Joshua 1:4

4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.

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. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land which I give to them, even to the children of Israel.

3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.

5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.

6 Be strong and of a good courage, for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land which I swore unto their fathers to give them.