Joshua 23:12

12 Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave to the remnant of these nations, [even] these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and associate with them, and they with you:

Joshua 23:12 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 23:12

Else if ye do in any wise go back
From the Lord and his worship, from his word and ordinances:

and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, [even] those that remain
among you;
in cities not taken, or in several which the Philistines were in possession of, or lived among them as tributaries to them, if they should take to them, and be free and familiar with them, which may lead on to nearer connections in civil and religious matters:

and shall make marriages with them;
marry their daughters to the sons of Canaanites, or admit the daughters of Canaanites to be married to their sons:

and go in unto them, and they to you;
which is expressive of the consummation of marriage, and of the performance of the conjugal duty,

Joshua 23:12 In-Context

10 One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he [it is] that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you.
11 Take good heed therefore to yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God.
12 Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave to the remnant of these nations, [even] these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and associate with them, and they with you:
13 Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out [any of] these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.
14 And behold, this day I [am] going the way of all the earth; and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you: all are come to pass to you, [and] not one thing hath failed of it
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