Joshua 1:1

Now after the death of Moses,.... Or "and after" (h); the book begins as if something went before, it is connected with; and indeed it seems to be the last chapter of the book of Deuteronomy, which

Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Now ... it came to pass , [ wayªhiy (H1961)] - and it was.

JOSHUA Chapter 1 God commands Joshua to lead the people unto the land of Canaan, Joshua 1:1-3. Its borders, Joshua 1:4. God promises to assist him, Joshua 1:5,6; commanding him to observe the law, Joshua 1:7-9. He prepares the people to pass over Jordan, Joshua 1:10,11. Reminds the Reubenites, Gadites, and half tribe of Manasseh of their promise to Moses, Joshua 1:12-15; which they are ready to do, and all promise to obey, Joshua 1:16-18. After the death of Moses; either immediately after it, or when the days of mourning for Moses were expired. Joshua was appointed and declared Moses's successor in the government before this time, and therefore doubtless entered upon the government instantly after his death; and here he receives confirmation from God therein. The servant of the Lord: this title is given to Moses here and Joshua 1:2, as also Deuteronomy 34:5, and is oft repeated, not without cause; partly, to reflect honour upon him; partly, to give authority to his laws and writings, in publishing whereof he only acted as God's servant, in his name and stead: and partly, that the Israelites might not think of Moses above what was meet, remembering that he was not the Lord himself, but only the Lord's servant; and therefore not to be worshipped, nor yet to be too pertinaciously followed in all his institutions, when the Lord himself should come and abolish part of the Mosaical dispensation; it being but reasonable that he who was only a servant in God's house, should give place to him who was the Son, and Heir, and Lord of it, as Christ was. See Hebrews 3:3,5,6. The Lord spake; either in a dream or vision, or by Urim, Numbers 27:21. Moses's minister, i.e. who had waited upon Moses in his great employments, and thereby been privy to his managery of the government, and so fitted and prepared for it.

Joshua 1:1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,The Book of Joshua] Who was a book man as well as a sword man: and might well give for his motto, Ex utroque Caesar. Julius Caesar wrote his own acts; witness his learned Commentaries - for so he called them, in modesty, rather than histories; and the like did his successors, Augustus Caesar, in four books, and Adrian the Emperor, with great diligence. That Joshua himself was penman of this book, or of most part of it, is probably gathered from Joshua 24:26, and that he wrote also the end of Deuteronomy - viz., from the death of his master Moses - may be gathered from the copulative and, wherewith this book beginneth - And it came to pass, &c.; so the original hath it. See the like in Judges 1:1 Rth 1:1 1 Samuel 1:1 2 Samuel 1:1, &c. Indeed, the whole law - so the whole Scripture - is but one copulative, say the schoolmen; and "God spake by the mouth" - not mouths - "of his holy prophets which have been since the world began." Joshua is here set forth both as a pattern to princes - far beyond Xenophon’ s Cyrus or Machiavel’ s Borgia - and as a type of Christ, the great Conqueror. He had his name changed, when he was sent as a spy into Canaan, from Oshea to Joshua; from Let God save, to God shall save. Under the Law, which bringeth us as it were into a wilderness, we may desire and pray that there were a Saviour: but under the Gospel we are sure of salvation; and that our Jehoshua hath bound himself to fulfil all righteousness, and to land us safe at the key of Canaan, at the kingdom of heaven. Et hae ipso laudem veram meruit quod falsam contempsit. - Dion, Fulgos. Ver. 1. Now after the death of Moses.] “ Sic uno avulso non deficit alter Aureus. ” - Virgil. The Church shall never want a champion of Christ’ s own providing; but Moses shall revive in Joshua, and there shall be a succession of godly governors, till the headstone be laid with, "Grace, grace unto it." That the Lord spake unto Joshua.] Not immediately, as to Moses, but some other way, probably by Urim and Thummin, as in Numbers 27:18; Numbers 27:21. Not so to Saul - for the high priest Abiathar was fled from him to David, with an ephod in his hand. Similarily, Christ answered nothing to Herod, who had cut off the head of the Baptist, that was vox clamantis, the voice whereby he had cried.

