For the LORD hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you unto this day.
Parallel translations
- WEB “For Yahweh has driven great and strong nations out from before you. But as for you, no man has stood before you to this day.
- BSB The LORD has driven out great and powerful nations before you, and to this day no one can stand against you.
- NKJV For the Lord has driven out from before you great and strong nations; but as for you, no one has been able to stand against you to this day.
- NASB For the Lord has driven out great and mighty nations from before you; and as for you, no one has stood against you to this day.
- NLT “For the Lord has driven out great and powerful nations for you, and no one has yet been able to defeat you.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Joshua reminds them that God drove out great nations and none could withstand Israel. It points again to God as the source of victory.
Overview
The defeat of powerful nations was not Israel's achievement but the Lord's doing. No enemy had been able to stand before His people because He fought for them. Recalling this past faithfulness fuels confidence and gratitude as the people look to the future.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Josh 1:5There 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.
- Deut 11:23Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.
- Exod 23:30By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
- Josh 23:5And the LORD your God, he shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and ye shall possess their land, as the LORD your God hath promised unto you.
- Josh 15:14And Caleb drove thence the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.
- Josh 21:43–44And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.
- Josh 1:8–9This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
- Deut 7:24And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Joshua — the same name as Jesus, 'the LORD saves' — leads God's people into their inheritance, a shadow of the greater Joshua who brings us into the true rest and the promised land that remains.
How Joshua 23:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.