Joshua 1:17

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

According as we listened to Moses in all things, so will we listen to you: only Yahweh your God be with you, as he was with Moses.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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Word by word

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רַ֠ק

raq

H7535

“only”

Particle, Accusative

Appears 109× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 6:5

Full BDB Definition

Origin: the same as H7534 as a noun

TWOT: 2218a

only, altogether, surely - only - only, nought but, altogether (in limitation) - save, except (after a negative) - only, altogether, surely (with an affirmative) - if only, provided only (prefixed for emphasis) - only, exclusively (for emphasis)

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

17: words
11: distinct lemmas
Historical: section

Grammatical profile

4 verbs
5 nouns
4 prepositions
4 particles

Verb forms

שָׁמַ֨עְנוּ֙ Qal · Perfect
נִשְׁמַ֣ע Qal · Imperfect
יִֽהְיֶ֞ה Qal · Imperfect
הָיָ֖ה Qal · Perfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

שָׁמַ֨עְנוּ֙ to hear H8085 ×2
מֹשֶׁ֔ה Moses H4872 ×2
יִֽהְיֶ֞ה to be H1961 ×2
אֲשֶׁר which H834 ×2
אֶל to H413 ×2
עִמָּ֔ךְ with H5973 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 27 words from the Hebrew and 24 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 17 Hebrew tokens and 20 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Joshua 1:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Joshua 1:5 There shall not any man be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you, nor forsake you.
1 Kings 1:37 As Yahweh has been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David.
Joshua 1:9 Haven't I commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; don't be afraid, neither be dismayed: for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go.
1 Samuel 20:13 Yahweh do so to Jonathan, and more also, should it please my father to do you evil, if I don't disclose it to you, and send you away, that you may go in peace: and Yahweh be with you, as he has been with my father.
1 Chronicles 28:20 David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: don't be afraid, nor be dismayed; for Yahweh God, even my God, is with you; he will not fail you, nor forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of Yahweh is finished.
Psalms 20:1 May Yahweh answer you in the day of trouble. May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high,
Psalms 20:4 May He grant you your heart's desire, And fulfill all your counsel.
Psalms 20:9 Save, Yahweh; Let the King answer us when we call!

Psalms 118:25–26 Save us now, we beg you, Yahweh; Yahweh, we beg you, now send prosperity.
Matthew 21:9 The multitudes who went before him, and who followed kept shouting, "Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"
1 Timothy 2:1–2 I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks, be made for all men:

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Joshua 1:17 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

כְּכֹ֤ל אֲשֶׁר שָׁמַ֨עְנוּ֙ אֶל מֹשֶׁ֔ה כֵּ֖ן נִשְׁמַ֣ע אֵלֶ֑יךָ רַ֠ק יִֽהְיֶ֞ה יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֨יךָ֙ עִמָּ֔ךְ כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר הָיָ֖ה עִם מֹשֶֽׁה

According as we listened to Moses in all things, so will we listen to you: only Yahweh your God be with you, as he was with Moses.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Joshua 1:17 Septuagint · lemma form

κατά πᾶς ὅσος ἀκούω μωυσῆς ἀκούω σύ πλήν εἰμί κύριος ὁ θεός ἐγώ μετά σύ ὅς τρόπος εἰμί μετά μωυσῆς

Whereinsoever we listened to Moses we will listen to you; only let the Lord our God be with you, as he was with Moses.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)

כְּכֹל דְקַבֵּלְנָא מִן מֹשֶׁה כֵּן נְקַבֵּל מִנָךְ לְחוֹד יְהֵי מִימְרָא דַייָ אֱלָהָךְ בְּסַעֲדָךְ כְּמָא דַהֲוָה בְּסַעֲדֵיהּ דְמֹשֶׁה:

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Joshua 1:17 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Jos 1:17 According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the LORD thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses.

Ver. 17. Only the Lord thy God be with thee.] For else we shall stand thee and our brethren but in small stead.

As he was with Moses.] Who never miscarried in any enterprise.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Tyndale Open Resources

1:17 Israel often did not obey . . . Moses. However, the tribes living east of the Jordan did cross with the rest of Israel, and they did not return to their own land and homes until Joshua dismissed them (22:6).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

They do not only promise to obey him so long as God is with him: but to help to punish all that rebel against him.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 17. Only the Lord thy God be with thee] Provided God be with thee, as he was with Moses, we will implicitly obey thee. The words however may mean no more than an earnest prayer for Joshua's prosperity: May God be with thee, as he was with Moses!

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

17. only the Lord thy God] The promise of the Two Tribes and a Half closes with the same call to trust and confidence in the Most High, which God Himself had already addressed to Joshua.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

According as we have hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee,.... Not right or wrong, but in all things that were according to the laws and will of God made known to them; and particularly it may refer to the above affair, which was settled between Moses and them, to whom they then hearkened, and now promise to confirm the same, and hearken to whatsoever orders and instructions Joshua should give them relative to it, according to the plan agreed upon:

only the Lord thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses; which is not mentioned as a condition of their obedience to him, but rather as a reason of it, and as an encouraging motive to it; for, according to Kimchi, the true sense and meaning is,"for the Lord thy God will be with thee, as he was with Moses;''so Noldius renders it,"seeing the Lord thy God is with thee.''

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Moses. Thus they express their ardent wish, that God would extend his protection to Josue. (Menochius) --- They do not mean to insinuate, that they will obey him only as long as he complies with God’s law. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

The same obedience which we owed, and those of us who are now alive generally performed, to Moses, we promise unto thee.

Only the Lord thy God be with thee: this is not a limitation of their obedience, as if they would not obey him any further or longer than he was prosperous or successful; but an additional prayer for him. As we have hereby promised thee our obedience, so our prayer shall be, that God would bless and prosper thee, as he did Moses.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

17. Only the Lord… be with thee — By this language they do not avow a qualified and conditional allegiance, but only responsively reiterate with myriads of tongues the brief and stirring exhortation given by God, “Be strong and of a good courage.” It is because they believe that Jehovah is with Joshua that they bind themselves to obey him.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

As we hearkened unto Moses. Calvin remarks that the Israelites did not hearken unto Moses, but replies that, compared with the conduct of their fathers whose bodies lay in the wilderness, the conduct of this generation was obedience itself. It certainly appears as though for the last two years of the wandering in the wilderness there was far less rebellion against Moses than before; and after the solemn repetition of the precepts of the law to the new generation which had arisen, given in the Book of Deuteronomy, there seems to have been no rebellion at all. (see Num_26:63)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Unto thee - The same obedience which we owed, to Moses, we promise unto thee. With Moses - This is not a limitation of their obedience, as if they would not obey him any longer than he was prosperous, but an additional prayer for him. As we have hereby promised thee our obedience, so our prayer shall be, that God would bless and prosper thee, as he did Moses.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Joshua, in the Historical, opens this verse with 17 words (11 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is raq (“only”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word raq carries the sense “only.” How does it shape the verse?
How does Joshua 1:5, which shares this passage’s theme, read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “to hear” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
«שָׁמַ֨עְנוּ֙» is a Qal Perfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Tyndale Open Study Notes read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 17 Hebrew ↔ 20 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 12 words in this verse.
“to hear” occurs 2× in this single verse.
11 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 17 words in this verse.