Joshua 6:18 (WEB)

Passage

But as for you, only keep yourselves from what is devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted it, you take of the devoted thing; so you would make the camp of Israel accursed, and trouble it.

Nearby Context

Joshua 6:16 At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for Yahweh has given you the city!

Joshua 6:17 The city shall be devoted, even it and all that is in it, to Yahweh. Only Rahab the prostitute shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.

Joshua 6:18 But as for you, only keep yourselves from what is devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted it, you take of the devoted thing; so you would make the camp of Israel accursed, and trouble it.

Joshua 6:19 But all the silver, gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are holy to Yahweh. They shall come into Yahweh’s treasury.”

Joshua 6:20 So the people shouted and the priests blew the trumpets. When the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight in front of him, and they took the city.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "only", "keep", "yourselves", "devoted", "destruction", "lest", and "take". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "only" and "keep", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 17's "The city shall be devoted even it..." into verse 19's "But all the silver gold and vessels...", so "only" and "keep" 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 "only" and "keep" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.