Joshua 23:5
in Joshua 23The LORD your God will push them out of your way and drive them out before you, so that you can take possession of their land, as the LORD your God promised you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah your God, he will thrust them out from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and ye shall possess their land, as Jehovah your God spake unto you.
KJV
And the Lord your God, he shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and ye shall possess their land, as the Lord your God hath promised unto you.
⋯
This verse in Joshua 23
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd drive them - out - and ye shall possess - The same Hebrew word ירש yarash is used here to signify to expel from an inheritance, and to succeed those thus expelled. Ye shall disinherit them from your sight, and ye shall inherit their land.
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
push them out of your way
Exodus 23:29 to 30 and Deuteronomy 7:22 set the pace of this driving out in advance, little by little, so the wild animals would not multiply over an empty land. Verse 5 promises the same work on the same timetable.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And the Lord your God he shall expel them from before you,.... That is, such of them as yet remained among them: and drive them from out of your sight; the same thing expressed by different words, for the confirmation of it: and ye shall possess their land, as the Lord your God hath promised unto you; all which is to be understood on condition of their good behaviour towards the Lord, and obedience to his commands; by which tenure they held the possession of the land when put into it, and for their disobedience did not possess the whole.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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
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
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיהוָ֣ה | vayahweh | and Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֗ם | ʾeloheikhem | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| ה֚וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| יֶהְדֳּפֵ֣ם | yehdofem | he will drive out them | H1920 → | |
| מִפְּנֵיכֶ֔ם | mipeneikhem | from before you | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| וְהוֹרִ֥ישׁ | vehorish | and he will dispossess | H3423 → | 231 times |
| אֹתָ֖ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִלִּפְנֵיכֶ֑ם | milifneikhem | from to before you | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| וִֽירִשְׁתֶּם֙ | virishtem | and you will take possession of | H3423 → | 231 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אַרְצָ֔ם | ʾartzam | land their | H776 → | 2504 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| דִּבֶּ֛ר | diber | he spoke | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֖ם | ʾeloheikhem | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לָכֶֽם׃ | lakhem | to <the> you |
וַיהוָ֣הand Yahweh
vayahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֗םGod your
ʾeloheikhemH430 →2601 times
ה֚וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
יֶהְדֳּפֵ֣םhe will drive out them
yehdofemH1920 →
מִפְּנֵיכֶ֔םfrom before you
mipeneikhemH6440 →2123 times
וְהוֹרִ֥ישׁand he will dispossess
vehorishH3423 →231 times
אֹתָ֖ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
מִלִּפְנֵיכֶ֑םfrom to before you
milifneikhemH6440 →2123 times
וִֽירִשְׁתֶּם֙and you will take possession of
virishtemH3423 →231 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אַרְצָ֔םland their
ʾartzamH776 →2504 times
כַּאֲשֶׁ֥רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
דִּבֶּ֛רhe spoke
diberH1696 →1141 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֖םGod your
ʾeloheikhemH430 →2601 times
לָכֶֽם׃to <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 11:23then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and stronger than you.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:38
to drive out before you nations greater and mightier than you, and to bring you into their land and give it to you for your inheritance, as it is this day.
- Deuteronomy 9:1
Hear, O Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities fortified to the heavens.
- Deuteronomy 4:38
Through
Joshua 13:6All 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…
it leads to
- Joshua 11:8
and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel, who struck them down and pursued them all the way to Greater Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the Valley of Mizpeh.…
- Joshua 11:8
Through
Exodus 34:11Observe what I command you this day. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
it leads to
- Exodus 33:2
And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
- Deuteronomy 6:25
And if we are careful to observe every one of these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us, then that will be our righteousness.”
- Exodus 3:17
And I have promised to bring you up out of your affliction in Egypt, into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
- Exodus 33:2
Through
Exodus 33:2And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
it leads to
- Joshua 24:11
After this, you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The people of Jericho fought against you, as did the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I delivered them into your…
- Exodus 32:34
Now go, lead the people to the place I described. Behold, My angel shall go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will punish them for their sin.”
- Joshua 24:11
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.
