Joshua had led an army, walked through enemy country as a spy, and outlived the whole generation that refused this land when it was first offered. The command he hears most in this chapter is the one telling him to be brave. This Joshua 1 summary and study guide follows the charge God gave him and what he did with it.
Table of Contents
Setting the Stage
God promised Abraham a land for his descendants, and generations later that family came out of slavery in Egypt under Moses and camped at the edge of it. Israel sent twelve men to look the land over, and ten came back saying it could not be taken. The people believed them and refused to go in, so God sent that generation back into the desert until they died there (Numbers 14:29-30).
Nearly forty years later their children are camped at the edge of the same land. Moses has died on Mount Nebo, overlooking the land he was never allowed to enter, and Israel has finished thirty days of mourning him (Deuteronomy 34:1-8). Joshua 1 begins with God speaking to the man who has to take them across.
Comprehensive Joshua 1 Summary
Moses is dead and the thirty days of mourning are over. God speaks to Joshua and begins by naming the loss himself, telling him that Moses his servant is dead. Then comes the order. Get up, cross this Jordan, and take the land I am giving you.
Every place their feet touch is already theirs by God’s word, from the desert in the south to Lebanon in the north, from the Euphrates in the east to the Mediterranean in the west. No man will be able to stand in front of Joshua, because God will be with him as he was with Moses.
God then tells Joshua three times to be strong and of a good courage. The first time, the reason is the inheritance Joshua has to divide out among the tribes. The second time, the strength is for obeying the law Moses left, without turning off it to the right or the left.
Between those two God says how it is done: keep the book of the law on his lips, think it over day and night, and act on it. The third time comes with the reason for all of it. God goes with him wherever he goes.
Joshua does not wait. He sends officers through the camp telling the people to get provisions ready, because Israel crosses the Jordan in three days.
Then he calls out Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh, already settled on the east side of the river, and holds them to the promise they made Moses. Their families stay. Their fighting men cross over armed ahead of everyone else, and nobody goes home until every tribe has rest.
They agree to all of it, promise to obey Joshua as they obeyed Moses, and then hand him back the words God has already given him three times, telling their new leader to be strong and of a good courage.
One Word Summary
- Commission: God hands Joshua the work Moses left unfinished.
- Courage: the one command the chapter repeats four times in eighteen verses.
- Crossing: everything said here points at a river Israel has not yet passed.
In One Sentence
God commissions Joshua to take Moses’ place, promises him the land and his own presence, and commands him to be strong and to live by the book of the law, and Joshua at once orders Israel to get ready to cross the Jordan in three days, holds the eastern tribes to the vow they had sworn under Moses, and receives the people’s pledge to follow him.
Theme of Joshua 1
Joshua 1 is about what a called man stands on when the person he leaned on is gone. God’s answer is himself and his word: he will be with Joshua, and the law Moses wrote is to stay on his lips and in his mind. Two ideas run with it.
An inheritance can be given and still have to be taken, which is why courage is commanded rather than felt, and why Joshua moves at once. And rest already received does not cancel an obligation to people who have not received theirs yet, which is what Joshua puts to the tribes east of the river, and what they accept.
Joshua 1 Outline
- Joshua 1:1-5: After Moses’ death God speaks to Joshua, tells him to cross the Jordan, marks the land out from the wilderness to Lebanon and from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean, and promises that no man will stand against him.
- Joshua 1:6-9: God commands Joshua three times to be strong and of a good courage, charges him to obey all the law without turning aside, and tells him to keep the book of the law on his lips and meditate on it day and night.
- Joshua 1:10-11: Joshua orders the officers to send the people for provisions, because Israel crosses the Jordan in three days.
- Joshua 1:12-15: Joshua calls Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh back to the promise they made Moses, and sends their fighting men across ahead of the rest while their families stay behind.
- Joshua 1:16-18: Israel answers that they will obey Joshua as they obeyed Moses, sets death as the penalty for rebellion, and tells him to be strong and of a good courage.
