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Joshua 11 Bible study: The land had rest
The kings of the north came with horses, chariots and a people like the sand on the seashore, the very sight Moses had told Israel not to fear (11:4; Deuteronomy 20:1). The command passed from the LORD to Moses to Joshua, and Joshua "left nothing undone" (11:15). Then "the land had rest from war" (11:23).
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“As the LORD commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua. Joshua did so. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses.”
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“Of the northern cities that stood on their mounds, Israel burned only Hazor.”
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What's really going on
The biggest army yet
Twice before, kings had heard what Israel had done and gathered: "to fight with Joshua and with Israel" (9:2), and against Gibeon, because "they have made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel" (10:4). Now it is the north: "When Jabin king of Hazor heard of it, he sent to Jobab king of Madon, to the king of Shimron, to the king of Achshaph" (11:1), and to kings in the hill country, the Arabah, the lowland and Dor (11:2). They came "many people, even as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots" (11:4), and camped "at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel" (11:5). Moses had spoken of this very sight: "When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses, chariots, and a people more numerous than you, you shall not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God… is with you" (Deuteronomy 20:1). In Hebrew, 11:4's many people, horses and chariots (am rav, sus, rekhev) are the same words as that verse's a people more numerous, horses and chariots. And the LORD tells Joshua, as Moses had told Israel, not to be afraid: "Don’t be afraid because of them; for tomorrow at this time, I will deliver them up all slain before Israel" (11:6). It happened as he said: "The LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel" (11:8).
Where it leads to Jesus
The words you have given me
Joshua 11:15leads toJohn 17:8
"As the LORD commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua. Joshua did so. He left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses" (11:15). Praying to the Father, Jesus said of his disciples, "for the words which you have given me I have given to them; and they received them" (John 17:8), and "They have kept your word" (John 17:6). Jesus doesn't cite Joshua 11, so setting the two side by side is a reading. Some hear in both the same handing on: what God gave passed on whole to the next, who kept it. Others read John 17:8 within its own prayer, where what the disciples came to know is who Jesus is: they "knew for sure that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me" (John 17:8), and don't look back to Joshua 11.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Joshua 11
That was a taste
The rest of Joshua 11 is waiting in Favor
- Hazor, and the cities left standing
- He left nothing undone
- Then the land had rest
- The Anakim again
- Two words for rest
- 10 questions as you read
- 8 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it
שָׁקַטshaqatsay sha-KAT
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "be quiet, undisturbed". Strong's: "to repose (usually figurative)". "Then the land had rest from war" (11:23): in Hebrew, the land was quiet from war. Joshua uses the word twice, here and in the same words at 14:15. At 11:23 it closes the battles: the next chapter lists the kings struck (12:1-24), and chapter 13 begins the dividing of the land. It is not the rest of "The LORD your God gives you rest" (1:13) or "The LORD gave them rest all around" (21:44), which is nuach. Judges uses shaqat for its refrain: "The land had rest forty years" (Judges 3:11), and again at 3:30, 5:31 and 8:28.
For your group
Joshua 11 Bible study questions
- 1The army Joshua faced was "as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude" (11:4), and the LORD said, "Don’t be afraid because of them" (11:6). What looks that big to you right now?
- 2Joshua "left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses" (11:15). Is there something you know God has asked of you that you've left half done?
- 3"Joshua made war a long time with all those kings" (11:18) before "the land had rest from war" (11:23). What helps you keep going when something takes much longer than you expected?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Joshua 11 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home