What's easy to miss is that these remaining nations aren't just obstacles, but active agents of your downfall. God won't drive them out, not because He's forgotten His promises, but because your disobedience will make them into literal "snares," "traps," "whips," and "thorns" – tools that will directly cause your ruin and exile from the land He gave you.
know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Joshua is delivering his final charge to the Israelites, reminding them of God's faithfulness and their responsibilities. He emphasizes that continued disobedience, specifically by tolerating the remaining Canaanite nations, will lead to severe consequences. This verse serves as a dire warning of the ongoing trouble and eventual destruction that will befall them if they fail to heed God's commands.
Joshua is about to leave his people, and his final charge is stark: the enemies still within the land won't just disappear. They pose a danger that will last generations.
A Dangerous Alliance
Joshua has a sobering message for Israel: the nations God commanded them to drive out completely are still there. And they won't just be there; they will actively become a problem.
More Than Just Neighbors
God's instruction was clear: complete eradication. But Israel didn't finish the job. Now, these remaining peoples become what the text describes as 'snares,' 'traps,' 'whips,' and 'thorns.' These aren't passive annoyances; they are active tools of destruction.
This imagery highlights that unaddressed sin or compromise doesn't just sit still; it actively works to trip us up and cause suffering. God allows these consequences to remain to teach a vital lesson about obedience.
Joshua's message isn't a suggestion; it's a prediction rooted in God's faithfulness to His promises – both the good and the bad.
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God's Word Holds True
Joshua emphasizes that God's word always comes to pass. He reminds them that every good promise God made has been fulfilled. By extension, His warnings and judgments are just as certain.
A Two-Edged Sword
God is faithful. This means He is faithful to His promises of blessing when His people obey, and He is also faithful to His warnings of judgment when they disobey.
This isn't about God wanting to punish, but about His character being consistent. His covenant has stipulations, and breaking them has guaranteed outcomes.
Understand the original words
pach / mokesh · Hebrew Noun
Metaphorically, these represent the spiritual and moral temptations or consequences that entrap a person who turns away from God. They signify the danger of being lured into destruction by lingering influences of sin or evil.
Joshua's warning wasn't about an immediate, future threat, but the inevitable consequence of disobedience that would begin as soon as the Israelites failed to fully obey God's command to purge the land. The 'snares and thorns' were the remaining Canaanites who would lure them into idolatry and then exploit their weakened spiritual state.
c. 1406 BC
Conquest of Canaan completed
Under Joshua's leadership, the Israelites largely completed the military conquest of the land of Canaan, driving out many of its inhabitants.
c. 1400-1300 BC
Settlement and initial interactions
Following the conquest, tribes of Israel settled in their assigned territories. Some Canaanite populations remained, particularly in areas difficult to conquer fully, leading to ongoing interactions and potential for cultural mixing.
c. 1380 BC— this verse
Joshua's address to Israel
Near the end of his life, Joshua gathers the leaders of Israel to deliver his final charge, urging them to remain faithful to God and warning against compromising with the remaining Canaanite peoples.
c. 1380 BC
Joshua's death
Joshua, the revered leader, passes away. His death marks a significant transition for Israel, leaving them without his direct guidance and authority.
c. 1380 BC - 1070 BC
Period of the Judges
Following Joshua's death, Israel enters a cycle of spiritual decline, oppression by foreign powers (including remaining Canaanites and others), repentance, and deliverance through judges. This period demonstrates the consequences Joshua warned about.
This passage directly follows Joshua's warnings and describes how Israel failed to drive out the remaining nations, resulting in them becoming a constant source of oppression and torment, mirroring Joshua's prophecy.
Numbers 33:55This earlier passage from Moses contains a similar warning, advising Israel that if they did not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those who remained would become 'prickers' in their eyes and 'thorns' in their sides, echoing Joshua's imagery.
Psalm 106:34-43This psalm recounts Israel's history of disobedience, showing how they mingled with the nations and learned their ways, leading to God's anger and their subsequent suffering and oppression, demonstrating the fulfillment of Joshua's warning.
1 Corinthians 15:33Paul warns against bad company, stating that 'bad company ruins good morals,' which directly relates to Joshua's point that associating with the Canaanites would lead to their corruption and downfall.
Hebrews 10:26-27This New Testament passage speaks of the severe consequences of deliberately sinning after receiving the knowledge of truth, reflecting the severe judgment that would fall upon Israel for their persistent disobedience and entanglement with idolatrous nations.
calvinJoshua 23:12-16: "Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you:"
Quia si avertendo aversi fueritis, et adhaeseritis residuis gentibus istis, residuis, inquam, istis quae sunt vobiscum: et affinitatem contraxeritis cum eis, et misceatis vos cum eis, et ipsae vobiscum:
Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these…
gillJoshua 23:13: "Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you."
Know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you,.... Or, "knowing ye shall know" (r); or "know ye"; this may be taken for granted, or the fulles…
What's easy to miss is that these remaining nations aren't just obstacles, but active agents of your downfall. God won't drive them out, not because He's forgotten His promises, but because your disobedience will make them into literal "snares," "traps," "whips," and "thorns" – tools that will directly cause your ruin and exile from the land He gave you.
Joshua is delivering his final charge to the Israelites, reminding them of God's faithfulness and their responsibilities. He emphasizes that continued disobedience, specifically by tolerating the remaining Canaanite nations, will lead to severe consequences. This verse serves as a dire warning of the ongoing trouble and eventual destruction that will befall them if they fail to heed God's commands.
Joshua is delivering his final charge to the Israelites, reminding them of God's faithfulness and their responsibilities. He emphasizes that continued disobedience, specifically by tolerating the remaining Canaanite nations, will lead to severe consequences. This verse serves as a dire warning of the ongoing trouble and eventual destruction that will befall them if they fail to heed God's commands.
"know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD…" — What's easy to miss is that these remaining nations aren't just obstacles, but active agents of your downfall. God won't drive them out, not because He's forgotten His promises, but because your diso…
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Last reviewed October 2026
