Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 1:6

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.

Joshua, though a person of great courage and resolution, whereof he had given sufficient proof, yet needs these exhortations, partly because his work was great, and difficult, and long, and in a great measure new; partly because he had a very mean opinion of himself, especially if compared with Moses; and remembering how perverse and ungovernable that people were, even under Moses, he might very well suspect the burden of ruling them would be too heavy for his shoulders.

Thou shalt divide the land; which supposeth the full conquest of the land. That honour and assistance which I denied to Moses I will give to thee.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

Be strong, and of good courage,…. The same exhortation Moses gave him, De 31:7; and is afterwards repeated in this chapter, as being of great moment and importance, as it is in the general of an army to show greatness and strength of mind, valour and courage, and not be dismayed at the number and strength of the enemy. As Joshua’s work in fighting with the Canaanites, and conquering their land, so Christ’s work in the redemption of his people, and subduing their enemies, required strength and courage, and both were very eminent in him:

for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land which I sware unto their fathers to give them; and, this promise included and ensured the conquest of it, and the putting the people into the possession of it; for if he was to divide it to them, he must first take it out of the hands of the present inhabitants, and deliver it into the hands of the children of Israel, to be possessed by them, dividing to each tribe and family their part and portion.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The promise is followed by the condition upon which the Lord would fulfil His word. Joshua was to be firm and strong, i.e., well-assured, courageous, not alarmed (vid., Deu 31:6). In the first place (Jos 1:6), he was to rely firmly upon the Lord and His promise, as Moses and the Lord had already told him (Deu 31:7 and Deu 31:23), and as is again repeated here, whilst at the same time the expression, “ thou shalt divide for an inheritance,” recalls to mind Deu 1:38; Deu 3:28; and in the second place (Jos 1:7, Jos 1:8), he was to strive to attain and preserve this firmness by a careful observance of the law. “ Observe to do,” etc., as Moses had already impressed upon the hearts of all the people (Deu 5:29, cf. Deu 28:14 and Deu 2:27). The suffix in is to be explained on the supposition that the speaker had the book of the law in his mind. The further expansion, in Jos 1:8, is not only attached to the exhortations, with which Moses urges upon all the people in Deu 6:6-7, and Deu 11:18-19, an uninterrupted study and laying to heart of the commandments of God, but even more closely to the directions to the king, to read every day in the law (Deu 17:19). “ Not to depart out of the mouth,” is to be constantly in the mouth. The law is in our mouth, not only when we are incessantly preaching it, but when we are reading it intelligently for ourselves, or conversing about it with others. To this there was to be added meditation, or reflection upon it both day and night (vid., Psa 1:2). does not mean theoretical speculation about the law, such as the Pharisees indulged in, but a practical study of the law, for the purpose of observing it in thought and action, or carrying it out with the heart, the mouth, and the hand. Such a mode of employing it would be sure to be followed by blessings. “ Then shalt thou make they way prosperous,” i.e., succeed in all thine undertakings (vid., Deu 28:29), “ and act wisely ” (as in Deu 29:8).

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

6. Be strong, etc An exhortation to fortitude is added, and indeed repeated, that it may make the deeper impression. At the same time the promise is introduced in different words, in which Joshua is assured of his divine call, that he might have no hesitation in undertaking the office which had been divinely committed to him, nor begin to waver midway on being obliged to contend with obstacles. It would not have been enough for him diligently to begirt himself at the outset without being well prepared to persevere in the struggle.

Although it is the property of faith to animate us to strenuous exertion, in the same way as unbelief manifests itself by cowardice or cessation of effort, still we may infer from this passage, that bare promises are not sufficiently energetic without the additional stimulus of exhortation. For if Joshua, who was always remarkable for alacrity, required to be incited to the performance of duty, how much more necessary must it be that we who labor under so much sluggishness should be spurred forward.

We may add, that not once only or by one single expression are strength and constancy required of Joshua, but he is confirmed repeatedly and in various terms, because he was to be engaged in many and various contests. He is told to be of strong and invincible courage. Although these two epithets make it obvious that God was giving commandment concerning a most serious matter, still not contented with this reduplication, he immediately after repeats the sentence, and even amplifies it by the addition of the adverb very.

