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Joshua 5:1

in Joshua 5

Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and their spirits failed for fear of the Israelites.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, that were beyond the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, that were by the sea, heard how that Jehovah had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.

KJV

And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.

This verse in Joshua 5

Commentary

2 notes on this verse
The Amorites were the principal of those nations which occupied the hill country of Judaea (Gen 10:16 note); the Canaanites of those that dwelt on the coast and low lands. These words are therefore equivalent to “all the kings of the highlanders, and all the kings of the lowlanders:” i. e. the kings of all the tribes of the country. Until we were passed over - The use of the first person has been noted here, and in Jos 5:6 (compare Act 16:10), as suggesting the hand of one who himself shared in what he describes.

This site's exposition

when all the kings of the Amorites

The kings hear what happened at the water and lose their nerve before a sword is drawn. Rahab had told the spies this was already happening in chapter 2, so the verse confirms a report the reader was given by a Canaanite before any Israelite said it. The Hebrew reads until we were passed over in the first person, which the older editions mark, and commentators take it as the writer placing himself among those who crossed.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

Who were on the western side of the Jordan. On the side to which Bnei Yisroel crossed, which is the western side, since they had been on the eastern side.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Joshua 5:1:1, 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. 2 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

37 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.

  • וַיְהִ֣יand it was

    vayhiH19613559 times

  • כִשְׁמֹ֣עַwhen heard

    khishmoa'H80851159 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H36055413 times

  • מַלְכֵ֣י[the] kings of

    malkheiH44282525 times

  • הָאֱמֹרִ֡יthe Amorite[s]

    haemoriH56787 times

  • אֲשֶׁר֩who

    ʾasherH8345497 times

  • בְּעֵ֨בֶר[were] on [the] other side of

    beeverH567690 times

  • הַיַּרְדֵּ֜ןthe Jordan

    haiyardenH3383182 times

  • יָ֗מָּהwest -ward

    yamahH3220396 times

  • וְכָל־and all

    vekholH36055413 times

  • מַלְכֵ֤י[the] kings of

    malkheiH44282525 times

  • הַֽכְּנַעֲנִי֙the Canaanite[s]

    hakenaaniH366973 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwho

    ʾasherH8345497 times

  • עַל־[were] at

    ʾal-H59215755 times

  • הַיָּ֔םthe sea

    haiyamH3220396 times

  • אֵ֠ת<obj.>

    ʾetH85310935 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־[they heard] this:

    ʾasher-H8345497 times

  • הוֹבִ֨ישׁhe had dried up

    hovishH300159 times

  • יְהוָ֜הYahweh

    yahwehH30686520 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • מֵ֧י[the] waters of

    meiH4325581 times

  • הַיַּרְדֵּ֛ןthe Jordan

    haiyardenH3383182 times

  • מִפְּנֵ֥יfrom before

    mipeneiH64402123 times

  • בְנֵֽי־[the] people of

    venei-H11214930 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael

    yisraelH34782507 times

  • עַד־until

    ʾad-H57041261 times

  • עָבְרָ֑םpassing over they

    averamH5674556 times

  • וַיִּמַּ֣סand it melted

    vaiyimasH454921 times

  • לְבָבָ֗םheart their

    levavamH3824252 times

  • וְלֹא־and not

    velo'-H38085168 times

  • הָ֨יָהit was

    hayahH19613559 times

  • בָ֥םin <the> them

    vam

  • עוֹד֙still

    ʾodH5750490 times

  • ר֔וּחַspirit

    ruachH7307

  • מִפְּנֵ֖י<from> because of

    mipeneiH64402123 times

  • בְּנֵֽי־[the] people of

    benei-H11214930 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ סIsrael

    yisraelH34782507 times

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

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

    Ezra 9:1

    After these things had been accomplished, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the surrounding peoples whose abominations are like…

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 18:24–30

      Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves.

    • Nehemiah 9:2

      Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all the foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

    • Ezra 10:10–11

      Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, adding to the guilt of Israel.

  • Through

    Genesis 48:22

    And to you, as one who is above your brothers, I give the ridge of land that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”

    it leads to

    • John 4:5

      So He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

    • Joshua 24:32

      And the bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up out of Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the plot of land that Jacob had purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father,…

  • Through

    Numbers 13:29

    The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.”

    it leads to

    • Numbers 14:43

      For there the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you, and you will fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from the LORD, He will not be with you.”

    • Judges 6:3

      Whenever the Israelites would plant their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east would come up and invade them,

  • Through

    1 Kings 10:5

    the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the service and attire of his attendants and cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he presented at the house of the LORD, it took her…

    it leads to

    • 1 Chronicles 26:16

      The lots for the West Gate and the Shallecheth Gate on the ascending highway fell to Shuppim and Hosah. There were guards stationed at every watch.

Where this verse is studied

About Joshua

The Walls of Jericho Fall Down, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Walls of Jericho Fall Down, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth.