Joshua 23:12

BY THREATENINGS IN CASE OF DISOBEDIENCE. (Jos 23:12)

Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations--As marriage connections with the idolatrous Canaanites would present many and strong temptations to transgress it, these were strictly prohibited (Exo 34:12-16; Deu 7:3). With his eye, as it were, upon those prohibitions, Joshua threatens them with the certain withdrawal of the divine aid in the further expulsion of the Canaanites (a threat founded Exo 23:33; Num 33:55; Deu 7:16).

Next: Joshua Chapter 24

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Jos 23:12 Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, [even] these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you:

Ver. 12. Else, if ye do in any wise go back.] Apostates cannot choose to themselves a worse condition; there is martial law for such: they "draw back to perdition." {Heb 10:39}

And cleave unto the remnant.] It is not safe to seek the association of others in a sinful way. Jehoshaphat smarted for joining with Ahab: Hunniades, for cleaving to that perjured Popish king at the battle of Varna: the Greek Church, for calling in the help of the Latin Church against the Turk; subjecting themselves to the Bishop of Rome.

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.

Jos 23:12-13. If ye in any wise go back — From God, and from his worship and service. They shall be snares and traps to you — By your converse with them, you will be drawn by degrees into their errors, and impieties, and brutish lusts. Thorns in your eyes — When they have seduced, and thereby weakened you, then they will molest and vex you, no less than a severe scourge doth a man’s sides which are lashed by it, or than a small thorn doth the eye when it is got within it. Till ye perish — They shall so persecute you, and fight against you with such success, that you shall be forced to quit your own land, and wander, you know not whither. Which must needs have been very terrible to them to think of, when they compared their present ease, and plenty, and safety, with the pains, and weariness, and hazards, and wants of their former wanderings.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23:12-16 Apostasy—turning away from the true God—is fatal. • Because God is holy, Joshua could speak with optimism regarding God’s promises and the good land into which God had brought them. God will not change his holy character even if his people change. The rebellion of God’s people cannot damage his holiness, but rebellion will destroy those who rebel.

23:12 Joshua warned God’s people not to intermarry with their polytheistic neighbors because such an intimate relationship would lead the Israelites astray (Deut 7:3-4). However, Canaanites who desired to worship the Lord and join God’s people were welcomed (Josh 6:25; Ruth 4:10). Race, language, and ethnicity had no bearing on God’s prohibition of intermarriage; it was a matter of faithfulness to the Lord (cp. 2 Cor 6:14-15).

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

Or, be of their affinity.

Or, have conversation with them.

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

Verse 12. Else if ye do - go back] The soldier who draws back when going to meet the enemy, forfeits his life. These were the Lord's soldiers, and if they drew back they drew back unto perdition, their lives being forfeited by their infidelity.

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

12. Else if you do in any wise go back, etc According to the usual method observed in the Law, he adds threatening, in order that if they are not sufficiently allured by the divine goodness, they may be aroused by fear to the performance of their duty. It is, indeed, disgraceful for men, when God graciously condescends to invite them, not at once to run forward and meet the invitation by prompt and alert obedience; but such is the lethargy of the flesh, that it always requires to be stimulated by threats. Joshua, therefore, adopts the usual method of the Law, while he reminds the Israelites of the terrors of the Lord, provided they do not of their own accord embrace his offered favor. Moreover, it is not once only that, he sets before them the denunciation that the nations of Canaan will be scourges to their sides and thorns in their eyes if they become familiar with them. First, inasmuch as God had consecrated the land to himself, he wished it to be purged of all impurities; and secondly, inasmuch as he saw how prone the people were to be corrupted by bad example, he wished also to provide a remedy for this evil. Then, while on the one hand the people counted it as nothing that the land should be contaminated by impious superstitions, and that idols should be worshipped in it instead of the true God, and on the other hand, eagerly contracted contagion from their vices, it was only a just punishment of this gross contempt that they should experience molestation and hostility from those whom they had improperly spared.