From this passage, therefore, let us learn that we can never be fit for executing difficult and arduous matters unless we exert our utmost endeavors, both because our abilities are weak, and Satan rudely assails us, and there is nothing we are more inclined to than to relax our efforts. (21) But, as many exert their strength to no purpose in making erroneous or desultory attempts, it is added as a true source of fortitude that Joshua shall make it his constant study to observe the Law. By this we are taught that the only way in which we can become truly invincible is by striving to yield a faithful obedience to God. Otherwise it were better to lie indolent, and effeminate than to be hurried on by headlong audacity.

Moreover, God would not only have his servant to be strong in keeping the Law, but enjoins him to contend manfully, so as not to faint under the burden of his laborious office. But as he might become involved in doubt as to the mode of disentangling himself in matters of perplexity, or as to the course which he ought to adopt, he refers him to the teaching of the Law, because by following it as a guide he will be sufficiently fitted for all things. He says, You shall act prudently in all things, provided you make the Law your master; although the Hebrew word שכל, means to act not only prudently but successfully, because temerity usually pays the penalty of failure.

Be this as it may, by submitting entirely to the teaching of the Law he is more surely animated to hope for divine assistance. For it is of great consequence, when our fears are excited by impending dangers, to feel assured that we have the approbation of God in whatever we do, inasmuch as we have no other object in view than to obey his commands. Moreover, as it would not be enough to obey God in any kind of way, (22) Joshua is exhorted to practice a modesty and sobriety which may keep him within the bounds of a simple obedience.

Many, while possessed of right intention, sometimes imagine themselves to be wiser than they ought, and hence either overlook many things through carelessness, or mix up their own counsels with the divine commands. The general prohibition, therefore, contained in the Law, forbidding all men to add to it or detract from it, God now specially enforces on Joshua. For if private individuals in forming their plan of life behoove to submit themselves to God, much more necessary must this be for those who hold rule among the people. But if this great man needed this curb of modesty that he might not overstep his limits, how intolerable the audacity if we, who fall so far short of him, arrogate to ourselves greater license? More especially, however, did God prescribe the rule of his servant, in order that those who excel in honor might know that they are as much bound to obey it as the meanest of the people.

(21) French, “ Et il ne faut qu’un rien pour nous faire perdre courage;” “and a mere nothing is all that is necessary to make us lose courage.” — Ed.

(22) The French adds, “ Ou en quelques points;” “Or in some points.” — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Jos. 1:6-9

THE CHARACTER AND SPHERE OF COURAGE

These words are principally about courage. Joshua would both need it, and need to shew it, in leading the Israelites into the land of their inheritance. God graciously braces men where they are most liable to fail. It was in this matter of courage that the people had given way already. (Num. 13:26-33; Num. 14:1-10.) So Jehovah mercifully strengthens them in their weak place. It is thus that our Father deals with us all through the Bible. He does not fortify us where we are strong, but on the side where our strength is small. Thus Christ dealt with Peter. An earthly parent warns his child of what he knows to be dangers. So God speaks to us. Wherever we come, then, to a warning in the Scriptures, let us remember that it indicates a weakness. It is no mere spiritual talk. Danger lies there. The warning comes from Him whose eye sees farther down the line of our life than we can; and to go heedlessly on means collision, disaster, wounding, and possibly death. God has regard to the bearing of men personally. Napoleons oversight of men in battle is said to have been remarkable. It is with the infinite discernment of omniscience that the King of kings watches His people, and says to them individually, I will be with thee. God specially marks the leaders of His people. No officer must fail. Faint-heartedness in them would be doubly a sin.

I. God would have courage to occupy a large place in our characters and lives. It is to cover all the ground, whithersoever we go.

1. Courage is to lead us up to all conflicts that are duties. Joshua is to go against Jericho, whose people have shut themselves within their walls, in fear; against the five confederate kings, to rescue the Gibeonites; against each of the remaining kings. But courage is not to run to foolhardiness; it is to march only in the path of duty. It had nothing to do with revenging itself on old foes in Egypt, or in anticipating future enemies on the other side of the Euphrates.

