Joshua 24:13
in Joshua 24So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities that you did not build, and now you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I gave you a land whereon thou hadst not labored, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell therein; of vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.
KJV
And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.
⋯
This verse in Joshua 24
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3248: “Gathering Without Planting” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
THE Israelites, when they came into Canaan, entered into possession of a country which was thoroughly prepared for their occupation. There were walled cities and houses exactly adapted for their use and in habitable repair. The vineyards were in full bearing and the hills terraced ready for cultivation. They were not like emigrants to the wild west who have to clear forests and turn over prairies! They had not even to take possession of ruined cities and to rebuild them!
This site's exposition
you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho
on Joshua 24:11-13
Verse 11 names the seven nations of Deuteronomy 7:1, and the hornet, promised at Exodus 23:28 and Deuteronomy 7:20, appears only in those three places. Readers take it as literal swarms or, with Keil and Delitzsch, as a figure for the terror that ran ahead of Israel.
This site's exposition
cities that you did not build
Deuteronomy 6:12 follows the same list of unbuilt cities and unplanted vineyards with a warning, to be careful not to forget the LORD. Joshua's next word, in verse 14, is fear the LORD. The gift carried its own danger.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And I have given you a land for which you did not labour,....
The application of this history of God's mercies to them is by way of exhortation to fear and serve God, in gratitude for his favour, and that it might be continued to them,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3248: “Gathering Without Planting” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
THE Israelites, when they came into Canaan, entered into possession of a country which was thoroughly prepared for their occupation. There were walled cities and houses exactly adapted for their use and in habitable repair. The vineyards were in full bearing and the hills terraced ready for cultivation. They were not like emigrants to the wild west who have to clear forests and turn over prairies! They had not even to take possession of ruined cities and to rebuild them! For the most part, everything stood waiting for them, "houses full of all good things," and even "the old corn of the land" stored up for their immediate use! Moses had promised them that it would be so and Joshua reminded them of the promise when it had become a fact. As the Holy Spirit shall help us, let us first learn from the text as it referred to Israel And then, taking the general principle here mentioned, let us learn from their case to consider our own, for we also enjoy that which we have neither produced nor earned. I. First, then, LET US LEARN FROM THE TEXT AS IT REFERRED TO ISRAEL. They entered into possession of wells which they had not dug, cities which they had not built, olive trees and vineyards which they had not planted. In the first place, this was a fulfillment of the ancient Covenant Although all the details of these blessings to Israel were not mentioned in the Covenant made with Abraham, yet they were virtually included—and Moses mentioned them very particularly in the 6th Chapter of Deuteronomy when he told the people to beware lest they should forget the Lord who brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאֶתֵּ֨ן | vaeten | and I gave | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לָכֶ֜ם | lakhem | to <the> you | ||
| אֶ֣רֶץ׀ | ʾeretz | a land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֧ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָגַ֣עְתָּ | yaga'ta | you had labored | H3021 → | |
| בָּ֗הּ | bah | for it | ||
| וְעָרִים֙ | vearim | and cities | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| בְנִיתֶ֔ם | venitem | you had built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| וַתֵּשְׁב֖וּ | vateshevu | and you dwelt | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בָּהֶ֑ם | bahem | in <the> them | ||
| כְּרָמִ֤ים | keramim | vineyards | H3754 → | |
| וְזֵיתִים֙ | vezeitim | and olive trees | H2132 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נְטַעְתֶּ֔ם | neta'tem | you had planted | H5193 → | |
| אַתֶּ֖ם | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| אֹכְלִֽים׃ | ʾokhelim | [are] eating | H398 → | 810 times |
וָאֶתֵּ֨ןand I gave
vaetenH5414 →2011 times
לָכֶ֜םto <the> you
lakhem
אֶ֣רֶץ׀a land
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
אֲשֶׁ֧רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יָגַ֣עְתָּyou had labored
yaga'taH3021 →
בָּ֗הּfor it
bah
וְעָרִים֙and cities
vearimH5892 →1090 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
בְנִיתֶ֔םyou had built
venitemH1129 →376 times
וַתֵּשְׁב֖וּand you dwelt
vateshevuH3427 →1079 times
בָּהֶ֑םin <the> them
bahem
כְּרָמִ֤יםvineyards
keramimH3754 →
וְזֵיתִים֙and olive trees
vezeitimH2132 →
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
נְטַעְתֶּ֔םyou had planted
neta'temH5193 →
אַתֶּ֖םyou
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
אֹכְלִֽים׃[are] eating
ʾokhelimH398 →810 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 13:22A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is passed to the righteous.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 2:26
To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over…
- Job 27:16–17
Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay,
- Proverbs 28:8
He who increases his wealth by interest and usury lays it up for one who is kind to the poor.
- Psalms 37:25
I once was young and now am old, yet never have I seen the righteous abandoned or their children begging for bread.
- Psalms 112:2
His descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
- Ecclesiastes 2:26
Through
Joshua 21:45Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel had failed; everything was fulfilled.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 8:56
“Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel according to all that He promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises He made through His servant Moses.
- Joshua 23:14–15
Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know with all your heart and soul that not one of the good promises the LORD your God made to…
- Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
- 1 Kings 8:56
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Joshua
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 3248: “Gathering Without Planting” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.