Joshua 1:4 Your territory shall extend from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great River Euphrates--all the land of the Hittites--and west as far as the Great Sea.

◄ Joshua 1:4 ►

New International Version
Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.

New Living Translation
from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’

English Standard Version
From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory.

Berean Standard Bible
Your territory shall extend from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great River Euphrates—all the land of the Hittites—and west as far as the Great Sea.

King James Bible
From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.

New King James Version
From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory.

New American Standard Bible
From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory.

NASB 1995
“From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory.

NASB 1977
“From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun, will be your territory.

Legacy Standard Bible
From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory.

Amplified Bible
From the wilderness [of Arabia in the south] and this Lebanon [in the north], even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates [in the east], all the land of the Hittites (Canaan), and as far as the Great [Mediterranean] Sea toward the west shall be your territory.

Christian Standard Bible
Your territory will be from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great river, the Euphrates River—all the land of the Hittites —and west to the Mediterranean Sea.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Your territory will be from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great Euphrates River—all the land of the Hittites—and west to the Mediterranean Sea.

American Standard Version
From the wilderness, and this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.

Contemporary English Version
It will reach from the Southern Desert to the Lebanon Mountains in the north, and to the northeast as far as the great Euphrates River. It will include the land of the Hittites, and the land from here at the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea on the west.

English Revised Version
From the wilderness, and this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Your borders will be the desert [on the south], nearby Lebanon to the Euphrates River (the country of the Hittites) [on the north], and the Mediterranean Sea on the west.

Good News Translation
Your borders will reach from the desert in the south to the Lebanon Mountains in the north; from the great Euphrates River in the east, through the Hittite country, to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.

International Standard Version
Your territorial border will extend from the wilderness to the Lebanon Mountains, to the river—that great River Euphrates—all the land of the Hittites—as far as the Mediterranean Sea where the sun sets.

Majority Standard Bible
Your territory shall extend from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great River Euphrates?all the land of the Hittites?and west as far as the Great Sea.

NET Bible
Your territory will extend from the wilderness in the south to Lebanon in the north. It will extend all the way to the great River Euphrates in the east (including all of Syria) and all the way to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.

New Heart English Bible
From the wilderness, and this Lebanon, even to the great river, the river Perath, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.

Webster's Bible Translation
From the wilderness and this Lebanon even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea towards the setting of the sun, shall be your border.

World English Bible
From the wilderness and this Lebanon even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.

Literal Translations

Literal Standard Version
From this wilderness and Lebanon, and to the great river, the Euphrates River, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea—the going in of the sun—is your border.

Young's Literal Translation
From this wilderness and Lebanon, and unto the great river, the river Phrath, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great Sea -- the going in of the sun -- is your border.

Smith's Literal Translation
From the desert and this Lebanon, and even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and even to the great sea, from the going down of the sun, shall be your bound.

Catholic Translations

Douay-Rheims Bible
From the desert and from Libanus unto the great river Euphrates, all the land of the Hethites unto the great sea toward the going; down of the sun, shall be your border.

Catholic Public Domain Version
From the desert and from Lebanon, even to the great river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, as far as the great sea opposite the setting of the sun, shall be your border.

New American Bible
All the land of the Hittites, from the wilderness and the Lebanon east to the great river Euphrates and west to the Great Sea, will be your territory.

New Revised Standard Version
From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory.

Translations from Aramaic

Lamsa Bible
From the wilderness and this Lebanon even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, as far as the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your boundaries.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
From the wilderness and the mountain of this Lebanon and unto Euphrates the great river, and all the land of the Khithites and unto the Great Sea, the place of the setting of the sun, shall be your border.

OT Translations

JPS Tanakh 1917
From the wilderness, and this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
The wilderness and Antilibanus, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, and as far as the extremity of the sea; your costs shall be from the setting of the sun.

Additional Translations ...

Audio Bible

Context

God Commissions Joshua
…3I have given you every place where the sole of your foot will tread, just as I promised to Moses. 4Your territory shall extend from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great River Euphrates — all the land of the Hittites— and west as far as the Great Sea. 5No one shall stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so will I be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.…

Berean Standard Bible · Download

Cross References

Genesis 15:18
On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—

Deuteronomy 11:24
Every place where the sole of your foot treads will be yours. Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Western Sea.

Exodus 23:31
And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you.