A valiant man

Ought not to undergo or tempt a danger,
But worthily, and by selected ways.B. Jonson.

It is folly that braves the field to which duty makes no call. True couragecourage that said, I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished, said also, When ye pray, say. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Yet courage never falters before work which ought to be done. Hougomont or Alma, Abyssinia or Ashantee, it matters not which. 2. Courage is to help us to endure when reverses and suffering come. When, through Achans sin, the Israelites were driven back at Ai, the hearts of the people melted, and became as water. There are many places in life where soldiers of the cross must be tried by defeat as well as by difficulties. The struggle for maintenance. Family and social reverses. The moral conflict, in which we are to be found striving against sin. The spiritual warfare, in which, in holy communion, we are to seek to win our way into the presence and mind of Christ.

II. God would see us courageous, because no courage is the same thing as no faith, and without faith it is impossible to please Him. Almost all who profess religion have the faith of a creed. They believe in certain doctrines. They have, more or less fully outlined, a theological idea of the way to heaven. It is well; but all this is a very small part of what God requires when He asks for our faith. The faith which He seeks is faith in Himself, as always being with His servants to help them; it is faith in His watchfulness, His presence, His love, His purpose, His power; it is faith in victory everywhere through Himself. That is the faith which Jehovah asks, as He sends the Israelites forward to inherit. Probably many will be surprised by-and-by to discern how little God cares for the faith which strives after some particular definition of a creed, rather than after what an apostle calls the faith of Him. It is against poor trust, not against bad definitions, that the Bible is full of such urgent remonstrance. Does not the Lord allow as much room for definitions as for dispositions? Caleb and Joshua might differ in their understanding of the Passover, or the exact meaning of the service on the Great Day of Atonement; I do not think God would much mind, providing the creed of neither shewed distrust of Him. The Holy Spirit inspires Paul, and also James. No man would care much if, when his child grew up, she differed from him in his views of gardening or poetry; but it would be real pain to him should she doubt his word. There are some creeds which must dishonour God. The denial of the Saviours divinity shews distrust of God simply on a point of difficulty in comprehension. Praying to images, or to dead Christians through them, is as though a child were to fear failure if it should ask a favour of its parent in person, and were to get a servant to make the entreaty instead. It is the distrust which wounds. There are places where creeds may become fatal, yet not fatal as a matter of discernment and definition, but fatal in their utter want of trust in the Lord. They present the most astounding of all paradoxesdoubt of God formulated into a religion, and then offered as worship. With the heart man believeth unto righteousness. When we are tempted to do wrong by the promise of great gain, can we remember God and dare to be true? When temptation promises present pleasure, can we remember our Fathers warnings and better promises, and be firm to deny ourselves? When called to lose our best-loved friends or children, can we look into the awful darkness, and rest in His words about their happiness and our own profit? When bidden to teach, or preach, or live the Gospel in the face of bitter enemies who far outnumber us, can we hear Him say, Lo, I am with you alway, and dare to go on as in the company of that overwhelming majority into which His presence ever multiplies even our solitude? That is the kind of creed about which God so incessantly enquires in the Scriptures. He says almost nothingperhaps nothing at allabout definitions which touch the judgment without necessarily involving the heart. Instead of always translating trust into faith, as we go forward to inherit, it may be well if we sometimes render it in this old thought of courage. Have courage in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Repent ye, and have courage in the gospel. Lord, increase our courage. Have courage in God.

III. Though God desires courage in us all, fear has its proper sphere, and often does holy work.

The brave man is not he who feels no fear,
For that were stupid and irrational;
But he whose noble soul its fear subdues,
And bravely dares the danger nature shrinks from,
As for your youth whom blood and blows delight,
Away with them! there is not in their crew
One valiant spirit.Joanna Baillie.

God never intended that we should feel no fear. We are to fear and distrust ourselves. We are to fear danger as something beyond our own strength. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And we are to work out our own salvation in fear and trembling. But all fear, as we look within, is to be stayed in courage as we look up to God. The sin is in giving way when we have omnipotence and infinite love for a defence. No man, then, should say, I fear, and let that drive him to fear which is yet deeper.