Observations from Joshua 1
The Fourth Call for Courage Comes from the People, Not from God (Joshua 1:6, 7, 9, 18)
God tells Joshua to be strong three times, at verses 6, 7, and 9. The fourth time those words are spoken in this chapter, the people say them, and they say them to Joshua (Joshua 1:18). Joshua’s courage was never something he had to manufacture on his own: God gave him the reason for it, and here his own people give him the reminder.
Moses Is the Most-Named Man in the Chapter Where His Leadership Ends (Joshua 1:1-15)
Moses is named in nine of these eighteen verses. Joshua is named in four. Moses is called the LORD’s servant five times over (Joshua 1:1, 2, 7, 13, 15), while Joshua is introduced only as Moses’ minister, meaning his personal attendant.
Joshua does not receive the title servant of the LORD himself until the verse that records his death (Joshua 24:29). The chapter is honest about the size of what it is asking him to pick up, and it rests the promise on God’s presence rather than on anything Joshua had done before.
God Points Joshua at Things He Can See (Joshua 1:2, 4, 8)
God says this Jordan, the river running past the camp (Joshua 1:2, 11). He says this Lebanon, a mountain range visible far to the north from the Jordan valley (Joshua 1:4). He says this book of the law, the scroll Moses had finished writing (Joshua 1:8; Deuteronomy 31:24-26). Every promise and every command in the commission is fastened to something definite: a named river, a visible range, an actual scroll.
The Chapter Opens with a Death and Closes with a Threatened One (Joshua 1:2, 18)
God begins by telling Joshua that Moses has died (Joshua 1:2). The last thing Israel says before their closing command is that anyone who rebels against Joshua’s word will be put to death (Joshua 1:18). Between those two sentences, obedience is treated as a matter of life for a nation walking into a war, which is what Israel found out when one man kept what God had banned at Jericho and the army was routed at Ai (Joshua 7:1-5, 20-25).
Joshua Is Handed a Book and Told to Govern by It (Joshua 1:8)
Abraham kept God’s commands (Genesis 26:5), and Moses took his orders from God’s own mouth (Numbers 12:8). Joshua is handed a finished scroll, the one Moses had written out and left with the priests, and told that his conduct is to be measured against what is in it (Joshua 1:8; Deuteronomy 31:9, 24-26).
Every leader after him inherits that arrangement, which is why Israel’s kings were later required to write out their own copy of the law and read it all their days (Deuteronomy 17:18-20). The answer this chapter gives a leader who has lost the man he learned from is a book he can open when there is nobody left to ask.
DAILY BREAKTHROUGH BREAD
A slice of Scripture every morning
One short, Christ-centered devotional in your inbox every day. Free, and you can unsubscribe any time.
Difficult Verses Explained
Does Joshua 1:8 Promise That I Will Prosper and Succeed?
Yes for Joshua, and the success in view is the conquest God had just handed him rather than money. The two Hebrew words behind “prosperous” and “good success” describe acting wisely and coming through effectively, and they are rarely if ever used of money in the Old Testament.
The promise is also spoken to a national leader under the covenant God made with Israel at Sinai, where blessing on the nation was tied to obedience to the law (Leviticus 26:3-13; Deuteronomy 28:1-14). The principle underneath it does carry across, and the Bible states it elsewhere in its own words: God gave his word so his people would be equipped for the work he puts in front of them (2 Timothy 3:16-17), and the one who lives in it is promised fruit in season (Psalm 1:2-3).
Did Every Fighting Man from Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh Cross the Jordan?
No. Joshua tells them that “all the mighty men of valour” must cross over armed ahead of the rest (Joshua 1:14). That phrase names their best soldiers. Joshua 4:13 then records about forty thousand of them crossing over ready for war, which is well short of the fighting strength the census in Numbers 26 gives those two and a half tribes, so a large number stayed behind.
The text does not say why, though their families, their flocks, and their newly granted land were sitting in country that had only just been taken from Sihon and Og (Numbers 21:21-35).
