Joshua 1:4

4 Your borders will be the desert [on the south], nearby Lebanon to the Euphrates River (the country of the Hittites) [on the north], and the Mediterranean Sea on the west.

Joshua 1:4 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 1:4

From the wilderness
The wilderness of Kadesh and Sin, on the border of Edom; in the southeast corner, as Jarchi says, see ( Numbers 34:3 ) ;

and this Lebanon;
which though on the other side Jordan, and at a considerable distance, being the northern border of the land towards Syria, might be seen afar off; or it is expressed, because it was a well known place, as Kimchi remarks:

even unto the great river, the river Euphrates;
which was the eastern border of the land, and to which it reached in the times of Solomon, whose dominion extended thither, ( 1 Kings 4:21 ) ; according to Jarchi, this was its breadth from south to north:

all the land of the Hittites:
who, though only one of the seven nations of Canaan, are put for the rest, and the rather mentioned, because, as their name signifies, they were very formidable and terrible; among them dwelt the Anakim, and they themselves were very warlike and populous; or they are taken notice of particularly here, because they dwelt in the western part of the land described by them, so Kimchi thinks; according to Jarchi, this was its length from east to west:

and unto the great sea:
the Mediterranean sea, which was the western border of the land of Canaan, called great, in comparison of the sea of Tiberias, and the salt sea, which were in it:

toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast;
the western coast, (See Gill on Deuteronomy 11:24); this will be more fully verified in Christ, when his kingdom is from sea to sea, ( Psalms 72:8 ) .

Joshua 1:4 In-Context

2 "My servant Moses is dead. Now you and all these people must cross the Jordan River into the land that I am going to give the people of Israel.
3 I will give you every place on which you set foot, as I promised Moses.
4 Your borders will be the desert [on the south], nearby Lebanon to the Euphrates River (the country of the Hittites) [on the north], and the Mediterranean Sea on the west.
5 No one will be able to oppose you successfully as long as you live. I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will never neglect you or abandon you.
6 Be strong and courageous, because you will help these people take possession of the land I swore to give their ancestors.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.