IV. Courage, to bring honour to God, must always be courage for the right and the true.

1. Men admire courage in the abstract. Prize-fighting has drawn multitudes. The mere soldier is sometimes not distinguished from the lofty patriot. Thus, perhaps, the mistake concerning Miltons Satan, in Paradise Lost. Some critics have complained that Satan is the hero of the work. That is to forget that courage, in itself, is not truly worthy of admiration. Fowls, sheep, bulls, wild beasts, also have courage, and fight unto death.
2. God loves courage only when it is prompted by truth and righteousness. Such courage He always has honoured, and will honour: Daniel; the apostles before the Sanhedrim; Paul. It is said that the King of France summoned the Prince de Conde before him, giving him his choice of three things: Go to mass, die, or be imprisoned for life. Said the Prince, With regard to the first, I am fully determined never to go to mass; as to the other two, I am so perfectly indifferent that I leave the choice to your Majesty. We are not called to martyrdom, nor even to imprisonment for the truths sake; possibly if our apprehension of sin were always what it should be, we should find that whatever courage death might need, life requires even more.

Instead of discoursing on the topic of the passage, the verses may be taken as shewing

THE HONOUR, THE INFLUENCE, AND THE SOURCE OF TRUE COURAGE

I. The honour which is put upon courage by God.

1. He makes the servant who has courage in Himself His own constant companion. The Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest.
2. He makes the servant who has courage the subject of His peculiar teaching. The entire passage is a special instruction to the man who has already so valiantly, before his fellows, shewn himself afraid to distrust God. Thus The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.
3. He makes the servant who has courage the instrument of fulfilling His covenant. The land which I sware unto their fathers, thou shalt divide.
4. He makes the servant who has courage a blessing and a joy to his fellows. Joshua should lead them into the land: instrumentally, their homes and future possessions should come to them from his bravery and his fidelity to God.

II. The influence which is conceded to courage by men. All men own its power.

1. Courage loses no favourable opportunity to begin warfare; fear would miss many an opening.
2. Courage appals its foes before it smites them: it thus needs only half the strength of timidity. The arm which resists it is already feeble by reason of fear.
3. Courage seizes all advantages which are offered in the conflict. Fear is blind, and, till too late, overlooks them.
4. Courage gives no opportunity to the defeated foe to rally. Fear happens to win the day, and sits down surprised and contented, talking of valour. The conflict has to be fought over afresh, and it may be that the battle is then lost.
5. Courage is imperial in itself, and must reign However it may be with the Graces of the ancient classics, the Scripture graces were all born in purple. Love conquers everywhere. Patience presently wins the day. Humility may seem of lowlier mien, but The meek shall inherit the earth, and He that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Hope, always aspiring, enters already within the veil. As to courage, To him that believeth, all things are possible.

III. The strength which courage draws from the Scriptures.

1. To neglect the Bible is to prepare the way for fear and trembling. (a) There can be no sufficient courage without light, and the Bible is a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path. The awe which comes from darkness. (b) There can be no sufficient courage without confidence of being right, and the Bible assures the just man. The hesitation which comes from uncertainty. (c) There can be no sufficient courage without love, and our love is born of knowing the love of God. (d) There can be no sufficient courage without hope, and he who neglects the Bible can have no satisfactory ground of hope.

2. It is not enough to have the Bible, it must be used. (a) The courage that comes from speaking the truth to others: This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth. (b) The courage that comes from meditation in the truth: Thou shalt meditate therein day and night. (c.) The courage that comes from doing the truth: That thou mayest observe to do all that is written therein.

THE THREEFOLD ALLIANCE;GOD, LAW, MAN.Jos. 1:8 only

I. The law of the Scriptures is one with physical law, and he who obeys the Scriptures has physical law for an ally. All life is against that man who is against the Bible; all life is for the man who is obedient to the Bible. Suppose the laws which touch our health worked just the other way; what a curse law would be! Think of drunkenness, lust, crime, and all manner of debauchery as contributing to physical health and gladness; what a world this would become! But law is on the side of godliness, and he who walks with the Bible may sing with Paul, All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.

