Joshua 1:4 (DRB)

Passage

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.

Nearby Context

Joshua 1:2 Moses my servant is dead: arise, and pass over this Jordan, thou and thy people with thee, into the land which I will give to the children of Israel.

Joshua 1:3 I will deliver to you every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, as I have said to Moses.

Joshua 1:4 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.

Joshua 1:5 No man shall be able to resist you all the days of thy life: as I have been with Moses, so will I be with thee: I will not leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Joshua 1:6 Take courage, and be strong: for thou shalt divide by lot to this people the land for which I swore to their fathers, that I would deliver it to them.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "I will deliver to you every place..." into verse 5's "No man shall be able to resist...", so "desert" and "libanus" 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 "desert" and "libanus" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.