1 Kings 4:21
And Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These kingdoms offered tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

2 Chronicles 9:26
He reigned over all the kings from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt.

Genesis 13:14-15
After Lot had departed, the LORD said to Abram, “Now lift up your eyes from the place where you are, and look to the north and south and east and west, / for all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.

Numbers 34:2-12
“Command the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land of Canaan, it will be allotted to you as an inheritance with these boundaries: / Your southern border will extend from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom. On the east, your southern border will run from the end of the Salt Sea, / cross south of the Ascent of Akrabbim, continue to Zin, and go south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it will go on to Hazar-addar and proceed to Azmon, ...

Deuteronomy 1:7-8
Resume your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the foothills, in the Negev, and along the seacoast to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great River Euphrates. / See, I have placed the land before you. Enter and possess the land that the LORD swore He would give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to their descendants after them.”

Deuteronomy 34:1-4
Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which faces Jericho. And the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead as far as Dan, / all of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, / the Negev, and the region from the Valley of Jericho (the City of Palms) all the way to Zoar. ...

Ezekiel 47:13-20
This is what the Lord GOD says: “These are the boundaries by which you are to divide the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel; Joseph shall receive two portions. / You are to divide it equally among them. Because I swore with an uplifted hand to give it to your forefathers, this land will fall to you as an inheritance. / This shall be the boundary of the land: On the north side it will extend from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon through Lebo-hamath to Zedad, ...

Psalm 72:8
May he rule from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.

Isaiah 54:2-3
“Enlarge the site of your tent, stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not hold back. Lengthen your ropes and drive your stakes in deep. / For you will spread out to the right and left; your descendants will dispossess the nations and inhabit the desolate cities.

Acts 13:19
And having vanquished seven nations in Canaan, He gave their land to His people as an inheritance.

Hebrews 11:9-10
By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. / For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Romans 4:13
For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world was not given through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

Treasury of Scripture

From the wilderness and this Lebanon even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.

From the wilderness.

Genesis 15:18-21
In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: …

Exodus 23:31
And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.

Numbers 34:2-18
Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land of Canaan; (this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan with the coasts thereof:) …

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Joshua 1

1. The Lord appoints Joshua to succeed Moses
3. The borders of the promised land
5. God promises to assist Joshua
8. He gives him instructions
10. Joshua prepares the people to pass over Jordan
12. He puts the two tribes and a half in mind of their promise to Moses
16. They promise him allegiance

Berean Study Bible

Your territory shall extend
This phrase signifies the promise of expansion and possession. In Hebrew, the word for "territory" (גְּבוּל, gebul) implies a boundary or border, suggesting a divinely ordained space for the Israelites. The promise of extension is a fulfillment of God's covenant with Abraham, indicating a divine mandate for growth and blessing.

from the wilderness and Lebanon
The "wilderness" refers to the desert regions south of Canaan, symbolizing the trials and testing the Israelites faced. "Lebanon" is known for its majestic cedar trees and represents the northernmost boundary. Historically, Lebanon was a region of great beauty and resources, indicating the richness of the land God was giving to His people.

to the great river, the Euphrates
The Euphrates is one of the most significant rivers in the ancient Near East, often associated with fertility and life. In Hebrew, "Euphrates" (פְּרָת, Perath) is a symbol of abundance and prosperity. This boundary marks the easternmost extent of the promised land, highlighting the vastness of God's promise.

all the land of the Hittites
The Hittites were a powerful ancient people known for their advanced civilization and military prowess. Mentioning "all the land of the Hittites" underscores the comprehensive nature of the conquest and the overcoming of formidable foes through divine assistance.

