Chapter One
1. Divine command to Joshua to cross the Jordan. 3. The boundaries of the future Israeli territory. 5. The promise to Joshua of divine assistance. 8. The conditions for the fulfillment of this promise. 10. Preparation of the people for crossing the Jordan. 12. Reminder to the two and a half tribes of their promise. 16. Their answer to this reminder.
The Book of Joshua begins with a direct revelation from the Lord to him as one already appointed by Moses as his successor (Num 27:15-23). Before beginning his work, he is granted a special revelation to impel him to carry out the great task laid upon him and to strengthen his courage with the promise of divine help. This revelation was especially necessary at the beginning of a difficult undertaking that ordinarily causes hesitation and irresolution. Such a revelation could not be replaced by revelation through the high-priestly Urim, to which Moses pointed Joshua (Num 27:21), since through the latter only a brief answer was obtained to a question posed during difficult circumstances (1 Sam 23:11). Joshua did not pose such a question to the Lord, knowing His will regarding his appointment and the forthcoming task. The direct revelation to him from the Lord also testified that, taking the place of Moses in leading the people, he had direct closeness to God.
Joshua 1:1. After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses: “After the death of Moses,” that is, after the thirty days of mourning for him by the people (Deut 34:8). “Servant of the Lord”—this is an honorable title (or epithet) of Moses, indicating his complete devotion and faithfulness to the Lord, and at the same time his special closeness to the Lord (it is used in (Num 12:7), (Deut 34:5), (1 Kgs 8:56), (Ps 104:26), and others). “Joshua son of Nun”—one of the chief, or princes, of the tribe of Ephraim (Num 13:3-4)—is called the servant of Moses to indicate his special closeness to him and devotion. The Hebrew verb “to serve” (“sharat”), from which comes the word “servant” (“meshareth”), is used to designate not compulsory but voluntary service, and in particular service to the Lord (1 Sam 2:11) and so on.
Joshua 1:2. Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Joshua 1:3. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads I have given you, as I promised to Moses: Joshua 1:4. from the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun shall be your territory. The boundaries of the country which the Israelites were to occupy are here defined in a manner similar to how they are indicated in (Deut 11:24): the southern boundary is the Arabian desert, the northern is Mount Lebanon, the eastern is the River Euphrates, and the western is the Great Sea, now called the Mediterranean. The word “this” attached to the name of Lebanon shows that from the place where the revelation was given, this mountain was visible. Besides the boundaries, the country defined by them is also named, called the land of the Hittites, one of the strong peoples living in Canaan, whose name is often placed first (Deut 7:1); (Josh 9:1) and so on. The expression in the Slavonic Bible corresponding to this, “all the land of the Epheans,”—owes its origin to the fact that it is borrowed from the Complutensian Polyglot (where it reads πᾶσαν γῆν Ἐυαίων), and this borrowing from the said edition was caused by the fact that in the majority of the most ancient Greek manuscripts, not excluding the Alexandrian, the words of the Hebrew text “all the land of the Hittites” are not found; at present, only the Ambrosian manuscript of the 4th-5th centuries is known among ancient manuscripts in which these words are read. Caring for the completeness of the Slavonic text, our correctors used the Complutensian edition and took from it the stated expression; as a result, the name of the Hittites appeared in an unusual form, not corresponding to how this people is called in other places of the Slavonic Bible, for example (Gen 10:15) and many others, and in particular in the Book of Joshua (Josh 9:1).
Joshua 1:5. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Corresponds to what is said in (Deut 11:25).
Joshua 1:6. Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them; Joshua 1:7. only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you; turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. Joshua 1:8. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. Joshua 1:9. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous; be not frightened, neither be dismayed; for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. The divine promise of all-powerful assistance does not exclude, but instead insistently requires the exertion and effort of one’s own strength, as is clearly indicated by the threefold repetition: “be strong and courageous.” The required firmness and fearlessness in taking possession of the land given to the Israelites should not, however, be manifested in arbitrary, unlawful actions; on the contrary, this courageous activity of the Israeli leader should be strictly in accordance with the given law, which he should steadfastly follow, and whose commandments should be constantly not only on his lips but in his soul, should be the object of his reflection (“meditate,” or, according to the meaning of the Hebrew verb “hagita” used here—“think on”), directed at that, so that “you may be careful to do according to all that is written in the book of the law.” Only in the fulfillment of this condition will the strength and courage of the leader of the Israeli people be crowned with blessed success. As a result of the divine command to cross the Jordan, Joshua makes three arrangements, the execution of which was to serve as preparation for the successful fulfillment of the higher will.
Joshua 1:10. And Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, Joshua 1:11. “Pass through the camp, and command the people, ‘Prepare your provisions; for in three days you are to pass over the Jordan, to go in and take possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving you. The first of these arrangements was that the officers of the people, or, in the Slavonic Bible, the “scribes,” that is, those who performed the duties of present-day police, announced to the people the impending crossing of the Jordan “in three days” and the preparation of “food” for the journey. By food, or “sustenance,” is understood ordinary provisions (Gen 42:25). If the sending of manna had not yet ceased at this time (Josh 5:12), it could not serve as a sufficient means of nourishment at the impending crossing, since the gathering of it could not be carried out during travel to the Jordan and the crossing itself, and storing manna for several days ahead was useless (Exod 16:20).
