Joshua 23:12

Joshua 23:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you:
• New International Version (NIV)“But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them,
• English Standard Version (ESV)For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you,
• New King James Version (NKJV)Or else, if indeed you do go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations—these that remain among you—and make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you,

Context of Joshua 23:12

10Because the Lord your God fights on your behalf, one of you can chase away 1,000 men! The Lord has promised to do this for you. 11You must be very careful that you continue to love the Lord your God. You must not turn away from him to join with the other nations that still live near you. Do not marry any of them. Do not live in the way that they live. 13If you do that, the Lord your God will not chase them out in front of you any more. Instead, those nations will become a danger for you. They will be like a trap that catches you. They will be like sticks that beat your backs, and like sharp thorns in your eyes. They will bring trouble to you until none of you remain in this good land that the Lord your God has given to you. 14I will soon die, as all men do. The Lord your God has done everything that he promised you he would do. Deep inside yourselves, you know that is true. He has not failed to do even one thing that he promised.

Joshua 23:12 word by word

כִּ֣י׀ אִם־שׁ֣וֹב תָּשׁ֗וּבוּ וּדְבַקְתֶּם֙ בְּיֶ֙תֶר֙ הַגּוֹיִ֣ם הָאֵ֔לֶּה הַנִּשְׁאָרִ֥ים הָאֵ֖לֶּה אִתְּכֶ֑ם וְהִֽתְחַתַּנְתֶּ֥ם בָּהֶ֛ם וּבָאתֶ֥ם בָּהֶ֖ם וְהֵ֥ם בָּכֶֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Else if ye do in any wiseשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
• and cleaveדָּבַקdâbaq · to cleaveH1692
• unto the remnantיֶ֫תֶרyether · remainderH3499
• of these nationsגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
• these that remainשָׁאַרshâ'ar · to remainH7604
• among you, and shall make marriagesחָתַןchâthan · make oneself a daughter’s husbandH2859
• with them, and go inבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): marryH935

Cross-references for Joshua 23:12

• Psalms 36:3He speaks wicked things to deceive people. He does nothing that is wise or good.
• Psalms 125:5But as for people who follow their own bad ways, Lord, please remove them! Take them away, along with people who do evil things. May Israel have peace!
• Isaiah 1:4Oh! Israel, you are a nation of people who do not obey me. The people are guilty of many evil things. Their sins are like a heavy weight on their backs. They are a family of people who do wicked things. They have turned away from the Lord, the Holy God of Israel. They have turned their backs against him.
• Ezekiel 18:24A righteous person may stop doing things that are good and right. He may start to do the same disgusting things that wicked people do. Then he will not continue to live. I will not remember any of the good things that he did. Instead, I will punish him because of the sins that he has done. He has not been faithful to me, so he will die.
• Zephaniah 1:6‘I will remove those who have turned away from the Lord. I will also remove those who decide things without the Lord.
• Matthew 12:45So the bad spirit goes out and it brings back seven other spirits. They are even worse than itself. They all go into the person and they live there. Now the person's life is even worse than it was before. The same thing will happen to you bad people who are alive today.’
• John 6:66From that time, many of Jesus' disciples left him. They did not go with him any longer.
• Hebrews 10:38The person that I have accepted as right will live. That person will live because he trusts me. But if anyone is afraid and he turns back, I will not be happy with that person.’
• 2 Peter 2:18The messages that these teachers speak seem very important. But their words really mean nothing. In that way, they lead people away from God. Some people have not been believers for very long. They have only just become free from the wrong things that people do. But the false teachers tell these people to do bad things that will make them happy.
• 1 John 2:9A person may say that he is living in the light. But if that person hates another believer, then he is telling a lie. He is still living in the dark.
• Genesis 2:24Because of this, when a man marries, he leaves his father and his mother. Instead, God joins the man and his wife together. The two people become as one body.
• Genesis 34:3He liked Dinah very much. He loved her. He spoke kind words to her so that she would love him too.
• 1 Samuel 18:1David finished talking with Saul. After that, Saul's son Jonathan became a very good friend of David. Jonathan loved David as much as he loved his own life.
• 1 Kings 11:2The Lord had warned the Israelites about these nations. He said, ‘You must not marry people from these nations. If you do, they will cause you to worship their own gods.’ But Solomon did love these foreign women and he married them.
• Romans 12:9Really love other people, not like a hypocrite. Hate anything that is bad. Continue to do things that are good.
• Exodus 34:12Do not make any agreements with those people in the land where you are going. If you become their friends, they would teach you to do wrong things.

Commentaries on Joshua 23:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12Else if ye do - go back - The soldier who draws back when going to meet the enemy, forfeits his life. These were the Lord's soldiers, and if they drew back they drew back unto perdition, their lives being forfeited by their infidelity.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-16Verses 11-16 Would we cleave to the Lord, we must always stand upon our guard, for many a soul is lost through carelessness. Love the Lord your God, and you will not leave him. Has God been thus true to you? Be not you false to him. He is faithful that has promised, He 10:23. The experience of every Christian witnesses the same truth. Conflicts may have been severe and long, trials great and many; but at the last he will acknowledge that goodness and…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12Joshua warned God's people not to marry their neighbors who worshiped many gods. Such close relationships could lead the Israelites to be unfaithful to God (Deuteronomy 7:3–4). However, people from Canaan who wanted to worship the Lord and join God's people were welcome (Joshua 6:25; Ruth 4:10). Race, language, and ethnic group did not affect God's rule against marrying non-Israelites. It was a matter of remaining loyal to the Lord (see 2 Corinthians…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212-13. Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations--As marriage connections with the idolatrous Canaanites would present many and strong temptations to transgress it, these were strictly prohibited (Ex 34:12-16; De 7:3). With his eye, as it were, upon those prohibitions, Joshua threatens them with the certain withdrawal of the divine aid in the further expulsion of the Canaanites (a threat founded Ex 23:33; Nu 33:55; De…Read the comment

Topics related to Joshua 23:12

• Company
• Fear of God
• Fellowship
• Miscegenation

In the dictionaries

• Certainty
• Cleave
• Mention
• Therefrom
• Joshua, Book of

Commentaries on Joshua 23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings