Joshua 7:9
in Joshua 7When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and will compass us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do for thy great name?
KJV
For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great name?
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This verse in Joshua 7
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
What wilt thou do unto thy great name? - i. e. “after the Canaanites have cut off our name what will become of Thy Name?” This bold expostulation, that of one wrestling in sore need with God in prayer, like the similar appeals of Moses in earlier emergencies (Compare the marginal references), is based upon God’s past promises and mercies. What would be said of (God by the pagan if now He permitted Israel to be destroyed?
This site's exposition
Joshua tore his clothes
on Joshua 7:6-9
Joshua’s complaint echoes the murmurs of Exodus 14:12 and Numbers 14:2. His plea, “what will You do for Your great name”, is Moses’ argument of Exodus 32:12 and Numbers 14:15-16. Clarke observes that no rebuke follows, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that many readers hear weakness in it.
This site's exposition
Then what will You do for Your great name
Barnes draws out the pairing inside the verse: if the Canaanites cut off Israel's name, what becomes of God's name among them. He calls it a bold expostulation grounded on past promises and mercies. These Canaanites are the peoples who lost heart at 5:1.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
13 Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the L ORD God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:96%@v13
For the Canaanites,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth . . . before the ark . . . he and the elders--It is evident, from those tokens of humiliation and sorrow, that a solemn fast was observed on this occasion. The language of Joshua's prayer is thought by many to savor of human infirmity and to be wanting in that reverence and submission he owed to God.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Get yourself up. [Even though we read the word as קֻם], it is written קם [which could be read קָם]. [The explanation therefore would be as follows]: Your prayers to Me have stood up for you, and [everything] you mentioned.
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. 4 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
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְיִשְׁמְע֣וּ | veyishmeu | and they may hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| הַֽכְּנַעֲנִ֗י | hakenaani | the Canaanite[s] | H3669 → | 73 times |
| וְכֹל֙ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יֹשְׁבֵ֣י | yoshevei | [the] inhabitants of | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| הָאָ֔רֶץ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְנָסַ֣בּוּ | venasabu | and they will surround | H5437 → | 161 times |
| עָלֵ֔ינוּ | ʾaleinu | <on> us | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וְהִכְרִ֥יתוּ | vehikhritu | and they will cut off | H3772 → | 288 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁמֵ֖נוּ | shemenu | name our | H8034 → | 864 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הָאָ֑רֶץ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וּמַֽה־ | umah- | and what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| תַּעֲשֵׂ֖ה | taaseh | will you do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לְשִׁמְךָ֥ | leshimkha | for name your | H8034 → | 864 times |
| הַגָּדֽוֹל׃ ס | hagadol | <the> great | H1419 → | 526 times |
וְיִשְׁמְע֣וּand they may hear
veyishmeuH8085 →1159 times
הַֽכְּנַעֲנִ֗יthe Canaanite[s]
hakenaaniH3669 →73 times
וְכֹל֙and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
יֹשְׁבֵ֣י[the] inhabitants of
yosheveiH3427 →1079 times
הָאָ֔רֶץthe land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
וְנָסַ֣בּוּand they will surround
venasabuH5437 →161 times
עָלֵ֔ינוּ<on> us
ʾaleinuH5921 →5755 times
וְהִכְרִ֥יתוּand they will cut off
vehikhrituH3772 →288 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שְׁמֵ֖נוּname our
shemenuH8034 →864 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הָאָ֑רֶץthe earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
וּמַֽה־and what?
umah-H4100 →752 times
תַּעֲשֵׂ֖הwill you do
taasehH6213 →2628 times
לְשִׁמְךָ֥for name your
leshimkhaH8034 →864 times
הַגָּדֽוֹל׃ ס<the> great
hagadolH1419 →526 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
John 12:28Father, glorify Your name!” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
it leads to
- John 13:31–32
When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.
- Matthew 26:42
A second time He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, may Your will be done.”
- John 13:31–32
Through
Psalms 83:4saying, “Come, let us erase them as a nation; may the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 48:2
There is no longer praise for Moab; in Heshbon they devise evil against her: ‘Come, let us cut her off from nationhood.’ You too, O people of Madmen, will be silenced; the sword will…
- Jeremiah 11:19
For I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter; I did not know that they had plotted against me: “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit; let us cut him off from…
- Jeremiah 48:2
Through
Exodus 32:12Why should the Egyptians declare, ‘He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce anger and relent…
it leads to
- Numbers 14:13–16
But Moses said to the LORD, “The Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people from among them.
- Numbers 14:13–16
Through
Joel 2:17Let the priests who minister before the LORD weep between the portico and the altar, saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among…
it leads to
- Psalms 115:2
Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
- Psalms 79:10
Why should the nations ask, “Where is their God?” Before our eyes, make known among the nations Your vengeance for the bloodshed of Your servants.
- Ezekiel 8:16
So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five…
- Psalms 115:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
About Joshua
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.