Albert Barnes Commentary Joshua 1

Now ... - Hebrew: “and, ...” The statement following is in this way connected with some previous one, which is assumed to be known to the reader. So Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, etc., are by the same means linked to the books preceding them. The connection here is closer, since the Book of Deuteronomy concludes, and the book of Joshua opens, by referring to the death of Moses.

Moses, the servant of the Lord - On the epithet, see the marginal reference “b.”

Moses’ minister - It is impossible altogether to pass by the typical application of this verse. Moses, representing the law, is dead; Joshua, or, as that name is written in Greek, Jesus, is now commanded by God to do what Moses could not—lead the people into the promised land. Joshua was “Moses’ minister,” just as Christ was made under the Law; but it was Joshua, not Moses, who worked out the accomplishment of the blessings which the Law promised. On the name Joshua, see Exodus 17:9 (see note), and Numbers 13:16.

Saying - No doubt directly, by an immediate revelation, but not as God spoke to Moses, mouth to mouth (Numbers 12:8). Though upon Joshua’s appointment to be Moses’ successor (Numbers 27:18 and following), it had been directed that counsel should be asked for him through the medium of Eleazar after the judgment of Urim, yet this was evidently a resource provided to meet cases of doubt and difficulty. Here there was no such case; but the appointed leader, knowing well the purpose of God, needed to be stirred up to instant execution of it; and the people too might require the encouragement of a renewed divine command to set out at once upon the great enterprise before them .

Lebanon is spoken of as “this Lebanon,” because it was visible from the neighborhood in which Israel was encamped. (Compare Deuteronomy 3:8-9.) “The wilderness” of the text is the Desert of Arabia, which forms the southern, as Lebanon does the northern limit of the promised land. The boundaries on the east and west are likewise indicated, and the intervening territory is described generally as “all the land of the Hittites.”

The Hittites are properly the inhabitants of northern Canaan and Phoenicia (see Exodus 3:8 note), but the name appears to be used here for the Canaanites in general, as in 1 Kings 10:29. On the boundaries of the promised land, compare Deuteronomy 11:24; Genesis 15:18.

Prosper - See the margin. The literal rendering should be retained here since the notion of prosperity is separately introduced by a different word in (Joshua 1:8).

Officers - The “scribes.” (See the Exodus 5:6 note, and Deuteronomy 16:18.)

Prepare you victuals - The order was probably given with the knowledge that the manna would cease when the host crossed the Jordan (Exodus 16:35), and possibly because amidst their preparations there might not be opportunity to gather it in sufficient quantity. Nor does it appear that manna ever formed the whole and sole sustenance of the people (Compare to Numbers 20:1 note).

It is the view of the majority of commentators—Jewish and Christian, ancient and modern—that the “three days” here named are identical with those of (Joshua 3:2); and that the command of Joshua in the text was not in fact given until after the return of the spies. Here, as elsewhere in the Hebrew historical books and frequently in the Gospels, the order of time is superseded by the order of thought.

For the purpose of the writer was not historical merely; it was, on the contrary, mainly religious and theoretical. Intending, then, to exhibit God as accomplishing His promises to the covenant-people, he begins by informing us that God gave the word and set Joshua and the host actually in motion to take possession of their inheritance.

Having placed this leading fact in the forefront, he returns to mention in (Joshua 2:0) certain transactions closely relevant to the early stages of Joshua’s conquests, but which had in fact happened before the camp was removed from the plains of Moab and immediately after the expiration of the thirty days’ mourning for Moses (Deuteronomy 34:8).

The order of events was probably the following:

1. 3rd Nisan, the spies are sent out (Joshua 2:1).
2. 6th, the spies return (Joshua 2:23).
3. 7th, the camp is removed from Shittim to the bank of Jordan (Joshua 3:1), and the command (Joshua 1:11) is issued.
4. 10th, the river is crossed (Joshua 4:19).