What Does Joshua 23:8 Mean?
But cling to the LORD your God, as you have done until this day.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
But cleave unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day.THE KEY
The Hebrew word translated “cleave” names a bond that holds fast, so devotion here is enduring attachment, not a passing choice.
THE MEANING
Your relationship with the LORD is pictured as an attachment that holds through time. “As ye have done unto this day” places the present moment inside a bond already sustained.
THE ROOT
תִּדְבָּקוּ
tidbaqu
GROWS FROM
דבק
d-b-q
To cling, stick fast, or adhere.
“cling to” in this verse is tidbaqu. This same Hebrew verb describes a joined bond in Genesis 2:24, Ruth’s clinging to Naomi in Ruth 1:14, and staying fast to God’s testimonies in Psalm 119:31. The root holds physical attachment and relational loyalty together, making devotion more than a passing declaration.
ALSO GROWS
dāvaq: To cling to or join closely.
דָּבַק
The same verb depicts a bond that holds two people together, giving “cleave” a relational depth.
dāvqāh: She held fast to another person.
דָּבְקָה
The word describes loyalty expressed as staying joined when another person turns away.
dāvaqti: I have held fast to the testimonies.
דָּבַקְתִּי
The same root reaches beyond personal bonds to an enduring attachment to what is spoken.
THE PATTERN
Covenant faithfulness takes shape as remaining attached through time.
Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother, and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.I cling to your testimonies, LORD. Do not put me to shame.Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it stays in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.THE THREAD
Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother, and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.“Cleave” in both verses translates the same Hebrew root, דבק (d-b-q), meaning to cling or adhere. In Genesis the word names a joined bond between people; here it reveals devotion to God as that same kind of enduring attachment.
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