II. The law of the Scriptures is in harmony with the law of conscience, and he who obeys the Scriptures, in that proportion maintains his self-respect, and ultimately wins the regard of men.

1. The relation of conscious integrity to individual bearing. (a) No man can respect himself, who is continually giving the lie to his own sense of right. (b) No man can lose his conscious integrity without proportionately suffering in moral dignity. By so much as he is dishonest to the distinctive feature of his manhood, by so much does he become a mere animal. He cannot stand in the same moral dignity before his fellows. He feels his humiliation.

2. The relation of an honest life to individual influence. Not only does the man who is dishonest to himself feel less before his fellows, but they see him for what he is. The weakness may be too successfully concealed by artifice or habit to awaken reflection, but the measure of every mans moral worth is more or less accurately comprehended by his companions. They may not reason on it; they must apprehend it. Moral life is so much moral light, and the heart of our neighbour feels whether or not it is illuminated in our presence. The earth never mistakes the moon for the sun by shewing daylight at night-time. If the light in us be darkness or merely artifice, our fellow-men cannot be much or long deceived by the imposition. Thus, human sin notwithstanding, the world has ever owned her worthiest sons most proudly. The Pope may do as he will; the world, in her general conscience, and in her history, seldom canonises any but her saints. It is the good man who has good success. He may not be placed in the Calendar till after his death, but society seldom fails ultimately to correct her temporary errors. Socrates may live thinking that he has only earned hemlock, he may write never a chapter to perpetuate his name, men will be true to his manhood for all that.

Conscience, however, needs the light and encouragement of Gods law to keep it in activity. Scripture is the only fireproof in which conscience can enwrap itself to prevent being seared into unfeeling callousness by the burnings of surrounding and inward sin. Thus law and conscience, together, make way for good success in the inheritance which is moral and social.

III. The law of the Scriptures is the mind of God, and he who keeps ever with the law is always where God stoops to whisper, I am with thee. When God established His commandments in the earth, He bade law, both in the physical and moral worlds, be on the side of goodness. From that day to this, law has never sided with the sinner. But though much of Gods help of His children is through law, this is by no means His only method. He adds His direct blessings, and gives His direct help to the obedient. Nothing is written more emphatically in Scripture than this. The deliverance from Egypt, the miracles of the wilderness, the walls of Jericho falling without any cause in ordinary law; the histories given by Samuel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, and other prophets, are full of incidents of Jehovahs direct interposition. The Psalms tell us of the angels that encamp about them that fear the Lord, and both the Old and New Testaments often shew them coming to the guidance, or comfort, or help of the godly. The cross, most emphatically of all, tells of help other than by the automatic method of law, to which modern scientists would tie us. True discipleship not only finds Christ, and cries with Nathanael, Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; it hears Christ reply of the earthly future, Hereafter thou shalt see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. The eyes of the obedient see an open heaven even while yet on earth, and life everywhere becomes all but sentient with God. If God so be for us, who can be against us? Thus does our Father guarantee good success.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

Jos. 1:6. God never tells us to be strong without helping us to be strong. To encourage His servant to begin this vast work and dreadful war, God shews him how all should end. Thou shalt divide the land.

Jos. 1:7. No mans dignity, however great, frees him in any measure from absolute obedience to the Scriptures. Joshua must obey in all things, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left. Error and sin do not lie merely on one side of the way of truth, but on both: the path of holy obedience is the via media.

As the soldier of an earthly leader is to act in all things according to certain rules laid down in a code drawn up for the purpose, so the Christian soldier has his code drawn up for him by God Himself, and revealed to him in the oracles of truth. This code he is to study with diligence, that he may conform himself to it in every particular. This will require all the courage that any man can possess.

Jos. 1:8. Thou shalt have thy heart so constantly imbued with the letter and spirit of the law, that thy mouth shall, as it were, overflow with its rich contents, as out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. The same phrase occurs but once elsewhere in the Scriptures.

The Heb. term for meditate implies that mental kind of rumination which is apt to vent itself in an audible sound of voice. [Bush.]

