Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Joshua 23:4

in Joshua 23

See, I have allotted as an inheritance to your tribes these remaining nations, including all the nations I have already cut off, from the Jordan westward to the Great Sea.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Behold, I have allotted unto you these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun.

KJV

Behold, I have divided unto you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even unto the great sea westward.

⋯

This verse in Joshua 23

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

I have divided - these nations that remain - The whole of the promised land had been portioned out, as well those parts which had not yet been conquered, as those from which the ancient inhabitants had been expelled. The Canaanitish armies had long ago been broken in pieces, so that they could make no head against the Israelites, but in many districts the old inhabitants remained, more through the supineness of the Israelites, than through their own bravery.

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.

This site's exposition

westward to the Great Sea

Dividing land still held by its nations was the LORD's own order at 13:6, where He promised to drive them out Himself. The Great Sea is the Mediterranean, the western bound set at 1:4. Conquered and unconquered stand in one inheritance.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

That remain - Not yet conquered. An inheritance - You shall certainly subdue them, and inherit their hand, as you have done the rest, if you be not wanting to yourselves. All the nations - That is, with the land of those nations; the people put for their land, as we have seen before; and as sometimes on the contrary, the land is put for the people.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

You have it not only under your feet, but in your hands." 2. He assures them of God's readiness to carry on and complete this glorious work in due time.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

Behold, I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain,....

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

You have seen how I have alloted to you. By means of the lot for your inheritance.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Joshua 23:4:1, via Sefaria, The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997

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

19 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • רְאוּ֩see

    reuH7200 →1300 times

  • הִפַּ֨לְתִּיI have made fall

    hipaltiH5307 →435 times

  • לָכֶ֜םto <the> you

    lakhem

  • אֶֽת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַ֠גּוֹיִםthe nations

    hagoyimH1471 →561 times

  • הַנִּשְׁאָרִ֥יםwhich remain

    hanisharimH7604 →133 times

  • הָאֵ֛לֶּה<the> these

    haelehH428 →746 times

  • בְּנַחֲלָ֖ה<in> an inheritance

    benachalahH5159 →222 times

  • לְשִׁבְטֵיכֶ֑םfor tribes your

    leshivteikhemH7626 →190 times

  • מִן־from

    min-H4480 →1188 times

  • הַיַּרְדֵּ֗ןthe Jordan

    haiyardenH3383 →182 times

  • וְכָל־and all

    vekholH3605 →5413 times

  • הַגּוֹיִם֙the nations

    hagoyimH1471 →561 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • הִכְרַ֔תִּיI have cut off

    hikhratiH3772 →288 times

  • וְהַיָּ֥םand the sea

    vehaiyamH3220 →396 times

  • הַגָּד֖וֹל<the> great

    hagadolH1419 →526 times

  • מְב֥וֹא[the] setting of

    mevo'H3996 →

  • הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃the sun

    hashameshH8121 →134 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

10 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Deuteronomy 12:29When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations you are entering to dispossess, and you drive them out and live in their land,5 worksJoshua 18:10And Joshua cast lots for them in the presence of the LORD at Shiloh, where he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their divisions.3 worksJoshua 13:6–7All the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim—all the Sidonians—I Myself will drive out before the Israelites. Be sure to divide it by lot as an inheritance to Israel, as I have commanded you.3 worksJoshua 13:2This is the land that remains:3 worksPsalms 105:44He gave them the lands of the nations, that they might inherit the fruit of others’ labor,3 worksJoshua 9:1Now when news of this reached all the kings west of the Jordan—those in the hill country, the foothills, and all along the coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon (the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites)—2 works
The other 4 cross-references, with their words ▾
Numbers 34:6Your western border will be the coastline of the Great Sea; this will be your boundary on the west.2 worksPsalms 78:55He drove out nations before them and apportioned their inheritance; He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.2 worksEzekiel 47:10Fishermen will stand by the shore; from En-gedi to En-eglaim they will spread their nets to catch fish of many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.2 worksActs 13:19And having vanquished seven nations in Canaan, He gave their land to His people as an inheritance.1 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Joshua 18:10

    And Joshua cast lots for them in the presence of the LORD at Shiloh, where he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their divisions.

    it leads to

    • Colossians 1:12

      giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

    • Acts 13:19

      And having vanquished seven nations in Canaan, He gave their land to His people as an inheritance.

    • Joshua 18:6

      When you have mapped out the seven portions of land and brought it to me, I will cast lots for you here in the presence of the LORD our God.

  • Through

    Joshua 13:2

    This is the land that remains:

    it leads to

    • Joshua 13:11

      also Gilead and the territory of the Geshurites and Maacathites, all of Mount Hermon, and all Bashan as far as Salecah—

    • 1 Samuel 27:8

      Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these people had inhabited the land extending to Shur and Egypt.)

    • Joel 3:4

      Now what do you have against Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering against Me a recompense? If you retaliate against Me, I will swiftly and speedily return…

    • Judges 3:1

      These are the nations that the LORD left to test all the Israelites who had not known any of the wars in Canaan,

    • Genesis 26:1

      Now there was another famine in the land, subsequent to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.

About Joshua

Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon, John Martin, 1816, National Gallery of Art. Public domain.
Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon, John Martin, 1816, National Gallery of Art. Public domain.
Joshua: the study guide →Read Joshua 23 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the 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; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Joshua 23 →