Joshua 1:12. And Joshua said to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua 1:13. Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, “The Lord your God has given you rest, and has given you this land; Joshua 1:14. Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan; but all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your members and shall help them, Joshua 1:15. until the Lord has given your members rest, as he has given to you, and they also have obtained the land which the Lord your God is giving them; then you shall return to your own land, and shall possess it, the land which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan on the east. Joshua 1:16. And they answered Joshua, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go; Joshua 1:17. just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you; only may the Lord your God be with you, as he was with Moses; Joshua 1:18. whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous! The second preparatory measure was a reminder in the words of Moses to the tribes—Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh—which had received as their inheritance the east-Jordanian region, of the condition under which it was given to them (Deut 3:18-20); (Num 32:29-30). Having heard this reminder, the representatives of the tribes expressed their complete readiness to obey in all things the successor of Moses, as they had obeyed him, and to execute with death those who would not show such obedience.
Joshua 1:14. Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan; but all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your members and shall help them, “Beyond the Jordan,” in the Slavonic Bible: “at the Jordan,” “on the other side,” “the Jordan side” (Josh 1:15). In the Hebrew text this corresponds to “bever hayarden,” which in the LXX is translated: πέραν τοῦ Ιορδάνου; εἰς τὸ πέραν τοῦ Ιορδάνου (Josh 1:15), which means “on the other side of the Jordan.” In this sense, the said Hebrew expression is understood by many Christian biblical scholars. An examination of the passages of the Pentateuch and other Old Testament books in which this expression is used shows, however, that it was used to designate both the East-Jordanian country and the West-Jordanian, that is, it was used in the sense of both “on the other side” and “on this side,” and the meaning it had—either the one or the other—is determined by the historical and geographical indications found in the content of the passages of the biblical text in which this expression is used. The correctness of such understanding of the Hebrew expression is evident from (Num 32:19), as well as from (Josh 12:1), where “bever hayarden” with the addition “to the east of the sun” is used of the East-Jordanian country in the sense “beyond the Jordan,” and in (Josh 12:7) with the addition “to the west”—of the West-Jordanian country in the sense “on this side of the Jordan.” In (Josh 1:14-15) this expression is used to designate the East-Jordanian country, which the two and a half Israeli tribes received as their lot, and the most suitable translation here, eliminating confusion, is “beyond the Jordan.” The use of this expression for the East-Jordanian country in the words of Joshua, when he was in this country, is the more understandable because his book was written at a time when a large part of the Israeli people had already lived for several decades in the West-Jordanian country, and the designation of its eastern half as the trans-Jordanian country had entered into use, though this did not become an exclusive term, as is indicated by the addition made to this designation in (Josh 1:15) of “to the east of the sun.” The expression “all the men of valor,” or “all the mighty,” in the Slavonic Bible is used in the general sense that the two and a half tribes were to send as large a number of their warriors as possible to their kinsmen for the forthcoming conquest, not in the narrow sense that “all the men of valor” were to go on the campaign. Such a limitation of the word “all” is evident from the fact that, according to (Josh 4:13), only about forty thousand armed men from the Reubenites, Gadites, and half of Manasseh crossed the Jordan, whereas in these tribes there were about one hundred ten thousand men from twenty years and above (Num 26:7).
Joshua 1:15. until the Lord has given your members rest, as he has given to you, and they also have obtained the land which the Lord your God is giving them; then you shall return to your own land, and shall possess it, the land which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan on the east. “[Your God].” As here, so in other places of the Russian translation, words placed in brackets are borrowed from the Slavonic Bible. Into the latter, the stated words, not found in the Hebrew text, were borrowed, apparently from the Complutensian Polyglot or the Aldine Bible, where, as in the Ambrosian manuscript, is read: ὁ Θεὸς ὑμῶν, whereas in the Vatican and other most ancient manuscripts, as well as in the Sixtine edition, is read: ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν—our God. The Slavonic-Russian translation of the stated expression is more suitable, since in the further words of this verse and in the Hebrew text the same words “your God” are used, literally (through ὑμῶν) transmitted in the Alexandrian manuscript and the Complutensian Polyglot, whereas in the Vatican manuscript and Sixtine edition “your” is replaced by ἡμῶν—“our.” The threat of death for failure to comply with Joshua’s orders is expressed in accordance with (Deut 17:12): “whoever does not obey the priest or the judge shall die.” * * * Notes The camp of the Israelites before crossing the Jordan was located on the Moabite plain (Deut 34:1-3). Near this place rises Mount Nebo, from the summit of which Moses saw the entire expanse of the land of Canaan, and which travelers to this day see and report that from this mountain one can see the highest peak of Lebanon (Christendom. 1886, May-June, p. 779). In the Moscow Greek Bible of 1821, the words πᾶσαν γῆν Ἐυαίων are read in this passage, although they are absent in the Alexandrian manuscript. Regarding the name of Israeli scribes, see, among other things, in the work of F. Eleonskii “History of the Israelite People in Egypt,” p. 112-114. Or according to the literal translation from the Hebrew: “in the course of three days,” which better corresponds to the Greek-Slavonic translation: ἔτι τρεῖς ἡμέραι—yet three days. A detailed examination of other passages of the biblical text in which this disputed expression—in terms of its exact meaning—is used, see “Christendom”. 1873, Part 2, p. 693-730 or in separate edition: “Analysis of the Opinions of Modern Negative Criticism on the Time of Writing of the Pentateuch.” Issue I, 133-171.