Joshua 23:3
in Joshua 23“and you have seen everything that the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake, because it was the LORD your God who fought for you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and ye have seen all that Jehovah your God hath done unto all these nations because of you; for Jehovah your God, he it is that hath fought for you.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Joshua 23
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
This had been promised (De 1:30; 3:22); and the reality of the divine aid was seen in the rapid overthrow of the Canaanites, which had already led to the division of the whole land among the tribes [Jos 23:4].
This site's exposition
you have seen everything that the LORD your God has done
on Joshua 23:3-5
Verse 3 puts in the past tense, "the LORD your God who fought for you", what Exodus 14:14 and Deuteronomy 3:22 promised. Verse 4 counts the remaining nations as already allotted, so title came before the ground was held, the seam opened at 13:1. Gill reads possession as held on condition of obedience; Clarke reads the surviving Canaanites as left through Israel's slackness rather than their strength.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): " You have seen all that the Lord your God has done; not what I have done, or what you have done (we were only instruments in God's hand), but what God himself has done by me and for you." (1.) Many great and mighty nations (as the rate of nations then went) were driven out from as fine a country as any was at that time upon the face of the earth, to make room for Israel.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
): " The Lord your God has not only led you, and fed you, and kept you, but he has fought for you as a man of war," by which title he was known among them when he first brought them out of Egypt, Exod. xv.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And ye have seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto all those nations because of you,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
For the Lord your God is he that hath fought for you - There is much both of piety and modesty in this address. It was natural for the Israelites to look on their veteran, worn-out general, who had led them on from conquest to conquest, with profound respect; and to be ready to say, “Had we not had such a commander, we had never got possession of this good land.” Joshua corrects this opinion, and shows them that all their enemies had been defeated, because the Lord their God had fought for them.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
You have seen how I have alloted to you. By means of the lot for your inheritance.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַתֶּ֣ם | veatem | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| רְאִיתֶ֗ם | reitem | you have seen | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אֵת֩ | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָשָׂ֜ה | ʾasah | he has done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| יְהוָ֧ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֛ם | ʾeloheikhem | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לְכָל־ | lekhol | to all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַגּוֹיִ֥ם | hagoyim | the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| הָאֵ֖לֶּה | haeleh | <the> these | H428 → | 746 times |
| מִפְּנֵיכֶ֑ם | mipeneikhem | from before you | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| כִּ֚י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֔ם | ʾeloheikhem | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| ה֖וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| הַנִּלְחָ֥ם | hanilcham | [is] the [one who] has been fighting | H3898 → | 177 times |
| לָכֶֽם׃ | lakhem | for <the> you |
וְאַתֶּ֣םand you
veatemH859 →1094 times
רְאִיתֶ֗םyou have seen
reitemH7200 →1300 times
אֵת֩<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
עָשָׂ֜הhe has done
ʾasahH6213 →2628 times
יְהוָ֧הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֛םGod your
ʾeloheikhemH430 →2601 times
לְכָל־to all
lekholH3605 →5413 times
הַגּוֹיִ֥םthe nations
hagoyimH1471 →561 times
הָאֵ֖לֶּה<the> these
haelehH428 →746 times
מִפְּנֵיכֶ֑םfrom before you
mipeneikhemH6440 →2123 times
כִּ֚יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֔םGod your
ʾeloheikhemH430 →2601 times
ה֖וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
הַנִּלְחָ֥ם[is] the [one who] has been fighting
hanilchamH3898 →177 times
לָכֶֽם׃for <the> you
lakhem
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
Deuteronomy 4:9Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 6:7
And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
- Deuteronomy 11:19
Teach them to your children, speaking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
- Psalms 78:3–8
that we have heard and known and our fathers have relayed to us.
- Genesis 18:19
For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that…
- Deuteronomy 6:7
Through
Exodus 14:14The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 1:30
The LORD your God, who goes before you, will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 3:22
Do not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God Himself will fight for you.”
- Deuteronomy 20:4
For the LORD your God goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.”
- 2 Chronicles 20:17
You need not fight this battle. Take up your positions, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out…
- Deuteronomy 1:30
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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.