Joshua 24:9 (ASV)

Passage

Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel: and he sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you;

Nearby Context

Joshua 24:7 And when they cried out unto Jehovah, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness many days.

Joshua 24:8 And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that dwelt beyond the Jordan: and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand, and ye possessed their land; and I destroyed them from before you.

Joshua 24:9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel: and he sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you;

Joshua 24:10 but I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.

Joshua 24:11 And ye went over the Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "called", "balak", "zippor", "king", "moab", "arose", "fought", and "against". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "called" and "balak", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "And I brought you into the land..." into verse 10's "but I would not hearken unto Balaam...", so "called" and "balak" belong inside that flow. In Joshua context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "called" and "balak" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.