⚔️WEB · Joshua 24:11
What does Joshua 24:11 mean?
"“‘You went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand."
— Joshua 24:11 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
“‘I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that lived beyond the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand. You possessed their land, and I destroyed them from before you.
Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. He sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you,
but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you still. So I delivered you out of his hand.
“‘You went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand.
I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with your sword, nor with your bow.
I gave you a land whereon you had not labored, and cities which you didn’t build, and you live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive groves which you didn’t plant.’
“Now therefore fear Yahweh, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, in Egypt; and serve Yahweh.
Explanation
Joshua 24:11 is part of a speech Joshua gives near the end of his life, in which he recounts Israel's history to remind the people of all that God has done for them. In plain language, the verse recalls a specific historical moment: after crossing the Jordan River, the Israelites arrived at Jericho, where the inhabitants fought against them, along with a coalition of other peoples living in the land — the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Despite facing this combined opposition, God declares plainly, "I delivered them into your hand," meaning he gave Israel victory over all these enemies.
The context is crucial to understanding the verse. Joshua, who had led Israel into the Promised Land after Moses' death, gathers the tribes of Israel at Shechem for a covenant renewal ceremony shortly before his death. In this speech, spanning Joshua 24:2-13, God speaks in the first person through Joshua, retelling the story of Israel from Abraham through the conquest of Canaan. This particular verse recalls the events narrated in Joshua 6, when the walls of Jericho fell, and the subsequent campaigns in which Israel defeated numerous Canaanite peoples who occupied the land God had promised to Abraham's descendants centuries earlier. The list of seven nations (Amorite, Perizzite, Canaanite, Hittite, Girgashite, Hivite, Jebusite) is a standard biblical formula used elsewhere in the
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