Joshua 13:1

Land Still to Be Taken

1 When Joshua had grown old, the LORD said to him, “You are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.

Joshua 13:1 in Other Translations

KJV
1 Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.
ESV
1 Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the LORD said to him, "You are old and advanced in years, and there remains yet very much land to possess.
NLT
1 When Joshua was an old man, the LORD said to him, “You are growing old, and much land remains to be conquered.
MSG
1 When Joshua had reached a venerable age, God said to him, "You've had a good, long life, but there is a lot of land still to be taken.
CSB
1 Joshua was now old, advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, "You have become old, advanced in years, but a great deal of the land remains to be possessed.

Joshua 13:1 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 13:1

Now Joshua was old, [and] stricken in years
How old he was cannot be said precisely, but it is very probable he was now about an hundred years of age, for he lived to be an hundred ten; and the land of Canaan was seven years in dividing, as the Jews generally say, and it seems as if he did not live long after that:

and the Lord said unto him:
either spoke to him out of the tabernacle, or appeared to him in a dream or vision:

thou art old, [and] stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very
much land to be possessed:
that is, very much of the land of Canaan, which God had promised to Abraham, yet remained unconquered by Joshua, and unpossessed by the children of Israel; and the old age of Joshua is observed, to intimate to him that through it, and the infirmities of it, he was unable to go out to war, and to finish this work, which must be left to be done by others hereafter; and that he should with all expedition set about another work he was capable of doing, before he died, which was the division of the land among the tribes of Israel.

Joshua 13:1 In-Context

1 When Joshua had grown old, the LORD said to him, “You are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.
2 “This is the land that remains: all the regions of the Philistines and Geshurites,
3 from the Shihor River on the east of Egypt to the territory of Ekron on the north, all of it counted as Canaanite though held by the five Philistine rulers in Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron; the territory of the Avvites
4 on the south; all the land of the Canaanites, from Arah of the Sidonians as far as Aphek and the border of the Amorites;
5 the area of Byblos; and all Lebanon to the east, from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo Hamath.

Cross References 1

  • 1. Genesis 24:1; Joshua 14:10; Joshua 23:1,2; 1 Kings 1:1
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