That the threatening which both Moses and Joshua thus denounced were openly accomplished, is but too plain from the Book of Judges. And yet this promulgation of the divine vengeance was not altogether useless; for after Joshua was dead, they became courageous enough to engage in war. Their ardor, however, proved evanescent, and they shortly after were initiated in nefarious Gentile rites. Hence, we perceive in the human mind an intemperate longing for perverse worship, a longing which no curbs are able to restrain.

It is now proper to consider how far this doctrine is applicable to us. It is true a special command was given to the ancient people to destroy the nations of Canaan, and keep aloof from all profane defilement’s. To us, in the present day, no certain region marks out our precise boundaries; nor are we armed with the sword to slay all the ungodly; we have only to beware of allowing ourselves to become involved in fellowship with wickedness, by not keeping at a sufficient distance from it. For it is almost impossible, if we mingle with it, spontaneously to avoid receiving some spot or blemish. But this point having been elsewhere expounded, I now merely advert to it in passing.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(12,13) if ye . . . make marriages with them . . . the Lord your God will no more drive out.—The common-sense of this warning is manifest. The God of Israel cannot treat as His enemies those whom Israel has united with itself, unless He also makes war on Israel. It was a long time before Israel learned the lesson how to live in the world without being of the world. It was not learnt until after the Babylonish captivity, and when learnt, it soon developed into a Pharisaical exclusiveness, which produced the very opposite effect to that which the law was intended to have.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. if ye do] “If ye do in any wise turn back, and cleave to the remnant of these nations, these that remain with you, and make marriages with them, and ye come among them, and they among you, know for a certainty that the protection of the Almighty will fail you, and His arm will no more give you success against them.”

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.

Else if ye do in any wise go back,.... From the Lord and his worship, from his word and ordinances:

and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even those that remain among you; in cities not taken, or in several which the Philistines were in possession of, or lived among them as tributaries to them, if they should take to them, and be free and familiar with them, which may lead on to nearer connections in civil and religious matters:

and shall make marriages with them; marry their daughters to the sons of Canaanites, or admit the daughters of Canaanites to be married to their sons:

and go in unto them, and they to you; which is expressive of the consummation of marriage, and of the performance of the conjugal duty,

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

If ye go back, from God, and from his worship and service.

Go in unto them; the phrase notes the matrimonial act.

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

12. Make marriages — This most intimate form of alliance was forbidden in Exo_34:12-16, as a precaution against temptation. Thus Christians are forbidden to wed infidels or pagans. 2Co_6:14. The affections largely determine religious opinions and practice. The heart makes theology.

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

Go back. Literally, return. Cleave. A word (see ver. 8) signifying close and intimate relationship. And the intimacy of the relationship is indicated, as in ver. 8, by the use of the preposition B. Make marriages with them. No closer or more intimate relationship is possible than this. Nothing, therefore, would be more certain to draw the Israelites away from their allegiance to God, and to seduce them and their children into the false and corrupt worship of the nations around them. "Unde deprecor vos qui fidelis estis, ut ita vitam vestram et conversationem servetis, ne in aliquo vel ipsi scandalum patiamini vel aliis scandalum faciatis; sit in vobis summi studii, summaeque cautelae, ne quis in hanc sanctam congregationem vestram pollutus introeat" (Orig., Hom. 21 on Joshua). Go in unto them. Rather, go among them. Spoken of the familiar intercourse of friendship. It is equivalent to our words "associate with them."

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

Go back - From God, and from his worship and service.

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

cling to the survivors of these nations

Accepting the beliefs of these nations is spoken of as holding tightly to them. AT: "accept the beliefs of the survivors of these nations" (See: Metaphor)

a snare and a trap

The words "snare" and "trap" mean basically the same thing. Together they speak of the other nations as if they were a deadly trap that will cause trouble for Israel. (See: Doublet and Metaphor)

whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes

These phrases speak of the troubles these nations will cause Israel as if they were as painful as whips and thorns. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

perish

good

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.