What Does Joshua 23:1 Mean in the King James?
And it came to pass a long time after that the LORD had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua waxed old and stricken in age.
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 rest is a settling of the ground around Israel, and within that settled space Joshua’s years come fully into view.
THE MEANING
The verse holds a movement from being surrounded by threat to having room to settle. When pressure around you recedes, time still moves through you: rest does not freeze the one who has carried a season.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the idea that a settled season means its people stop changing: danger can recede while the one who bore it continues to age.
THE ROOT
הֵנִיחַ
hēnîaḥ
GROWS FROM
נוח
To settle or come to rest; in this verb form, to let someone settle or give rest.
The form translated “given rest” is הֵנִיחַ (hēnîaḥ), from נוח (n-w-ḥ; nûaḥ), meaning “to settle, come to rest.” The English word can sound like a pause; this root evokes being brought into a settled place, while Joshua’s days continue to advance.
ALSO GROWS
menūḥāh: Rest, repose, or a resting place
מְנוּחָה
This related noun makes rest a place or condition one inhabits; Israel’s security is settled space around them, not simply a brief pause.
mānôaḥ: A resting place or place of repose
מָנוֹחַ
It likewise turns rest into a place where someone can come to be, giving weight to the phrase “from all their enemies round about”: the surrounding space has changed.
THE PATTERN
Rest is a condition God gives in which people can settle, even as time and life continue.
And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.THE THREAD
And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.The verb “rested” is וַתָּנַח (vattānaḥ), from נוח (n-w-ḥ; nûaḥ), meaning “to settle, come to rest”, the same root as “given rest” in Joshua. The ark comes to rest on the mountain, while Israel is brought to rest from encircling enemies; the shared root makes both scenes an arrival on stable ground.
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