John Gill Commentary Joshua 1

Now after the death of Moses
Or "and after" ^F8 ; the book begins as if something went before, it is connected with.

And indeed it seems to be the last chapter of the book of Deuteronomy, which treats of the death of Moses; and Joshua being the penman of (Deuteronomy 34:5–12), as say the Talmudists ^F9 , and of this book, as has been seen, having wrote them, he goes on with the history of his own affairs in strict connection with that account, beginning where that ended; namely, at the death of Moses, whose character here given is

the servant of the Lord ;
and a faithful one he was in all things belonging to it, and in whatsoever was enjoined him by the Lord, see (Deuteronomy 34:5);

and it came to pass that the Lord spoke unto Joshua the son of Nun ,
Moses's minister ;
either in a dream, or vision, or by an articulate voice out of the sanctuary: of Joshua's descent and relation, see (Exodus 33:11); and of his office under Moses, not as a menial servant, but a minister of state, see (Exodus 24:13);

saying ;
as follows.

FOOTNOTES:

• F8: (yhyw) "et factum est", V. L. "et fuit", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus.
• F9: T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 14. 2.

Moses my servant is dead
Which was said not for the information of Joshua, but to lead on to, and show the cause and reason of what he was about to say to him:

now therefore arise, go over this Jordan ;
near to which the whole body of the people of Israel were, and very probably were in sight of it:

you, and all this people :
which were very numerous, six hundred thousand men or more, besides a great number of women and children, and no boats to carry them over, or pontoons to put across the river:

unto the land which I give unto them, [even] to the children of
Israel ;
and therefore it could be no case of conscience with Joshua, to go and take it out of the hands of the present inhabitants, since the Lord, who had a right to dispose of it, gave it to them.

As this land was a type of heaven, and eternal life, which is the free gift of God through Christ, passing over the river of Jordan to it may be an emblem of the passage through death to the heavenly state; both of the death of Christ, the antitypical Joshua, who passed through it, as a surety to make satisfaction for sin, and as a forerunner to set an example, to sanctify death, to open a way into the holiest of holies, and prepare a place for his people; and of the death of the saints, which is necessary to their enjoyment of perfect rest and happiness.

Every place that the sole of your feet shall tread upon
That is, in the land of Canaan:

that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses :
(See Gill on Deuteronomy 11:24); though the Jews extend this to all without the land subdued by them, and even to all the countries they now tread on, and are exiles in; but the limits of what the Lord gave them are fixed in (Joshua 1:4) .

From the wilderness
The wilderness of Kadesh and Sin, on the border of Edom; in the southeast corner, as Jarchi says, see (Numbers 34:3) ;

and this Lebanon ;
which though on the other side Jordan, and at a considerable distance, being the northern border of the land towards Syria, might be seen afar off; or it is expressed, because it was a well known place, as Kimchi remarks:

even unto the great river, the river Euphrates ;
which was the eastern border of the land, and to which it reached in the times of Solomon, whose dominion extended thither, (1 Kings 4:21) ; according to Jarchi, this was its breadth from south to north:

all the land of the Hittites :
who, though only one of the seven nations of Canaan, are put for the rest, and the rather mentioned, because, as their name signifies, they were very formidable and terrible; among them dwelt the Anakim, and they themselves were very warlike and populous; or they are taken notice of particularly here, because they dwelt in the western part of the land described by them, so Kimchi thinks; according to Jarchi, this was its length from east to west:

and unto the great sea :
the Mediterranean sea, which was the western border of the land of Canaan, called great, in comparison of the sea of Tiberias, and the salt sea, which were in it:

toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast ;
the western coast, (See Gill on Deuteronomy 11:24); this will be more fully verified in Christ, when his kingdom is from sea to sea, (Psalms 72:8) .

There shall not any man be able to stand before you all the
days of your life
What is promised to the people in common, (Deuteronomy 11:25) ; is here particularly promised to Joshuatheir general; and which was fulfilled in him, and still more in Christ his antitype, who made an end of sin,destroyed the devil, spoiled principalities and powers, abolished death, and overcame the world:

as I was with Moses, [so] will I be with you ;
to counsel and advise, guide and direct, protect and defend, prosper and succeed; the Targum of Jonathan is,as my Word was for the help of Moses, so will I be with you:''

I will not fail you, norforsake you ;
but grant him his presence, communicate strength unto him, make good his promises, and leave him not till hehad made an entire conquest of the land of Canaan, and even not till the end of his days; and was true ofChrist in his state of humiliation, in his sufferings and death, and even in the grave, where he was not leftso long as to see corruption; as this is applied to particular believers, (See Gill on Hebrews 13:5).