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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Joshua: Introduction].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<CENTER>
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<BR>
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<P><FONT SIZE=+3>Joshua</FONT></P>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06001.HTM">Chapter 1</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06002.HTM">Chapter 2</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06003.HTM">Chapter 3</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06004.HTM">Chapter 4</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06005.HTM">Chapter 5</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06006.HTM">Chapter 6</A>
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</TD>
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<TD VALIGN=TOP>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06007.HTM">Chapter 7</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06008.HTM">Chapter 8</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06009.HTM">Chapter 9</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06010.HTM">Chapter 10</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06011.HTM">Chapter 11</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06012.HTM">Chapter 12</A>
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</TD>
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<TD VALIGN=TOP>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06013.HTM">Chapter 13</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06014.HTM">Chapter 14</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06015.HTM">Chapter 15</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06016.HTM">Chapter 16</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06017.HTM">Chapter 17</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06018.HTM">Chapter 18</A>
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</TD>
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<TD VALIGN=TOP>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06019.HTM">Chapter 19</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06020.HTM">Chapter 20</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06021.HTM">Chapter 21</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06022.HTM">Chapter 22</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06023.HTM">Chapter 23</A>
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<LI><A HREF="MHC06024.HTM">Chapter 24</A>
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</TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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</CENTER>
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<HR>
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<A NAME="Page1"> </A>
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<CENTER>
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<P><B>AN</B></P>
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<P><FONT SIZE=+2>EXPOSITION,</FONT></P>
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<P><FONT SIZE=+1>W I T H P R A C T I C A L O B S E R V A T I O N S,</FONT></P>
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<P><FONT SIZE=-1>OF THE BOOK OF</FONT></P>
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<P><FONT SIZE=+3><B>J O S H U A.</B></FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=150>
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</P></CENTER>
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<P>
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I. We have now before us the history of the Jewish nation in this book
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and those that follow it to the end of the book of Esther. These books,
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to he end of the books of the Kings, the Jewish writers call <I>the
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first book of the prophets,</I> to bring them within the distribution
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of the books of the <I>Old Testament,</I> into the Law, the Prophets,
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and the Chetubim, or Hagiographa,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+24:44">Luke xxiv. 44</A>.
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The rest they make part of the Hagiographa. For, though history is
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their subject, it is justly supposed that prophets were their penmen.
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To those books that are purely and properly <I>prophetical</I> the name
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of the prophet is prefixed, because the credibility of the prophecies
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depended much upon the character of the prophets; but these historical
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books, it is probable, were collections of the authentic records of the
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nation, which some of the prophets (and the Jewish church was for many
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ages more or less continually blessed with such) were divinely directed
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and helped to put together for the service of the church to the end of
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the world; as their other officers, so their historiographers, had
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their authority <I>from heaven.</I>--It should seem that though the
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substance of the several histories was written when the events were
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fresh in memory, and written under a divine direction, yet, under the
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same direction, they were put into the form in which we now have them
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by some other hand, long afterwards, probably all by the same hand, or
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about the same time. The grounds of the conjecture are,
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1. Because former writings are so often referred to, as the Book of
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Jasher
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+10:13,2Sa+1:18">Josh. x. 13, and 2 Sam. i. 18</A>),
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the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel and Judah, and the books of Gad,
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Nathan, and Iddo.
