Joshua 1:14

14 your wives, and your sons, and your beasts shall dwell in the land that Moses gave to you beyond (the) Jordan, (that is, on the east side of the river); but pass ye (over) armed, all (the) strong in hand, before your brethren; and fight ye for them,

Joshua 1:14 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 1:14

Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain
in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan
This was what they themselves proposed, agreed unto, and confirmed, ( Numbers 32:16 Numbers 32:17 Numbers 32:26 Numbers 32:27 ) ;

but ye shall pass over before your brethren armed;
bearing arms, to fight for them; for none but such that were fit to bear arms were obliged to go; and these were to go "harnessed" ^F15, as some render the word, or in a military order, in rank and file, by fives, five in a row; not at the front of the army, for the standard of Judah went first, but along with them; for "before them" signifies no other than in the presence of them, and in company with them:

all the mighty men of valour, and help them;
to obtain a conquest over the Canaanites; all, according to the order of Moses, and by their agreement, were to go, all that were able to bear arms; but Joshua did not take them all, only a select company of strong and valiant for, out of an hundred thirty thousand, but forty thousand went with him, ( Joshua 4:13 ) .

---

FOOTNOTES:

F15 (Myvmx) "ordine militari", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "quintati", Montanus.

Joshua 1:14 In-Context

12 Also Joshua said to men of Reuben, and to men of Gad, and to the half lineage of Manasseh, (And Joshua said to the men of Reuben, and the men of Gad, and the men of the eastern half of the tribe of Manasseh ,)

13 Have ye mind of the word which Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded to you, and said, Your Lord God hath given to you rest, and all the land; (Remember what Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded to you, saying, The Lord your God hath given rest to you, and hath given you all of this land;)

14 your wives, and your sons, and your beasts shall dwell in the land that Moses gave to you beyond (the) Jordan, (that is, on the east side of the river); but pass ye (over) armed, all (the) strong in hand, before your brethren; and fight ye for them,

15 till the Lord give rest to your brethren, as he gave also to you, and till also they wield the land which your Lord God shall give to them; and so turn ye again into the land of your possession, and ye shall dwell in that land which Moses, [the] servant of the Lord, gave to you over Jordan, against the rising of the sun. (until the Lord give rest to your kinsmen, as he also gave to you, and until they also take the land which the Lord your God shall give them; and then ye shall return to the land of your possession, and ye shall live in that land which Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you on this east side of the Jordan River, near to the rising of the sun.)

16 And they answered to Joshua, and said, We shall do all things which thou commandest to us, and we shall go, whither ever thou sendest us;