What Does Joshua 23:3 Mean in the King James?

And ye have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto all these nations because of you; for the LORD your God is he that hath fought for you.

Joshua 23:3 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

Victory is credited to the LORD’s fighting, while the nations’ defeat remains part of what that help means.

THE MEANING

The verse speaks to you as one who has seen the LORD act against nations on your behalf. It names the LORD as the fighter for you, and leaves the cost in view: those nations are overcome.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that this deliverance is self-won; the verse gives the fighting to the LORD.

THE ROOT

הַנִּלְחָם

hannilcham

GROWS FROM

ל־ח־ם

to fight, engage in battle

“fought” in this verse is hannilcham. The Hebrew names the LORD as the one actively fighting for you. The root keeps this aid inside the verse’s language of combat: the nations are overcome.

ALSO GROWS

milchamah: battle, war

מִלְחָמָה

This noun from the same root makes clear that the LORD’s help here takes the form of battle.

nilcham: fights, engages in battle

נִלְחָם

This related form names the act Joshua attributes to the LORD: fighting on your behalf.

THE PATTERN

In these deliverances, the text names God as the fighter and leaves the conflict itself visible.

The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Exodus 14:14 · KJVThe verse uses the same root for fighting and directly says the LORD fights for you.

The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;

Deuteronomy 1:30 · KJVThe LORD goes before the people and is named as the one who fights for them.

And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

2 Chronicles 20:15 · KJVThe battle is again attributed to God, while the multitude opposing the people remains in view.

THE THREAD

The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Exodus 14:14 · KJV

Joshua’s ⁨הַנִּלְחָם⁩ (hannilcham, “the one fighting”) and Exodus’s ⁨יִלָּחֵם⁩ (yillachem, “will fight”) come from the same root, ⁨ל־ח־ם⁩. The repeated wording makes the connection precise: the LORD is named as the fighter for you.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us