Joshua 23:6-11, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Joshua 23:6-11
Israel Must Hold to Torah and Love the LORD
Courage is to keep Moses' book without turning aside
Therefore they must be very courageous to keep and do all written in the book of the law of Moses, turning not to the right hand or to the left. The book's opening commission returns as a closing charge: strength is obedience, not improvisation.
The concrete danger is religious mixing with 'these nations, these that remain among you': do not mention their gods' names, swear by them, serve them, or bow to them. Cleave instead to the LORD, as they have done to this day.
Love includes watching yourselves; the chase-language credits God
The LORD has driven out great and strong nations; no one has stood before them. One man shall chase a thousand, because the LORD fights, as promised. Then the application: take good heed to yourselves, that you love the LORD your God.
Exclusive covenant loyalty in this speech is Israel's vocation toward the LORD, not a warrant to coerce belief, suppress minority religions, fuel antisemitism, or attack people of another faith. Self-watch is the form of love Joshua names.
How this should shape us
Hold to the written instruction you already have, and let love look like attention to your own allegiance. Do not turn a warning about other gods into a license to harm other people, and do not read 'one chasing a thousand' as a promise of personal invincibility.
Teach it back
Explain Joshua 23:6-11 in your own words. Include its movement, relation to Deuteronomy and the rest of Joshua, one material uncertainty or ethical cost, and one modern use the context rules out.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Interpreters differ over the composition, historical value, textual form, geography, and theological judgment of “Israel Must Hold to Torah and Love the LORD.” Confidence is strongest in the final-form movement summarized here; reconstructions beyond it remain labeled and limited.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Joshua 23:6-11, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, clauses, names, repeated roots, boundary formulas, covenant terms, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Josh.xml, 23:6–11
Supports: Verse-level Hebrew, textual, translation, list, number, geographical, historical, and cross-reference notes.
NET Bible Joshua PDF, printed pp. 449-450, translation and translator notes on 23:6–11
Supports: Whole-book movement, literary boundaries, composition, history and archaeology limits, geography, theology, and material interpretive alternatives.
Nelson, 'Joshua,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 174, discussion of 23:6–11
Supports: Modern research plurality across textual criticism, composition, history, archaeology, geography, violence, ideology, and reception.
Dozeman, 'The Book of Joshua in Recent Research,' Currents in Biblical Research 15.3 (2017), printed pp. 270–288; research categories and bibliography applied cautiously to 23:6–11
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Joshua 23:6-11, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Joshua
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, clauses, names, repeated roots, boundary formulas, covenant terms, and the base text behind translation discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Josh.xml, 23:6–11
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Joshua with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level Hebrew, textual, translation, list, number, geographical, historical, and cross-reference notes.
Exact location: NET Bible Joshua PDF, printed pp. 449-450, translation and translator notes on 23:6–11
Open source ↗scholarly commentary article
Joshua
Richard D. Nelson
Oxford University Press, in The Oxford Bible Commentary, edited by John Barton and John Muddiman, 2001
Supports: Whole-book movement, literary boundaries, composition, history and archaeology limits, geography, theology, and material interpretive alternatives.
Exact location: Nelson, 'Joshua,' Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 174, discussion of 23:6–11
Open source ↗peer reviewed research review
The Book of Joshua in Recent Research
Thomas B. Dozeman
Currents in Biblical Research 15.3, 2017
Supports: Modern research plurality across textual criticism, composition, history, archaeology, geography, violence, ideology, and reception.
Exact location: Dozeman, 'The Book of Joshua in Recent Research,' Currents in Biblical Research 15.3 (2017), printed pp. 270–288; research categories and bibliography applied cautiously to 23:6–11
Open source ↗