Joshua 1:4

4 from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’

Joshua 1:4 Meaning and Commentary

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 ) .

Joshua 1:4 In-Context

2 “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them.

3 I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you—

4 from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’

5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.

6 “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew the Great Sea.