Joshua 24:12 (YLT)

Passage

And I send before you the hornet, and it casteth them out from your presence--two kings of the Amorite--not by thy sword, nor by thy bow.

Nearby Context

Joshua 24:10 and I have not been willing to hearken to Balaam, and he doth greatly bless you, and I deliver you out of his hand.

Joshua 24:11 `And ye pass over the Jordan, and come in unto Jericho, and fight against you do the possessors of Jericho--the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite--and I give them into your hand.

Joshua 24:12 And I send before you the hornet, and it casteth them out from your presence--two kings of the Amorite--not by thy sword, nor by thy bow.

Joshua 24:13 `And I give to you a land for which thou hast not laboured, and cities which ye have not built, and ye dwell in them; of vineyards and olive-yards which ye have not planted ye are eating.

Joshua 24:14 `And now, fear ye Jehovah, and serve Him, in perfection and in truth, and turn aside the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve ye Jehovah;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "send", "before", "hornet", "casteth", "presence--two", "kings", "amorite--not", and "sword". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "send" and "before", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

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