Joshua 24:4
in Joshua 24and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau Mount Seir to possess, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; and Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.
KJV
And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.
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This verse in Joshua 24
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis 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.
This site's exposition
Jacob and his sons went down
Esau held his land first, and Genesis 36:8 records him settling in the area of Mount Seir. Jacob's line went down to Egypt, into the four hundred years of slavery foretold to Abram at Genesis 15:13. The heir of the promise waited longest.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
THIS passage, though audibly uttered by the mouth of Joshua, is to be regarded as the immediate voice of God. Joshua said unto all the people, "Thus says Jehovah, God of Israel." Jehovah reminded the tribes, their elders and judges, of all that He had done and of all that He had been to them—and from this He challenged their allegiance, requiring that they should henceforth be loyal unto their great Benefactor. Addressing them, Himself, His argument became all the more impressive. I reverence all Scripture more than tongue can tell, but yet I venerate most of all those portions of the Word which are God's own voice—the thoughts of Deity interpreted into human speech by Deity, itself! The passage now before us, though it reads like a piece of ordinary history such as might have been composed by a common scribe, has about it a vastness of meaning such as can only be found in the language of the infinite God. When God inspires David, or Isaiah or Paul, He teaches us most graciously, but when He condescends to speak, Himself, how shall we sufficiently reverence the Words? We have here, not so much a letter dictated by God, as the actual autograph of the great Father! My text is written with the finger of God. A glory blazes along the lines—the letters are all illuminated—the words glow like the sapphire work of Heaven's pavement. Our text has a world of meaning in it. It may, as we notice its plain words and prosaic statements, seem to be a mere common box, but it is, in very deed, an ark of precious perfumed wood, overlaid with pure gold, and filled with gems and jewels rich and rare! May the Holy Spirit give us eyes with which to perceive the treasures which lie before us in these words—"I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau Mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt." I.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאֶתֵּ֣ן | vaeten | and I gave | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לְיִצְחָ֔ק | leyitzchak | to Isaac | H3327 → | |
| אֶֽת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יַעֲקֹ֖ב | yaako | Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֵשָׂ֑ו | ʾesav | Esau | H6215 → | |
| וָאֶתֵּ֨ן | vaeten | and I gave | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לְעֵשָׂ֜ו | leesav | to Esau | H6215 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַ֤ר | har | [the] mountain of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| שֵׂעִיר֙ | seir | Seir | H8165 → | 39 times |
| לָרֶ֣שֶׁת | lareshet | to take possession of | H3423 → | 231 times |
| אוֹת֔וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| וְיַעֲקֹ֥ב | veyaako | and Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| וּבָנָ֖יו | uvanav | and sons his | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יָרְד֥וּ | yaredu | they went down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| מִצְרָֽיִם׃ | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
וָאֶתֵּ֣ןand I gave
vaetenH5414 →2011 times
לְיִצְחָ֔קto Isaac
leyitzchakH3327 →
אֶֽת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יַעֲקֹ֖בJacob
yaakoH3290 →350 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
עֵשָׂ֑וEsau
ʾesavH6215 →
וָאֶתֵּ֨ןand I gave
vaetenH5414 →2011 times
לְעֵשָׂ֜וto Esau
leesavH6215 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַ֤ר[the] mountain of
harH2022 →546 times
שֵׂעִיר֙Seir
seirH8165 →39 times
לָרֶ֣שֶׁתto take possession of
lareshetH3423 →231 times
אוֹת֔וֹ<obj.> it
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
וְיַעֲקֹ֥בand Jacob
veyaakoH3290 →350 times
וּבָנָ֖יוand sons his
uvanavH1121 →4930 times
יָרְד֥וּthey went down
yareduH3381 →381 times
מִצְרָֽיִם׃Egypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 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
Genesis 36:8So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the area of Mount Seir.
it leads to
- Genesis 32:3
Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
- Malachi 1:3
but Esau I have hated, and I have made his mountains a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
- Genesis 32:3
Through
Deuteronomy 2:5Do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even a footprint, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as his possession.
it leads to
- Genesis 36:8
So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the area of Mount Seir.
- Genesis 36:8
Through
Acts 7:15So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died.
it leads to
- Exodus 1:6
Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,
- Genesis 49:33
When Jacob had finished instructing his sons, he pulled his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and he was gathered to his people.
- Genesis 46:3–7
“I am God,” He said, “the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.
- Exodus 1:6
Through
Genesis 32:3Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
it leads to
- Genesis 25:30
He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am famished.” (That is why he was also called Edom.)
- Genesis 14:6
and the Horites in the area of Mount Seir, as far as El-paran, which is near the desert.
- Genesis 25:30
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Joshua
Who and where
4 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsEsauIsaac's elder son who despised his birthright (Heb 12:16); father of Edom, Israel's perennial neighbor and adversary.
- PersonPatriarchsIsaacThe son of promise and of laughter — bound on Moriah, the quiet inheritor of the covenant.
- PersonPatriarchsJacobThe heel-grasping supplanter reshaped at Peniel into 'Israel, he who strives with God' — father of the twelve tribes.
- PlaceThe NileEgyptThe land where Joseph rose, where Israel grew into a nation in bondage, where the Passover lamb was slain and the sea opened, and…
This page draws on Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1718: “Certain Singular Subjects” (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.