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2. Because the days when the things were done are spoken of sometimes
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as days long since passed; as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+9:9">1 Sam. ix. 9</A>,
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<I>He that is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer.</I> And,
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3. Because we so often read of things remaining <I>unto this day;</I>
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as stones
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+4:9,7:26,8:29,10:27,1Sa+6:18">Josh. iv. 9;
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vii. 26; viii. 29; x. 27; 1 Sam. vi. 18</A>),
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names of places
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+5:9,7:26.Jdg+1:26,15:19,18:12,2Ki+14:7">Josh. v. 9;
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vii. 26; Judg. i. 26; xv. 19; xviii. 12; 2 Kings xiv. 7</A>),
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rights and possessions
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+1:21,1Sa+27:6">Judg. i. 21; 1 Sam. xxvii. 6</A>),
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customs and usages
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+5:5,2Ki+17:41">1 Sam. v. 5; 2 Kings xvii. 41</A>),
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which clauses have been since added to the history by the inspired
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collectors for the confirmation and illustration of it to those of
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their own age. And, if one may offer a mere conjecture, it is not
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unlikely that the historical books, to the end of the Kings, were put
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together by Jeremiah the prophet, a little before the captivity; for it
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is said of Ziklag
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+27:6">1 Sam. xxvii. 6</A>)
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that it pertains to the <I>kings of Judah</I> (which style began after
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Solomon and ended in the captivity) <I>unto this day.</I> And it is
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still more probable that those which follow were put together by Ezra
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the scribe, some time after the captivity. However, though we are in
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the dark concerning their authors, we are in no doubt concerning their
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authority; they were a part of the oracles of God, which were committed
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to the Jews, and were so received and referred to by our Saviour and
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the apostles.</P>
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<P>
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In the five books of Moses we had a very full account of the rise,
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advance, and constitution, of the Old-Testament church, the family out
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of which it was raised, the promise, that great charter by which it was
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incorporated, the miracles by which it was built up, and the laws and
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ordinances by which it was to be governed, from which one would
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conceive and expectation of its character and state very different from
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what we find in this history. A nation that had statutes and judgments
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so righteous, one would think, should have been very holy; and a nation
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what had promises so rich should have been very happy. But, alas! a
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great part of the history is a melancholy representation of their sins
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and miseries; for <I>the law made nothing perfect,</I> but this was to
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be done by the <I>bringing in of the better hope.</I> And yet, if we
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compare the history of the Christian church with its constitution, we
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shall find the same cause for wonder, so many have been its errors and
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corruptions; for neither does the <I>gospel make any thing perfect</I>
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in this world, but leaves us still in expectation of a <I>better
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hope</I> in the future state.</P>
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<P>
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II. We have next before us the <I>book of Joshua,</I> so called,
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perhaps, not because it was written <I>by</I> him, for that is
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uncertain. Dr. Lightfoot thinks that Phinehas wrote it. Bishop Patrick
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is clear that Joshua wrote it himself. However that be, it is written
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<I>concerning</I> him, and, if any other wrote it, it was collected out
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of his journals or memoirs. It contains the history of Israel under the
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command and government of Joshua, how he presided as general of their
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armies,
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1. In their entrance into Canaan,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+1:1-5:15"><I>ch.</I> i.-v.</A>
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2. In their conquest of Canaan,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:1-12:24"><I>ch.</I> vi.-xii.</A>
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3. In the distribution of the land of Canaan among the tribes of
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Israel,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+13:1-21:45"><I>ch.</I> xiii.-xxi.</A>
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4. In the settlement and establishment of religion among them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+22:1-24:33"><I>ch.</I> xxii.-xxiv.</A>
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In all which he was a great example of wisdom, courage, fidelity, and
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piety, to all that are in places of public trust. But this is not all
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the use that is to be made of this history. We may see in it,
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1. <I>Much of God</I> and <I>his providence</I>--his power in the
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kingdom of nature, his justice in punishing the Canaanites when the
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<I>measure of their iniquity was full,</I> his faithfulness to his
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covenant with the patriarchs, and his kindness to his people Israel,
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notwithstanding their provocations. We may see him as the Lord of Hosts
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<I>determining the issues of war,</I> and as the director of the lot,
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<I>determining the bounds of men's habitations.</I>
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2. <I>Much of Christ</I> and <I>his grace.</I> Though Joshua is not
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expressly mentioned in the New Testament as a type of Christ, yet all
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agree that he was a very eminent one. He bore our Saviour's name, as
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did also another type of him, Joshua the high priest,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+6:11,12">Zech. vi. 11, 12</A>.
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The LXX., giving the name of Joshua a Greek termination, call him all
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along <B><I>Iesous,</I></B> <I>Jesus,</I> and so he is called
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+7:45,Heb+4:8">Acts vii. 45, and Heb. iv. 8</A>.
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Justin Martyr, one of the first writers of the Christian church
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(<I>Dialog. cum Tryph.</I> p. mihi 300), makes that promise in
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+23:20">Exod. xxiii. 20</A>,
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<I>My angel shall bring thee into the place I have prepared,</I> to
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point at Joshua; and these words, <I>My name is in him,</I> to refer to
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this, that his names should be the same with that of the Messiah. It
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signifies, <I>He shall save.</I> Joshua saves God's people from the
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Canaanites; our Lord Jesus saves them <I>from their sins.</I> Christ,
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as Joshua, is the <I>captain of our salvation,</I> a <I>leader and
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commander of the people,</I> to tread Satan under their feet, to put
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them in possession of the heavenly Canaan, and to <I>give them
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rest,</I> which (it is said,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+4:8">Heb. iv. 8</A>)
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Joshua did not.</P>
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<!--Matthew_Henry's_Commentary_on_the_Whole_Bible:_Joshua_Introduction.--><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank"><b>Back to Bibles Net . Com - Online Christian Library </b></a><br>
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