Jos. 1:9. The interrogative form of the first clause, so far from suggesting doubt, is expressive of the strongest possible emphasis.

Our Lord continually assured Himself that He had kept the word and followed the will of the Father (cf. Joh. 5:30; Joh. 6:38). He may even be said to encourage Himself in the thought of His obedience to the will of God. The prayer in John 17 seems full of the comfort of conscious obedience. If the Saviour found this thought grateful and refreshing to Him, how needful is it that we in our weakness shall never stand where we cannot strengthen ourselves by saying, Has not God commanded me in this thing? Is not the Father with me in His will, as well as by His presence?

The Lord never demands anything of men without giving them a promise in return. [Keil.]

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

6. Be strong and of a good courage [Better, Be strong and firm. Michaelis remarks that the verb , to be strong, denotes strength of hand and arm to lay hold of and retain any thing within one’s grasp; while , to be firm, denotes rather firmness in the knees, and ability to maintain one’s position against the attack of foes. The expression occurs with increasing emphasis four times in this chapter, and is rather a command than an exhortation. Compare Isa 35:3: “Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.”] It is a command as imperative as any in the Decalogue, for strength of will and indomitable firmness must constitute the state of mind out of which all acts of obedience spring.

For unto this people shall thou divide Or, thou shalt cause this people to inherit the land. The Lord would inspire Joshua with strength of soul by disclosing to him the grandeur of his mission. He reveals to him that his agency is the last link in the chain which unites prophecy and fulfilment, hope and fruition: that all the glorious possibilities of his nation hinge upon his own personal valor and fidelity.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

“ Be strong, and of good courage, for you will cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.”

Joshua was to be ‘strong’, the word often indicates strength of hand. But his hand was to be strong because his spirit was strong. ‘Of good courage.’ This word also indicates being strong, and especially strong in spirit. Thus ‘be doubly strong’. Strong in action, strong in heart, strong in spirit. (Compare Deu 31:7).

“For you will cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.” Notice the word ‘inherit’. It links closely with the word covenant. The land was to be theirs because YHWH had covenanted it to them by an oath. Because of this covenant it was theirs by right as a result of God’s gracious covenant love. Thus their possession of it was inevitable. Compare Deu 31:7. The same idea is applied in the New Testament to our calling in Christ. That too we ‘inherit’ because chosen and endowed by Him (Eph 1:11; Col 1:12; 1Pe 1:4).

In these two verses YHWH brings to the mind of Joshua words of Moses spoken earlier as recorded in Deuteronomy. As he lay there in his dream they echoed and re-echoed in his mind. This is also true in the following two verses.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Ver. 6. Be strong and of a good courage However courageous and valiant Joshua might be, it was, nevertheless, very necessary to animate him to the undertaking of so difficult an enterprize as was here entrusted to him; nothing less than such a divine assurance could indeed have supported his courage in so arduous a talk. ‘Tis true, he was now ninety-three years of age, and had been trained up under Moses at least one third part of that time; so that he wanted neither the experience nor the sagacity necessary to foresee all the difficulties he was to encounter. He saw himself too at the head of 600,000 fighting men: but, not to mention the prodigious number of old men, women, and children; not to reckon servants, cattle, and baggage, wherewith the army was incumbered; his first step was the crossing of a large river; in doing of which, he knew himself equally exposed to the arms of those whom he went to attack, and of those whom he left behind. The nations that he was to subdue were naturally warlike, of a gigantic stature and strength; their towns well fortified by nature and art; their forces and interests united by the strongest ties and alliances: besides, they had all long ago taken the alarm, and had made the greatest preparations against him, determined either to obstruct his conquest of their country, or to lose their lives in its defence. See Univ. Hist. vol. 3:

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Jos 1:6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.

Ver. 6. Be strong and of a good courage. ] This is often charged upon Joshua, though he were very valiant, and of the best mettle; because he was sure to be put to it. a Stand fast, for ye shall be shaken, said that prophetic Simeon in the ecclesiastical history, to the pillars which he whipped before the earthquake.

a “ Acer et ad palmae per se cursurus honores,

Si tamen horteris, fortior ibit equus. ” – Ovid.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)