Joshua 1:14

14 your wives, your infants, and your substance, abide in the land which Moses hath given to you beyond the Jordan, and ye -- ye pass over by fifties, before your brethren, all the mighty ones of valour, and have helped 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 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Joshua 1:14 In-Context

12 And to the Reubenite, and to the Gadite, and to the half of the tribe of Manasseh, hath Joshua spoken, saying,

13 `Remember the word which Moses, servant of Jehovah, commanded you, saying, Jehovah your God is giving rest to you, and He hath given to you this land;

14 your wives, your infants, and your substance, abide in the land which Moses hath given to you beyond the Jordan, and ye -- ye pass over by fifties, before your brethren, all the mighty ones of valour, and have helped them,

15 till that Jehovah giveth rest to your brethren as to yourselves, and they have possessed, even they, the land which Jehovah your God is giving to them; then ye have turned back to the land of your possession, and have possessed it, which Moses, servant of Jehovah, hath given to you beyond the Jordan, [at] the sun-rising.'

16 And they answer Joshua, saying, `All that thou hast commanded us we do; and unto every [place] whither thou dost send us, we go;