and west as far as the Great Sea
The "Great Sea" refers to the Mediterranean Sea, marking the western boundary. This sea was crucial for trade and cultural exchange, symbolizing openness to the world and the potential for influence and interaction with other nations.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(4) All the land of the Hittites.--The name Hittites may be used here to represent all the Canaanites; but it seems better to understand the land of the Hittites of the northern districts in which Hamath and Carchemish were situated--between Palestine proper and the Euphrates; but compare Note on Judges 1:26.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 4. - From the wilderness and this Lebanon. The words suppose a line to be drawn from the desert of Arabia on the south and the range of Lebanon on the north, to the River Euphrates on the one hand and the Mediterranean Sea on the other, including the land of the Hittites (see 1 Kings 4:24; 2 Chronicles 9:26). Tiphsah, the later Thapsacus, was far north of the utmost limits of Palestine, and almost in the latitude of Antioch. Azzah is generally termed Gaza in our version. See note on Joshua 11:22. The land of the Hittites here (Keil) seems to be taken for the land of Canaan in general (see 1 Kings 10:29; 2 Kings 7:6; Ezekiel 16:3), but extending far beyond their border, and including Syria, Moab, Ammon, the land of Bashan, and part of Arabia. This was never actually in the hand of the Israelites save during the reigns of David and Solomon, when these regions were either tributary to them, or had been actually reduced under their immediate sway. "The promise," says Theodoret, "was not undefined, but if ye shall keep my commandments and ordinances" (Deuteronomy 11:22, 23). But they, inasmuch as they immediately transgressed the law, did not obtain the perfect promises. The Divine Apostles, on the contrary, not only conquered those places on which they set their foot, but even those in which their all wise writings were read; and the land that was before a desert they displayed as a Divine Paradise." This Lebanon. This expression is no doubt used because Lebanon was visible from the spot where Joshua was standing. There is nothing surprising in this. We learn from travellers that its range, which there is no doubt included that of Anti-Lebanon, with its lofty peak Hermon, the highest point in Palestine, is visible from all parts of the Holy Land, even from the depths of the Jordan valley near the Dead Sea. Dr. Thomson ('Land and the Book,' p, 2) says that it is visible from Cyprus. Canon Tristram ('Land of Israel,' p. 609) tells how he had seen Hermon from Type, Sidon, Carmel, Gerizim, from the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, from Gilead, from Nebo, and from the Dead Sea. The name Lebanon, derived from לָבָן to be white, like the Arabic lebanon, milk, is supposed by Robinson to have been given from the whitish colour of the chalk or limestone rock (so Conder, 'Handbook,' p. 206). But it is at least equally probable that it derives its name, like Mont Blanc in Savoy, from its snowy peaks. Hermon is still called by the Arabs Jebel-el-Thelj, or "the snowy peak." The Jordan, the river of Palestine par excellence, derived its copious and ever-flowing streams, so essential in that "thirsty land," from the Anti-Lebanon range. "Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus," as well as the Orontes, and the Litany or Leontes, derive their waters from the same source (see Tristram, 'Land of Israel,' chap. 25; Thomson, 'Land and the Book,' pp. 172, 173). We have a vivid description of the region of Lebanon and the adjacent range of Anti-Lebanon and Hermon, in the spring, at the time of the melting of the snows, in the 42nd Psalm. There David, recalling to mind his sojourn in the "land of the Jordan," and of Hermon, speaks of the "deep calling unto deep," of the noise of the cataracts as they dashed from rock to rock and foamed along the mountain sides; and he describes his sorrows as overwhelming him by their number and magnitude, just as the multitudinous torrents that rose in that snowy region threatened to engulf the unwary traveller in their onward sweep. The far-famed cedars of Lebanon are indigenous to this region, and to it alone, but the climatic changes which Palestine has undergone have reduced their number largely, and comparatively few specimens now remain, in a wild condition, of that noble tree, once the pride of the dwellers in the land. "We cannot study all the passages in the Old Testament which refer to the cedar, without feeling certain that in ancient times it was a far more conspicuous feature in the landscape than it is now" (Tristram, 'Land of Israel,' p. 631). The great river, the river Euphrates. Das grosse Wasser Phrath (Luther). The Hebrew name is as Luther gives it. The Greeks added the euphonic syllable at the commencement, according to those who assign to the word a Semitic derivation. Others, however, derive it from an Aryan source, and regard it as equivalent to "the flowing river." This mighty stream, especially after its junction with the Tigris, far transcended in size any other with which the Israelites were acquainted. The plains of Mesopotamia, even as far as Nineveh and Babylon, were destined to have been occupied by the Jewish race, had not their impiety and rebellion prevented; and the world empire obtained by Nineveh and Babylon might, and had they been obedient would, have been theirs. All the land of the Hittites. The Hittites, or Chittites, seem to have been the most considerable of the tribes which inhabited Canaan. We find them in possession of Hebron in the time of Abraham (Genesis 23.), but their more usual dwelling place was in the valley. They appear from the narrative above quoted to have been a peaceable people. We have records of them in Egyptian and Assyrian inscriptions. Thus we hear of the Khita in the inscriptions of Rameses II., who reigned between 1383 and 1322, B.C.; that is, about the time of Deborah and Barak ('Records of the Past,' 2:67-78; 4:25-32). They were the inhabitants, however, of a region further to the northward, beyond the borders of the Holy Land, on the banks of the Orontes. So a Mohar, or scribe, of Rameses II., in an account of a tour in Palestine, in which he mentions Kirjath Anab, Achsaph, Megiddo, and the land of Hamath, describes Khita as to the north, bordering on this latter territory ('Records of the Past,' 2:106). The various translators of the Assyrian inscriptions of Assur-bani-pal, Tiglath Pileser, Shalmaneser, and Sennacherib recognise the Hittites in the people mentioned as dwelling to the north of Palestine (ibid. 3:52; 5:21, 32, 33; 7:61), though Ewald thinks that the Khatta there mentioned must be sought still further north. Prof. Sayce, in a recent lecture, regards the Hittites as having occupied a large portion of Asia Minor, and as having had great influence upon early Greek art, and adds, "Till within the last few years the Bible alone has preserved the name of a people who must have had almost as great an influence on human history as Assyria or Egypt." Shalmaneser mentions the kings of the Hittites, just as they are mentioned in the later narratives of Kings and Chronicles (see note on Joshua 3:10). Unto the great sea. As the Euphrates was the greatest river, the Mediterranean was the greatest sea, known to the Jews. Unlike the race they displaced, the Canaanites - or, to call them by a title by which they are better known to profane history, the Phoenicians - the Jews were no sailors. It may have been even before the conquest of Canaan under Joshua that the Phoenician fleets sailed out beyond the pillars of Hercules, and brought back tin from the British isles. For Canaan, or Phoenicia, was a powerful and civilised country when conquered by the Jews. But whether it were before this period that Britain was discovered, or whether the fleets of Tyre and Sidon first sailed thither at a later period, to the Jews the Mediterranean still remained the great sea. They knew nothing of the vaster ocean into which it flowed. It seems strange that, with the example of Tyre and Sidon before them, the Israelites should have been so indifferent to navigation. Even in the time of David, it was Hiram's ships that brought him his treasures and building materials. The later navies of Solomon and Jehoshaphat did but coast along the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf to Ophir, which has been identified with India, or more probably with Arabia.

