What Does Joshua 1:7 Mean in the King James?
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.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
What this verse calls prosperity is wise movement wherever you go, shaped by instruction kept close enough to do.
THE MEANING
Courage takes shape as you guard and do the whole instruction, without veering to either side. The word translated “prosper” also carries the sense of acting wisely: the promise is a way of moving with discernment wherever you go.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that courage alone secures a good path: here courage stays joined to guarded instruction and unturned practice.
THE ROOT
תַּשְׂכִּיל
taskil
GROWS FROM
שׂכל
sakal
understand, act wisely, and prosper
“prosper” in this verse is taskil. The root carries both discernment and prospering, so the promised outcome includes wise action rather than success understood only as an external gain. The verse ties that wisdom to the way you go, wherever you go.
ALSO GROWS
sekel: understanding, insight
שֵׂכֶל
This branch makes clear that prosperity here is linked to discernment.
maskil: one who acts with insight; an insightful or skillful composition
מַשְׂכִּיל
It shows the same root taking shape as practiced wisdom.
לִשְׁמֹר
lishmor
GROWS FROM
שׁמר
shamar
keep, guard, watch
The word translated “observe” carries the sense of guarding and watching over. Paired with “do,” it describes instruction held in view until it shapes action, not merely noticed and left untouched.
ALSO GROWS
shomer: keeper, watchman
שֹׁמֵר
A keeper stays attentive to what is entrusted to them, echoing the verse’s active attention to instruction.
mishmeret: charge, watch, guard duty
מִשְׁמֶרֶת
This branch brings out the continuing care inside “observe,” rather than a momentary glance.
וֶאֱמַץ
ve’emats
GROWS FROM
אמץ
amats
be firm, strengthen, be courageous
“courageous” in this verse is ve’emats. Courage here is not a separate flourish: it is the firmness required to keep the instruction in view and enact it without veering. The root places inner resolve at the service of an unbroken path.
ALSO GROWS
ometz: courage, strength
אֹמֶץ
This noun shows courage as a quality of firmness that sustains the way.
ammits: strong, mighty
אַמִּיץ
The adjective keeps the root’s emphasis on strength that holds its ground.
THE PATTERN
Instruction bears fruit when it is guarded, embodied in action, and held without drift.
Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.THE THREAD
I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.Joshua’s תַּשְׂכִּיל (taskil, act wisely or prosper) and this verse’s אַשְׂכִּילְךָ (askilcha, I will instruct you with insight) share the root שׂכל (sakal, understand and act wisely). The shared root ties guidance to wise movement: instruction equips the way itself to be walked with insight.
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