Joshua 23:3

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

and you have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to all these nations because of you; for Yahweh your God, he it is that has fought for you.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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Word by word

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הַנִּלְחָ֥ם

lâcham

H3898

“the · fighting”

Particle, Definite Article + Verb, Niphal, Participle Active, Masculine, Singular, Absolute

Appears 177× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Exodus 1:10

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 1104 , 1105

to fight, do battle, make war - (Qal) to fight, do battle - (Niphal) to engage in battle, wage war - (Qal) to eat, use as food

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 →

18: words
14: distinct lemmas
Historical: section

Grammatical profile

3 verbs
8 nouns
3 pronouns
1 preposition
1 conjunction
2 particles

Verb forms

רְאִיתֶ֗ם Qal · Perfect
עָשָׂ֜ה Qal · Perfect
הַנִּלְחָ֥ם Niphal · Participle Active

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

כָּל all H3605 ×2
יְהוָ֧ה LORD H3068 ×2
אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֛ם God H430 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 30 words from the Hebrew and 30 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — the same length.

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 18 Hebrew tokens and 24 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 23:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Exodus 14:14 Yahweh will fight for you, and you shall be still."
Joshua 10:14 There was no day like that before it or after it, that Yahweh listened to the voice of a man: for Yahweh fought for Israel.
Joshua 10:42 All these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because Yahweh, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.
Deuteronomy 4:9 Only take heed to yourself, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children's children;
Deuteronomy 20:4 for Yahweh your God is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
Psalms 44:1–3 We have heard with our ears, God; Our fathers have told us, What work you did in their days, In the days of old.
Malachi 1:5 Your eyes will see, and you will say, "Yahweh is great--even beyond the border of Israel!"

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 23:3 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וְאַתֶּ֣ם רְאִיתֶ֗ם אֵת֩ כָּל אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָשָׂ֜ה יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֛ם לְכָל הַגּוֹיִ֥ם הָאֵ֖לֶּה מִפְּנֵיכֶ֑ם כִּ֚י יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֔ם ה֖וּא הַנִּלְחָ֥ם לָכֶֽם

and you have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to all these nations because of you; for Yahweh your God, he it is that has fought for you.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Joshua 23:3 Septuagint · lemma form

σύ δέ ὁράω ὅσος ποιέω κύριος ὁ θεός σύ πᾶς ὁ ἔθνος οὗτος ἀπό πρόσωπον σύ ὅτι κύριος ὁ θεός σύ ὁ ἐκπολεμέω σύ

And you⌃ have seen all that the Lord our God has done to all these nations before us; for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you.

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)

וְאַתּוּן חֲזֵיתוּן יַת כָּל דַעֲבַד יְיָ אֱלָהָכוֹן לְכָל עַמְמַיָא הָאִלֵין מִן קֳדָמֵיכוֹן אֲרֵי יְיָ אֱלָהָכוֹן מֵימְרֵיהּ מֵגִיחַ לְכוֹן:

(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 23:3 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 →

Commentary source

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

BY FORMER BENEFITS. (Jos 23:3)

ye have seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto all these nations because of you--The modesty and humility of Joshua are remarkably displayed at the commencement of this address. Dismissing all thoughts of his personal services, he ascribed the subjugation and occupation of Canaan entirely to the favoring presence and aid of God; and in doing so, he spoke not more piously than truly. This had been promised (Deu 1:30; Deu 3:22); and the reality of the divine aid was seen in the rapid overthrow of the Canaanites, which had already led to the division of the whole land among the tribes [Jos 23:4].

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

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Jos 23:3 And ye have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto all these nations because of you; for the LORD your God [is] he that hath fought for you.

Ver. 3. And ye have seen all that the Lord your God.] Joshua intituleth God to all his conquests so did David, and our Richard I. So have we vanquished the king of France at Gisors, said he in his letter to Philip Bishop of Duresme; howbeit, we have not done the same, but Dieu et mon droit God and our right, by us. And the like did our Henry V at the battle of Agincourt; and our late thrice noble generals in their highest achievements at home and abroad. {a}

{a} Hoveden, fol. 445. Speed, 799.

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.

Joseph Benson's Commentary

Jos 23:3-4. And ye have seen — Or rather, Behold ye have seen; for so the particle ve, which we translate and, sometimes signifies, as Gen 24:31. All that the Lord hath done because of you — For your good, that you might gain by their losses. I have divided unto you those nations that remain — That are not yet conquered. To be an inheritance — You shall certainly subdue them, and inherit their land, as you have done the rest, if you be not wanting to yourselves. With all the nations — That is, with the land of those nations, the people put for their land, as we have seen before; and as sometimes, on the contrary, the land is put for the people. The great sea — Where the Philistines, your most formidable adversaries, yet survive; but them also and their land I have given to you, and you shall undoubtedly destroy them, if you will proceed vigorously in your work.

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

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Your eyes bearing witness.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 3. For the Lord your God is he that hath fought for you.] There is much both of piety and modesty in this address. It was natural for the Israelites to look on their veteran, worn-out general, who had led them on from conquest to conquest, with profound respect; and to be ready to say, "Had we not had such a commander, we had never got possession of this good land." Joshua corrects this opinion, and shows them that all their enemies had been defeated, because the Lord their God had fought for them. That the battle was the Lord's, and not his; and that God alone should have the glory.

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

3. the Lord your God is he] See Exo_14:14. Of his own merits and exploits the modest hero makes no mention.

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

And ye have seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto all those nations because of you,.... How he had destroyed them, and driven them out of their habitations to make room for them, meaning the seven nations of the Canaanites:

for the Lord your God is he that hath fought for you; Joshua does not attribute any of the things that were done to his own valour, nor theirs, nor so much as mentions himself or them as instruments, but wholly ascribes all to the Lord, who fought their battles for them, and conquered their enemies, and subdued them under them; the Targum is,"the Word of the Lord fought for you;''the Captain of the host of the Lord, Jos 5:14.

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

For you. God fought for his people three ways: 1. By destroying their enemies himself in a miraculous manner, as he did the Egyptians; 2. By assisting their endeavours, as at Jericho, and in the victory of Gabaon, when he caused the walls of the former town to fall down, and hurled stones upon the fleeing enemy near the latter; (chap. x.) 3. By giving courage and strength to Israel, while he filled their opponents with dismay, and this was most frequently the case. He continues to assist his servants in their spiritual warfare against the world, the flesh, and the devil, in all these different ways. (Worthington)

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

Because of you; for your sake and good, that you might gain by their losses.

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

3. All that the Lord… hath done — Here is a marked magnifying of the Divine interposition in all the victories of Joshua. True piety always exclaims, “Not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name be all the praise and glory.”

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

Because of you. Literally, before you.

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

Because of you - For your good, that you might gain by their losses.

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 18 words (14 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is lâcham (“to fight”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word lâcham carries the sense “to fight.” How does it shape the verse?
Exodus 14:14 shares this passage’s theme. How do the two illuminate each other?
“all” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
The verb «רְאִיתֶ֗ם» is Qal Perfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Jamieson, Fausset & Brown and Trapp's Complete Commentary read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 18 Hebrew ↔ 24 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 8 words in this verse.
“all” occurs 2× in this single verse.
14 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 18 words in this verse.