JOSHUA’S (Joshua 1:1-9). (1) After the death of Moses . . . the Lord spake unto Joshua . . . Moses’ minister.—Joshua’s commission was the first of its kind, but not the last. No man before Joshua had received orders to regulate his conduct by the words of a written book. Abraham and his household had kept God’s laws. Moses had acted by Divine commission. But Abraham and Moses received their orders from the mouth of Jehovah. Joshua and all his successors must fulfil the orders of “this book of the law.” Thus Joshua was Moses’ minister in more than one sense. He was Moses’ confidential agent and personal attendant while he lived, and afterwards the executor of that which Moses had written. But the position of Joshua, though at first unique and without precedent, was the position designed for all his successors, more especially for that great Personage whose name Joshua was the first to bear. Joshua and the Book of the Law come before us together, without introduction, in the same passage of the law (Exodus 17:9), “Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek;” and in Joshua 1:14, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua.” The book was prepared for Joshua; Joshua came to fulfil the words of the book. Compare Psalms 40:7, “Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God.” “Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers” (Romans 15:8; see also Matthew 5:17). For the use of the word “minister” (Heb., m’shârêth) compare 2 Kings 4:43; 2 Kings 6:15; 2 Chronicles 9:4; Ezra 8:17; Psalms 103:21; Psalms 104:4; Proverbs 29:12; Ezekiel 44:11. From these references it will be seen that the word may signify a personal attendant, a minister of state, or a minister of religion.

THE BOOK OF JOSHUA -Year before the common Year of Christ, 1451. -Julian Period, 3263. -Cycle of the Sun, 10. -Dominical Letter, B. -Cycle of the Moon, 10. -Indiction, 15. -Creation from Tisri or September, 2553. CHAPTER I Moses being dead, God commissions Joshua to bring the people into the promised land, 1, 2. The extent of the land to be possessed, 3, 4. Joshua is assured of victory over all his enemies, and is exhorted to courage and activity, 5, 6; and to be careful to act, in all things, according to the law of Moses, in which he us to meditate day and night, 7, 8. He is again exhorted to courage, with the promise of continued support, 9. Joshua commands the officers to prepare the people for their passage over Jordan, 10, 11. The Reubenites, Gadites, and half tribe of Manasseh, are put in mind of their engagement to pass over with their brethren, 12-15. They promise the strictest obedience, and pray for the prosperity of their leader, 16-18. NOTES ON CHAP. I Verse 1. Now after the death of Moses] ויהי vayehi, and it was or happened after the death of Moses. Even the first words in this book show it to be a continuation of the preceding, and intimately connected with the narrative in the last chapter in Deuteronomy, of which I suppose Joshua to have been the author, and that chapter to have originally made the commencement of this book (Deuteronomy 34:1-12). See the notes there. The time referred to here must have been at the conclusion of the thirty days in which they mourned for Moses.

Ch. Joshua 1:1-9. The Command of God to Joshua 1. Now] Rather, And. The usual connective particle. It implies that something has gone before, of which it is the continuation. Compare the opening words of the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Judges. Here, as often afterwards, the Book of Joshua presupposes that of Deuteronomy. after the death of Moses] in the land of Moab on the eastern side of the Jordan, where he was buried over against the idol sanctuary of Beth-Peor (Deuteronomy 34:6). Through thirty days of stillness, the camp had been full of weeping and mourning for the great Lawgiver. Joshua the son of Nun] For an outline of his life see Introduction. Moses’ minister] Joshua is not spoken of as Moses’ “servant,” but as his “minister.” Comp. Exodus 24:13; Deuteronomy 1:38. For his formal appointment to the office see Numbers 27:15 ff.

Now ... - Hebrew: “and, ...” The statement following is thus connected with some previous one, which is assumed to be known to the reader.

JOSHUA’S DIVINE , Joshua 1:1-9.The date of these events is, according to the common chronology, 1451 years before Christ. The place was Shittim, in the plains of Moab, about seven miles east of the Jordan, and opposite Jericho.