Joshua 23:14

And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(14) Ye know . . . that not one thing hath failed.—These words, as well as the similar statement in Joshua 21:43-45, show that though the conquest of Canaan by Joshua was in one way a limited conquest, yet it fully satisfied the hopes of Israel for the time: i.e., that they understood the Divine promises in that sense in which we see them to have been actually fulfilled.

Benson Commentary

Joshua 23:14. I am going the way of all the earth — That is, of all flesh, or of all men; the way which all men go; I am about to die, as all men must. To die is to go a journey, a journey to our long home. And Joshua himself, though he could so ill be spared, cannot be exempted from this common lot. He takes notice of it, that they might look on these as his dying words, and regard them accordingly. Ye know — That is, you know assuredly: your own experience puts it out of all question.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

23:11-16 Would we cleave to the Lord, we must always stand upon our guard, for many a soul is lost through carelessness. Love the Lord your God, and you will not leave him. Has God been thus true to you? Be not you false to him. He is faithful that has promised, Heb 10:23. The experience of every Christian witnesses the same truth. Conflicts may have been severe and long, trials great and many; but at the last he will acknowledge that goodness and mercy followed him all the days of his life. Joshua states the fatal consequences of going back; know for a certainty it will be your ruin. The first step would be, friendship with idolaters; the next would be, marrying with them; the end of that would be, serving their gods. Thus the way of sin is down-hill, and those who have fellowship with sinners, cannot avoid having fellowship with sin. He describes the destruction he warns them of. The goodness of the heavenly Canaan, and the free and sure grant God has made of it, will add to the misery of those who shall for ever be shut out from it. Nothing will make them see how wretched they are, so much, as to see how happy they might have been. Let us watch and pray against temptation. Let us trust in God's faithfulness, love, and power; let us plead his promises, and cleave to his commandments, then we shall be happy in life, in death, and for ever.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

All Israel, and for their elders - Omit "and," which is not in the Hebrew. The meaning is that Joshua summoned to him all Israel as represented by its elders, etc. Deuteronomy 1:15. This gathering probably took place at the tabernacle at Shiloh.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Jos 23:12. By Threatenings in Case of Disobedience.

12, 13. Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations—As marriage connections with the idolatrous Canaanites would present many and strong temptations to transgress it, these were strictly prohibited (Ex 34:12-16; De 7:3). With his eye, as it were, upon those prohibitions, Joshua threatens them with the certain withdrawal of the divine aid in the further expulsion of the Canaanites (a threat founded Ex 23:33; Nu 33:55; De 7:16).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Of all the earth, i.e. of all flesh, or of all men; the way which all men go; I am about to die, as all men must, Hebrews 9:27. The same phrase is 1 Kings 2:2.

Ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, i.e. you know assuredly; your own experience puts it out of all question.

Not one thing hath failed.

Quest. How is this true, when so great a part of the promised land and people yet remain unconquered?

Answ. God promised them to destroy all their enemies, and to give them the whole land, not at once, but by degrees, by little and little, as is expressed Deu 7:22, and as was most convenient for them.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth,.... That is, about to die; not that precise day, but in a short time, of which the daily increasing infirmities of old age gave him notice. Death is a journey from this world to another, a man's going to his long home, a path trodden by all men, and but once (t); a way in which all men without exception must and do walk, and even the best as well as the greatest of men, such as Joshua; no man is exempted from death, be he ever so great or good, ever so wise and knowing, ever so holy or so useful; see 1 Kings 2:2,

and ye know in all your hearts, and in all your souls; in their consciences; it was a glaring truth, which none could deny; it had a testimony in every man's breast:

that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God hath spoken concerning you; particularly concerning the good land, and the Lord's bringing them into it, removing the old inhabitants, and settling them in their room, and putting them in possession of all temporal good things and spiritual privileges, as the word and ordinances:

all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof; see Joshua 21:45.

(t) "----Sed omnes una manet nox, Et calcanda semel via lethi". --Horat. Carmin. l. 1. Ode 28.

Geneva Study Bible

And, behold, this day I am {f} going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your {g} hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.

(f) I die according to the course of nature.

(g) Most certainly.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

14. I am going the way of all the earth] i.e. on the way to death, which a man goes and returns not; the way which all the earth, the whole world, must take, “into the land of darkness and the shadow of death.” Comp. Job 10:21; and 1 Kings 2:2, where the words are used by David in his last address to Solomon.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 14. - And not one thing hath failed thereof. This is a good instance of the habit of repetition so common to Hebrew writers. It is to be remembered that they had no italics, no stops, and, owing to the want of copiousness in their language, a great want generally of the means possessed in more modern languages of emphasizing their words. They, therefore, had recourse to what is still a favourite rhetorical artifice, the practice of repetition. Joshua 23:14

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

In the second part of his address, Joshua sums up briefly and concisely the leading thoughts of the first part, giving greater prominence, however, to the curse which would follow apostasy from the Lord.

Joshua 23:14-16

Now that Joshua was going the way of all the earth (all the inhabitants of the earth), i.e., going to die (1 Kings 2:2), the Israelites knew with all the heart and all the soul, i.e., were fully convinced, that of all the good words (gracious promises) of God not one had failed, but all had come to pass (vid., Joshua 21:45). But it was just as certain that the Lord would bring upon them every evil word that He spake through Moses (Leviticus 26:14-33; Deuteronomy 28:15-68, and Deuteronomy 29:14-28), if they transgressed His covenant. "The evil word" is the curse of rejection (Deuteronomy 30:1, Deuteronomy 30:15). "Until He have destroyed:" see Deuteronomy 7:24, and Deuteronomy 28:48. The other words as in Joshua 23:13. If they went after other gods and served them, the wrath of the Lord would burn against them, and they would be quickly destroyed from the good land which He had given them (vid., Deuteronomy 11:17).