What Does Joshua 11:15 Mean in the King James?
As the LORD commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses command Joshua, and so did Joshua; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses.
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
The Hebrew pictures completion as refusing to remove even one part of what was entrusted.
THE MEANING
This verse meets you where what is entrusted becomes action: its measure of completion is that nothing is set aside. The names sharpen the movement: Moses (מֹשֶׁה, Moshe, “drawn out from water”) passes the charge to Joshua (יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, Yehoshua, “the LORD delivers”). What is received reaches its full shape in what is carried through.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that receiving an instruction is the same as completing it: the charge reaches completion when no part is set aside.
THE ROOT
הֵסִיר
hēsîr
GROWS FROM
סור
To turn aside or depart; in the causative form, to remove.
“left nothing undone” in this verse is hēsîr. The KJV expresses completion as leaving nothing undone; the Hebrew says Joshua removed no part of the charge. The root links taking something away with turning aside, so the verse pictures faithfulness as keeping the whole charge intact.
ALSO GROWS
sûr: turn aside; depart
סוּר
In the base form, the root names turning aside; the verse uses its causative form to picture no part being taken out of the charge.
hēsîr: remove; take away
הֵסִיר
This is the verb in the verse, making completion concrete as leaving no commanded matter removed.
צִוָּה
tsivvah
GROWS FROM
צוה
To command, charge, or direct.
“commanded” in this verse is tsivvah. The same root repeats as the charge moves from the LORD to Moses and from Moses to Joshua. The repetition keeps the handoff visible: the instruction’s source and content remain connected as it is passed along.
ALSO GROWS
mitzvah: commandment; charge
מִצְוָה
This noun shares the root and names the instruction carried through the chain.
tsav: command; precept
צַו
This shorter form shows the same root holding both a direct command and the larger charge handed on here.
עָשָׂה
asah
GROWS FROM
עשה
To do or make.
English “did” can sound like a bare response, while עָשָׂה also means “made.” The instruction does not remain words: it takes shape as an accomplished deed.
ALSO GROWS
maʿaseh: deed; act; work
מַעֲשֶׂה
This noun makes visible the action that the command becomes in the verse.
asiyah: doing; making
עֲשִׂיָּה
This form carries the root’s sense of bringing something into action, echoing the verse’s movement from charge to completion.
THE PATTERN
A received instruction reaches its full shape when it is carried into action without being set aside.
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.Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.THE THREAD
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.Deuteronomy uses סוּר (sûr, “turn aside”), the same root behind Joshua’s הֵסִיר (hēsîr, “remove”). Joshua’s phrase says he removed no part of the charge; Deuteronomy names the same root’s other side as turning away from it.
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