Joshua 1:14 (DBY)

Passage

Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall abide in the land that Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan, but ye, all the valiant men, shall go over in array before your brethren and help them,

Nearby Context

Joshua 1:12 And to the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to half the tribe of Manasseh spoke Joshua, saying,

Joshua 1:13 Remember the word that Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded you, saying, Jehovah your God has given you rest and has given you this land.

Joshua 1:14 Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall abide in the land that Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan, but ye, all the valiant men, shall go over in array before your brethren and help them,

Joshua 1:15 until Jehovah give your brethren rest as to you, and they also take possession of the land which Jehovah your God giveth them; then shall ye return into the land of your possession and possess it, which Moses the servant of Jehovah gave you on this side of the Jordan toward the sun-rising.

Joshua 1:16 And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou hast commanded us will we do, and whither thou shalt send us will we go.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "wives", "little", "ones", "cattle", "shall", "abide", "land", and "moses". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "wives" and "little", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 13's "Remember the word that Moses the servant..." into verse 15's "until Jehovah give your brethren rest as...", so "wives" and "little" 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 "wives" and "little" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.