Joshua 1:4 (DBY)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

Joshua 1:2 Moses my servant is dead; and now, rise up, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people, into the land which I give unto them, to the children of Israel.

Joshua 1:3 Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread have I given to you, as I said unto Moses.

Joshua 1:4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon to the great river, the river Euphrates, the whole land of the Hittites, to the great sea, toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border.

Joshua 1:5 None shall be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee; I will not leave thee, neither will I forsake thee.

Joshua 1:6 Be strong and courageous, for thou shalt cause this people to inherit the land which I have sworn unto their fathers to give them.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "wilderness", "lebanon", "great", "river", "euphrates", "whole", and "land". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "wilderness" and "lebanon", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "Every place whereon the sole of your..." into verse 5's "None shall be able to stand before...", so "wilderness" and "lebanon" 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 "wilderness" and "lebanon" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.