lord and his worship, since their temptations would be many: that ye love the Lord your God; which would the most strongly influence and engage them to serve and worship the Lord, and obey his commands, and be the best preservative against idolatry and false worship.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the Lord your God, he shall expel them from before you, as the Lord your God hath promised you, &c.--The actual possessions which God had given were a pledge of the complete fulfilment of His promise in giving them the parts of the country still unconquered.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Take good heed, therefore, that ye love the Lord your God--The sum of his exhortation is comprised in the love of God, which is the end or fulfilment of the law (De 6:5;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּ֥ם | venishmartem | and you will take heed | H8104 → | 468 times |
| מְאֹ֖ד | meod | exceedingly | H3966 → | 300 times |
| לְנַפְשֹֽׁתֵיכֶ֑ם | lenafshoteikhem | to selves your | H5315 → | 754 times |
| לְאַהֲבָ֖ה | leahavah | to love | H157 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃ | ʾeloheikhem | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּ֥םand you will take heed
venishmartemH8104 →468 times
מְאֹ֖דexceedingly
meodH3966 →300 times
לְנַפְשֹֽׁתֵיכֶ֑םto selves your
lenafshoteikhemH5315 →754 times
לְאַהֲבָ֖הto love
leahavahH157 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃God your
ʾeloheikhemH430 →2601 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 4:23Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.
it leads to
- Luke 6:45
The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow…
- Matthew 12:34–35
You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.
- Mark 7:21–23
For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
- Psalms 139:23–24
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
- Proverbs 13:3
He who guards his mouth protects his life, but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.
- Luke 6:45
Through
Romans 8:28And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 5:10
And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore you, secure you, strengthen you, and establish…
- James 1:12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.
- Genesis 50:20
As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.
- 1 Peter 5:10
About Joshua
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.