Christ Connection
The clearest connection in this chapter is the man’s own name. Joshua is Yehoshua in Hebrew, which means the LORD is salvation, and it comes into Greek as Iesous, the name we say in English as Jesus. The New Testament makes the link plainly, because both Acts 7:45 and Hebrews 4:8 in the King James use the name Jesus where the Old Testament Joshua is meant.
Moses had already renamed him once, changing a name that meant salvation into one that meant the LORD is salvation (Numbers 13:16). Moses delivered the law to Israel and died outside the land. Joshua took them in, carrying the name of Jesus.
- The leader the law could not be. Moses is the man who delivered the law, and the law was never the thing that would carry God’s people into what was promised (John 1:17; Romans 8:3-4; Galatians 3:21). Joshua walks them across, which pictures the work Christ does for everyone who trusts him.
- The rest that was not the last rest. Hebrews 4:8-9 argues directly from the rest Joshua led Israel into: “For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.” The writer of Hebrews is saying that because God later still spoke of a rest to come, the rest Joshua handed Israel in Canaan was real but not the final one, and the final one is in Christ.
- The promise of presence, handed on. God tells Joshua he will not fail him or forsake him (Joshua 1:5), and Hebrews 13:5 takes up that same promise and applies it to every believer. Jesus’ own last words to his disciples carry the same weight: “lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). He was telling them he would be with them without a break, right to the end of everything.
Israel’s inheritance came to them through a leader God appointed and stayed with, and they received it because he brought them in. What believers have in Christ comes the same way. It is given through the one God sent, and it is received by trusting him rather than by earning a place at the border (Ephesians 1:11; Ephesians 2:8-9).
And the same chapter that promises presence commands obedience, which is how the New Testament speaks as well: Christ keeps his own and no one takes them out of his hand, and he calls them to stay in his word, warning plainly that a branch which does not stay in him is cast out and withers (John 10:28-29; John 15:4-7).
When, Where, and Why
- When: At the very end of Israel’s forty years in the wilderness, after Moses died and Israel mourned him for thirty days (Deuteronomy 34:5-8). Bible scholars place these events somewhere in the fifteenth century BC, and the exact year is debated. What is certain is that Joshua 1 opens on the generation after the exodus.
- Where: The plains of Moab, on the east bank of the Jordan opposite Jericho, at a camp called Shittim (Joshua 3:1). The location matters twice over: the river directly in front of them is the obstacle the whole chapter is aimed at, and the peaks of Lebanon show on the northern horizon from there, which is why God can gesture at this Lebanon as a boundary Joshua could see (Joshua 1:4).
- Why: The writer opens the book by settling who is behind everything that follows. Israel crosses because God commanded it, and receives the land because God promised it to Abraham long before any of them were born (Genesis 12:7). Every battle in the chapters ahead therefore belongs to God rather than to Joshua’s skill as a general, and the book is arranged so the reader knows that before the first city falls.
Key Verses
“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.”
Joshua 1:5
God tells Joshua that he will not let him down and will not walk away from him. Two fears get answered in one sentence, and neither answer says anything about Joshua’s ability.
“Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.”
Joshua 1:3
Wherever Israel walks in the land, God has already given them that ground. The land is spoken of as handed over and still has to be walked into, which is the tension the rest of the book plays out.
“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”
Joshua 1:9
God asks Joshua to remember who gave the order, then tells him to take heart and stop being frightened, because God goes with him everywhere. The reason offered for courage is God’s company, not a forecast about how the war will go.
“And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go.”
Joshua 1:16
Israel tells Joshua they will do whatever he orders and go wherever he sends them. The chapter needs this answer to be finished, because a commission with no one willing to follow it is only half a transfer of leadership.
Key Lessons from Joshua 1
- God promised Joshua his own presence, which is a steadier foundation for leadership than any comparison with the man who went before (Joshua 1:5).
- God attached his strongest call for courage to obeying the law rather than to the fighting ahead (Joshua 1:7).
