Bible Strands
Joshua 23:1
A long time after the LORD had given Israel rest from all the enemies around them, when Joshua was old and well along in years,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joshua addresses Israel’s elders, leaders, judges, and officers at the end of his life. This occurs shortly after Yahweh grants the nation rest from surrounding enemies.
The words — The Hebrew phrase מִיָּמִים רַבִּים אַחֲרֵי (mi-yamim rabbim acharei) literally translates to "from many days after." It marks the extended interval between the conquest and Joshua’s final address.
The thread — The motif of divine rest appears in Joshua 21:44, where Yahweh gives rest on every side as sworn to their fathers. Joshua 13:1 and Joshua 11:23 similarly track the fulfillment of land inheritance and the cessation of enemy resistance.
Why it lands — The text records a historical baseline of completed conquest and advanced age before Joshua issues his charge. Interpreters note that this temporal marker warns against complacency, as physical security often precedes spiritual decline.
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 it came to pass a long time after that the Lord had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua waxed old and stricken in age.
Cross-references
- Joshua 13:1 Now Joshua was old and well along in years, and the LORD said to him, “You are old and well along in years, but very much of the land remains to be possessed.
- Joshua 21:44 And the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.
- Joshua 11:23 So Joshua took the entire land, in keeping with all that the LORD had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to the allotments to their tribes. Then the land had rest from war.
- Genesis 25:8 And at a ripe old age he breathed his last and died, old and contented, and was gathered to his people.
- Deuteronomy 31:2 he said to them, “I am now a hundred and twenty years old; I am no longer able to come and go, and the LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’
- Joshua 22:4 And now that the LORD your God has given your brothers rest as He promised them, you may return to your homes in the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you across the Jordan.
- Psalms 46:9 He makes wars to cease throughout the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields in the fire.