What Does Joshua 9:10 Mean?
And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were across the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth.
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
And all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites, that were beyond Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon, and to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashtaroth.THE KEY
The Gibeonites carry a true report about what the LORD has done inside a lie about who is speaking.
THE MEANING
A true account of what God has done can reach you through a speaker whose own purpose is concealed. The kings are remembered by that act, and the report shapes the next encounter before the speakers’ identities are clear. The verse holds the truth of the report and the deception of its carriers in the same frame.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that accurate testimony proves an honest speaker: the account of what the LORD did is true while the Gibeonites conceal their identity.
THE ROOT
עָשָׂה
ʿāśâ
GROWS FROM
עשה
Do, make, accomplish
“did” in this verse is ʿāśâ. Hebrew uses one root for doing and making, binding an act to the work brought about. Here the deed is substantial enough to outlast the kings’ titles and travel as a report.
ALSO GROWS
maʿaseh: An act or the work accomplished
מַעֲשֶׂה
This noun grows from the same root as “did,” naming the deed itself as something that can be remembered and repeated.
ʿōśeh: A doer or maker
עֹשֶׂה
The same root names the agent as well as the act, keeping the one who acts bound to what is done.
מַלְכֵי
malkhê
GROWS FROM
מלך
Reign, rule
“kings” in this verse is malkhê. The English title “king” can sound like a fixed rank, but its root also names the act of reigning and the realm being ruled. In this verse, the rulers’ titles remain while the deed done to them becomes the part that travels.
ALSO GROWS
mālak: To rule or become king
מָלַךְ
The verb shows kingship as an exercise of power, not only a name or status.
mamlākāh: A realm or kingdom
מַמְלָכָה
This branch extends the root from a ruler to the territory and order under that rule.
עֵבֶר
ʿēver
GROWS FROM
עבר
Pass across, cross over
“across” in this verse is ʿēver. “Beyond” sounds like a fixed place in English, while its Hebrew root carries the sense of crossing over. The kings are on the far side of the Jordan, yet the report of what happened there has crossed over to Joshua.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāvar: To move across or pass by
עָבַר
This verb carries the movement that lies beneath the word for the far side.
ʿēver: The opposite side or region across
עֵבֶר
This noun locates the kings across the Jordan, the boundary their story has crossed.
THE PATTERN
A deed of God becomes a report that travels beyond its first scene and shapes how others meet power.
For we have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before your face, when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og, who were across the Jordan, whom you devoted to destruction.Remember the wonders he did, his signs, and the judgments of his mouth.Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man shown forth by God among you through works of strength and wonders and signs, which God did through him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know.THE THREAD
For we have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before your face, when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og, who were across the Jordan, whom you devoted to destruction.“What ye did” in Joshua 2:10 and “that he did” here share the Hebrew root עשה (ʿāśâ), do or make. Rahab and the Gibeonites cite the same two kings, revealing a report already traveling among the people of Canaan; here, that true memory is carried by speakers hiding their identity.
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