- God’s word does its work when it travels from the mouth to the mind to the hands (Joshua 1:8).
- Being settled yourself does not end your obligation to people who are not settled yet, which is what Joshua held the eastern tribes to (Joshua 1:13-15).
For the man behind this charge and what the rest of his life looked like, see our study on Lessons from the Life of Joshua in the Bible. To go deeper into the lessons from this chapter, read our full study: Lessons from Joshua 1.
Bible Study Questions
- In Joshua 1:2, what does God say before he tells Joshua to get up and cross the river, and why might he say that first?
- God gives Joshua a different reason for courage in verse 6 than he gives in verse 9. What is each reason, and what changes between them?
- Joshua 1:7 tells Joshua not to turn from the law to the right hand or to the left. What would leaving God’s word in each of those two directions actually look like?
- Joshua 1:8 moves from the mouth to the mind to the hands. Which of those three is easiest for you, and which one usually stops?
- The tribes settled east of the Jordan already had their land and their rest (Joshua 1:13). Why did Joshua still send their fighting men across the river?
- The chapter ends with Israel telling Joshua to be brave, using the very words God had already used (Joshua 1:18). What does it say about a leader that his own people have to say this to him?
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Was Moses Not Allowed to Enter the Promised Land?
Because of what happened at the waters of Meribah in the wilderness of Zin. God told Moses to speak to a rock so it would give water, and Moses struck it twice instead and asked the people whether he and Aaron must fetch water out of it (Numbers 20:8-11). God said that because Moses and Aaron did not honour him as holy in front of Israel, they would not bring the people into the land (Numbers 20:12). God later showed Moses the whole land from Mount Nebo before he died (Deuteronomy 34:1-5).
Who Wrote the Book of Joshua?
The book does not name its author. Joshua 24:26 says that Joshua himself wrote words into the book of the law of God, and Jewish tradition credits him with most of the book, with the account of his own death added afterwards. Bible scholars differ on how much came from Joshua and how much from a later editor, and the book itself does not settle it.
When and Where Did Israel Cross the Jordan?
Israel crossed the Jordan opposite Jericho, and Joshua 4:19 dates it to the tenth day of the first month. The Jordan was overflowing its banks at the time because it was harvest season, so the river was at its widest and fastest when the crossing happened (Joshua 3:15).
Why Does Joshua Mention Three Days in Joshua 1:11 and Again in Joshua 3:2?
Most commentators read the account of the spies in Joshua 2 as a step back in time rather than a step forward, since Hebrew narrative does not always run in strict order. On that reading there is one three-day period, described once before the spies’ story and once after it. Some scholars disagree and count two, and the text does not close the question.
What Does It Mean to Meditate on God’s Word Day and Night?
The Hebrew word behind “meditate” in Joshua 1:8 means to mutter or murmur under the breath. In that world people commonly read aloud to themselves, so meditating on the law meant saying it over quietly until it stayed with a man. That is why the same verse says the book of the law is not to depart out of Joshua’s mouth.
Was Joshua a Young Man When He Took Over from Moses?
No. Joshua was already a grown man at the exodus, since he led Israel’s fighting men against Amalek not long after they left Egypt (Exodus 17:9-13), and he was one of the twelve spies almost forty years before this chapter (Numbers 13:8, 16). He went on to lead Israel through the conquest and died at a hundred and ten (Joshua 24:29).
Joshua 1, The Full Text (KJV)
Read the full chapter below for reference. If you read from a modern translation, you can also open Joshua 1 on Bible Gateway.
1 Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,
2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do 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 coast.
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 sware unto their fathers to give them.
7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
8 This 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.
9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
10 Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,
11 Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it.
12 And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying,
13 Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, The LORD your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land.
14 Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help them;
15 Until the LORD have given your brethren rest, as he hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the LORD your God giveth them: then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and enjoy it, which Moses the LORD’S servant gave you on this side Jordan toward the sunrising.
16 And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go.
17 According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the LORD thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses.
18 Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.