CHAPTER 1:5-9. THE SOURCE OF JOSHUA'S CONFIDENCE. -

Parallel Commentaries ...

Hebrew

Your territory
גְּבוּלְכֶֽם׃ (gə·ḇū·lə·ḵem)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 1366: A cord, a boundary, the territory inclosed

shall extend
יִֽהְיֶ֖ה (yih·yeh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

from the wilderness
מֵהַמִּדְבָּר֩ (mê·ham·miḏ·bār)
Preposition-m, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4057: A pasture, a desert, speech

and Lebanon
וְהַלְּבָנ֨וֹן (wə·hal·lə·ḇā·nō·wn)
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3844: Lebanon -- a wooded mountain range on the northern border of Israel

to
וְֽעַד־ (wə·‘aḏ-)
Conjunctive waw | Preposition
Strong's 5704: As far as, even to, up to, until, while

the great
הַגָּד֣וֹל (hag·gā·ḏō·wl)
Article | Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 1419: Great, older, insolent

River
נְהַר־ (nə·har-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 5104: A stream, prosperity

Euphrates—
פְּרָ֗ת (pə·rāṯ)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 6578: Euphrates -- a river of west Asia

all
כֹּ֚ל (kōl)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

the land
אֶ֣רֶץ (’e·reṣ)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 776: Earth, land

of the Hittites—
הַֽחִתִּ֔ים (ha·ḥit·tîm)
Article | Noun - proper - masculine plural
Strong's 2850: Hittite -- a Chittite

and west
מְב֣וֹא (mə·ḇō·w)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3996: An entrance, sunset, the west, towards

as far as
וְעַד־ (wə·‘aḏ-)
Conjunctive waw | Preposition
Strong's 5704: As far as, even to, up to, until, while

the Great
הַגָּד֖וֹל (hag·gā·ḏō·wl)
Article | Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 1419: Great, older, insolent

Sea.
הַיָּ֥ם (hay·yām)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3220: A sea, the Mediterranean Sea, large river, an artifical basin

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OT History: Joshua 1:4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even (Josh. Jos)