Joshua 1:9

Hebrew Bible

7 Make sure you are very strong and brave! Carefully obey all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep. Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful in all you do. 8 This law scroll must not leave your lips. You must memorize it day and night so you can carefully obey all that is written in it. Then you will prosper and be successful. 9 I repeat, be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic, for I, the Lord your God, am with you in all you do.

Haggai 2:4

Hebrew Bible

3 ‘Who among you survivors saw the former splendor of this temple? How does it look to you now? Isn’t it nothing by comparison?’ 4 Even so, take heart, Zerubbabel,” decrees the Lord. “Take heart, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. And take heart all you citizens of the land,” decrees the Lord, “and begin to work. For I am with you,” decrees the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 5 “Do not fear, because I made a promise to your ancestors when they left Egypt, and my Spirit even now testifies to you.”

 Notes and References

"... Form-critical inquiry has led to different perspectives from which to view chapter 1. Lohfink understands the chapter as the conclusion of the series of narratives found in Deuteronomy 1:37–38; 3:21–22, 28; 31:2–8, 14–15, 23; Joshua 1:2–9. He describes Joshua 1 as the prologue or overture to the book, introducing important motifs, joining the book of Joshua to the first volume of the work (Deuteronomy) and pointing to the arrangement of the book being introduced. Lohfink assigns this last function to Joshua 1:1–9, which introduces the two major themes of the book: occupation of the land west of the Jordan (chapters 1–12) and distribution of the land among the tribes (chapters 13–21) ... A legal command to assume the office of commander of the army, an office in which Joshua was installed in Deuteronomy 31:23, appears in Joshua 1:2–5. The basic elements of this genre comprise a sentence that establishes a fact (verse 2a), a command (verse 2b), and the necessary basis for implementation of the command (verses 3–5). Such a literary form is rooted in the legal language of Israel. The second literary form is that of the installation in the office of land distributor. This form appears in Joshua 1:6, 9 and includes the following elements: the formula of encouragement, the naming of the task, and the promise of divine presence. This form is also found in Deuteronomy 31:7–8; 31:23; 2 Samuel 10:12; 2 Chronicles 19:11b; Haggai 2:4 ..."

Butler, Trent C. Word Biblical Commentary: Joshua 1-12 (pp. 385-386) Zondervan, 2017

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