Joshua 24:12 (DRB)

Passage

And I sent before you and I drove them out from their places, the two kings of the Amorrhites, not with thy sword nor with thy bow,

Nearby Context

Joshua 24:10 And I would not hear him, but on the contrary I blessed you by him, and I delivered you out of his hand.

Joshua 24:11 And you passed over the Jordan, and you came to Jericho. And the men of that city fought against you, the Amorrhite, and the Pherezite, and the Chanaanite, and the Hethite, and the Gergesite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite: and I delivered them into your hands.

Joshua 24:12 And I sent before you and I drove them out from their places, the two kings of the Amorrhites, not with thy sword nor with thy bow,

Joshua 24:13 And I gave you a land, in which you had not laboured, and cities to dwell in which you built not, vineyards and oliveyards, which you planted not.

Joshua 24:14 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him with a perfect and most sincere heart: and put away the gods which your fathers served in Mesopotamia and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sent", "before", "drove", "places", "kings", "amorrhites", and "sword". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sent" and "before", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "And you passed over the Jordan and..." into verse 13's "And I gave you a land in...", so "sent" and "before" 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 "sent" and "before" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.