Bible Strands

Joshua 24:13

So I gave you a land on which you did not toil and cities that you did not build, and now you live in them and eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant.’

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Joshua addresses the assembled tribes of Israel at Shechem, closing his Farewell Address by recounting Yahweh’s past deliverance and land grant.

The words — The Hebrew וָ/אֶתֵּ֨ן (va./'e.Ten) translates literally as "and I gave," while יָגַ֣עְתָּ (ya.Ga'.ta) means "you labored," structuring the verse around divine provision contrasted with human absence of toil.

The thread — The text grounds this claim in Deuteronomy 6:10, which promises cities the people did not build, while Deuteronomy 8:7 and Joshua 21:45 track the broader fulfillment of Yahweh’s land promises.

Why it lands — The passage states that the inheritance was divinely supplied rather than humanly earned, establishing the factual basis for the immediate command to serve Yahweh alone.

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

וָאֶתֵּ֨ןva./'e.Tenand/ I gaveלָכֶ֜םla./Khemto <the>/ youאֶ֣רֶץ׀'E.retza landאֲשֶׁ֧ר'a.Sherwhichלֹֽא־lo'-notיָגַ֣עְתָּya.Ga'.tayou had laboredבָּ֗הּBa/hfor/ itוְעָרִים֙ve./'a.Rimand/ citiesאֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sherwhichלֹא־lo'-notבְנִיתֶ֔םve.ni.Temyou had builtוַתֵּשְׁב֖וּva./te.she.Vuand/ you dweltבָּהֶ֑םba./Hemin <the>/ themכְּרָמִ֤יםke.ra.Mimvineyardsוְזֵיתִים֙ve./zei.Timand/ olive treesאֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.Sherwhichלֹֽא־lo'-notנְטַעְתֶּ֔םne.ta'.Temyou had plantedאַתֶּ֖ם'a.Temyouאֹכְלִֽים׃'o.khe.Lim[are] eating

King James Version

And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.

Cross-references