Joshua 24:3
in Joshua 24But I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates and led him through all the land of Canaan, and I multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.
KJV
And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.
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This verse in Joshua 24
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAnd multiplied - That is, gave him a numerous posterity, not only by Hagar and Keturah, but even by Sarah and by Isaac. Gave Isaac - By my special power and grace to be heir of my covenant, and all my promises, and the seed in or by which all the nations were to be blessed.
This site's exposition
But I took your father Abraham
on Joshua 24:3-4
From here to verse 13 God speaks in the first person and the verbs are all his: I took, I gave, I sent, I brought, I destroyed. Abraham does nothing in verse 3 except get taken, as at Genesis 12:1, where the call comes before any word of Abram's. Esau's grant of Mount Seir is credited to God, as Deuteronomy 2:5 credits it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
The Septuagint has translated "And I took your father Abraham from across the river and led him into all the earth." A literal reading of the Hebrew would be "And I led him into the land of Canaan." It is astonishing, therefore, that the translators of the Septuagint would have wished to insert "the whole earth" instead of "land of Canaan," unless they were considering the prophecy so much that they accepted as already done what was still at the time a promise from God. For it was announced beforehand in very clear terms what would take place concerning Christ and the church and that the true seed of Abraham would not be among the children of the flesh but among the children of the promise.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Let them remember that rock out of which they were hewn, and not relapse into that sin from which their fathers by a miracle of free grace were delivered. "I took him," says God, "else he had never come out of that sinful state." Hence Abraham's justification is made by the apostle an instance of God's justifying the ungodly, Rom. iv.
And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan--It was an irresistible impulse of divine grace which led the patriarch to leave his country and relatives, to migrate to Canaan, and live a "stranger and pilgrim" in that land.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָ֠אֶקַּח | vaekach | and I took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֲבִיכֶ֤ם | ʾavikhem | ancestor your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אַבְרָהָם֙ | ʾavraham | Abraham | H85 → | |
| מֵעֵ֣בֶר | meever | from [the] other side of | H5676 → | 90 times |
| הַנָּהָ֔ר | hanahar | the river | H5104 → | 119 times |
| וָאוֹלֵ֥ךְ | vaolekh | and I led | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אוֹת֖וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> him | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | in all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֶ֣רֶץ | ʾeretz | [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| כְּנָ֑עַן | kenaan | Canaan | H3667 → | 94 times |
| וָאַרְבֶּה֙ | vaerev | and I increased | H7235 → | 227 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| זַרְע֔וֹ | zaro | offspring his | H2233 → | |
| וָֽאֶתֶּן־ | vaeten- | and I gave | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| ל֖וֹ | lo | to <the> him | ||
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יִצְחָֽק׃ | yitzchak | Isaac | H3327 → |
וָ֠אֶקַּחand I took
vaekachH3947 →966 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אֲבִיכֶ֤םancestor your
ʾavikhemH1 →1212 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אַבְרָהָם֙Abraham
ʾavrahamH85 →
מֵעֵ֣בֶרfrom [the] other side of
meeverH5676 →90 times
הַנָּהָ֔רthe river
hanaharH5104 →119 times
וָאוֹלֵ֥ךְand I led
vaolekhH1980 →1546 times
אוֹת֖וֹ<obj.> him
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
בְּכָל־in all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
אֶ֣רֶץ[the] land of
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
כְּנָ֑עַןCanaan
kenaanH3667 →94 times
וָאַרְבֶּה֙and I increased
vaerevH7235 →227 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
זַרְע֔וֹoffspring his
zaroH2233 →
וָֽאֶתֶּן־and I gave
vaeten-H5414 →2011 times
ל֖וֹto <the> him
lo
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יִצְחָֽק׃Isaac
yitzchakH3327 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Genesis 15:5And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
it leads to
- Hebrews 11:12
And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
- Romans 4:18
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
- Deuteronomy 1:10
The LORD your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky.
- Exodus 32:13
Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom You swore by Your very self when You declared, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will…
- Genesis 22:17
I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
- Hebrews 11:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Joshua
Who and where
3 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsAbrahamCalled out of Ur, the father of all who believe, justified by faith, and the friend of God through whose seed all nations are bles…
- PersonPatriarchsIsaacThe son of promise and of laughter — bound on Moriah, the quiet inheritor of the covenant.
- PlaceThe LevantCanaanThe land God promised to Abraham's seed, walked and marked with altars by the patriarchs and possessed under Joshua four centuries…
This page draws on Augustine of Hippo, QUESTIONS ON JOSHUA 25; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.