Joshua 3:9
in Joshua 3So Joshua told the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of Jehovah your God.
KJV
And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the Lord your God.
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This verse in Joshua 3
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God
on Joshua 3:9-11
The title “the living God” was used before at Deuteronomy 5:26 of the voice out of the fire. David uses it next before Goliath at 1 Samuel 17:26. The seven nations are the seven of Deuteronomy 7:1 in a different order, so the list is a standing formula.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
Origen of AlexandriaCOMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.231-32 · Written before 253.
proposed
And he commands the priests to go before the people with the ark of the covenant.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): " Come hither to me, as many as can come within hearing, and, before you see the works, hear the words of the Lord your God, that you may compare them together and they may illustrate each other." He had commanded them to sanctify themselves, and therefore calls them to hear the word of God, for that is the ordinary means of sanctification, John xvii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, come hither,.... Very probably to the door of the tabernacle: and hear the words of the Lord your God; which he was about to deliver to them as from him, and in his name.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The premonitory address of Joshua, taken in connection with the miraculous result exactly as he had described it, would tend to increase and confirm their faith in the God of their fathers as not a dull, senseless, inanimate thing like the idols of the nations, but a Being of life, power, and activity to defend them and work for them. THE WATERS OF JORDAN ARE DIVIDED.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
With this you will know. By virtue of actually seeing that all of you are compressed here.
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. 5 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
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֥אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוֹשֻׁ֖עַ | yehoshua' | Joshua | H3091 → | 218 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| גֹּ֣שׁוּ | goshu | draw near | H5066 → | 125 times |
| הֵ֔נָּה | henah | hither | H2008 → | 49 times |
| וְשִׁמְע֕וּ | veshimu | and hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דִּבְרֵ֖י | divrei | [the] words of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶֽם׃ | ʾeloheikhem | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוֹשֻׁ֖עַJoshua
yehoshua'H3091 →218 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בְּנֵ֣י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
גֹּ֣שׁוּdraw near
goshuH5066 →125 times
הֵ֔נָּהhither
henahH2008 →49 times
וְשִׁמְע֕וּand hear
veshimuH8085 →1159 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
דִּבְרֵ֖י[the] words of
divreiH1697 →1440 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶֽם׃God your
ʾeloheikhemH430 →2601 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
Deuteronomy 4:1Hear now, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live and may enter and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of…
it leads to
- Romans 10:5
For concerning the righteousness that is by the law, Moses writes: “The man who does these things will live by them.”
- Ezekiel 20:11
And I gave them My statutes and made known to them My ordinances—for the man who does these things will live by them.
- Leviticus 18:5
Keep My statutes and My judgments, for the man who does these things will live by them. I am the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 8:1
You must carefully follow every commandment I am giving you today, so that you may live and multiply, and enter and possess the land that the LORD swore to give your fathers.
- Deuteronomy 5:1
Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: Hear, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances that I declare in your hearing this day. Learn them and observe them carefully.
- Romans 10:5
Through
Deuteronomy 12:8You are not to do as we are doing here today, where everyone does what seems right in his own eyes.
it leads to
- Judges 21:25
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
- Judges 17:6
In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
- Proverbs 21:2
All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.
- Judges 21:25
Where this verse is studied
About Joshua
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.231-32.