Bible Strands
Joshua 18:3
So Joshua said to the Israelites, “How long will you put off entering and possessing the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joshua speaks to the people of Israel while seven tribes remain without their allotted inheritance. He addresses them just before instructing them to appoint surveyors for the land.
The words — The Hebrew אָ֙נָה֙ ('a.nah) translates literally as "when?" or "how long?", functioning as a rhetorical challenge to delay. Joshua pairs this term with the verb "put off" to question the prolonged inaction of the tribes.
The thread — The passage runs parallel to Judges 18:9, where a tribe urges immediate action to secure a good land, and to Proverbs 13:4 and Proverbs 15:19, which contrast the slacker's unfulfilled desires and obstructed path with the diligent's satisfaction and clear way.
Why it lands — The text demands immediate obedience to God's prior promise rather than passive delay. It requires the reader to examine personal procrastination in claiming what God has already provided.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you?
Cross-references
- Proverbs 13:4 The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.
- Judges 18:9 They answered, “Come on, let us go up against them, for we have seen the land, and it is very good. Why would you fail to act? Do not hesitate to go there and take possession of the land!
- Proverbs 15:19 The way of the slacker is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway.
- Proverbs 10:4 Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
- Matthew 20:6 About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ he asked.
- Zephaniah 3:16 On that day they will say to Jerusalem: “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands fall limp.
- Philippians 3:13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
- Proverbs 2:2 if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding,
- Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
- John 6:27 Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”