Lord, what can I say now that Israel has fled from its enemies?
Parallel translations
- WEB Oh, Lord, what shall I say, after Israel has turned their backs before their enemies!
- KJV O LORD, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies!
- BSB O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has turned its back and run from its enemies?
- NKJV O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turns its back before its enemies?
- NASB O Lord, what can I say since Israel has turned their back before their enemies?
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 confessed he had no words now that Israel had turned its back before its enemies. The defeat left him bewildered and ashamed.
Overview
Joshua gives voice to the disgrace of the rout, struggling to make sense of it. His honesty before God reflects a heart that takes the setback seriously rather than excusing it. The verse captures the spiritual disorientation that sin's consequences bring upon God's people until the underlying cause is exposed and removed.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Rom 3:5–6But if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what will we say? Is God unrighteous who inflicts wrath? I speak like men do.
- Ezra 9:10“Now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken your commandments,
- Hab 2:1I will stand at my watch, and set myself on the ramparts, and will look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 7:8 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.