Joshua study section
Joshua word studies
A handful of Hebrew words carry the theology of Joshua. Tap the speaker next to any word to hear it pronounced.
Key words
יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Yehoshua) — “The LORD Saves”
Usage: Joshua 1:1; and the name throughout the book
Meaning: A compound of the divine name (Yah) and the verb yasha, “to save” — “the LORD is salvation.” Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun this fuller name (Numbers 13:16).
Theological Significance: The name declares the book’s theme, that salvation belongs to the LORD, and it points beyond Joshua to another who bears it: Yehoshua becomes Iesous, “Jesus,” the name given because “he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). As Joshua led Israel into the land, Jesus leads His people into everlasting rest.
חֵרֶם (cherem) — “Devoted to Destruction”
Usage: Joshua 6:17-18; 7:1, 11-15
Meaning: That which is placed under the ban, devoted irrevocably to the LORD — either destroyed or set apart to the sanctuary. To take cherem for oneself, as Achan did, was to rob God.
Theological Significance: The ban dramatizes both God’s judgment on entrenched evil and the demand for undivided loyalty. It warns that sin cannot be hidden or held back from God, and it foreshadows the final separation of all that is unholy — even as it magnifies the mercy shown to Rahab, spared from the very judgment she deserved.
נַחֲלָה (nachalah) — “Inheritance”
Usage: Joshua 11:23; 13:6-7; 14:1-3
Meaning: A permanent possession received as a gift, especially the portion of land allotted to each tribe and family. It is not earned but granted and secured by the LORD.
Theological Significance: The land inheritance pictures the believer’s inheritance in Christ, “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven” (1 Peter 1:4). As the LORD Himself was the Levites’ inheritance, so He is the portion and treasure of His people forever (Psalm 16:5-6).
מְנוּחָה (menuchah) — “Rest”
Usage: Joshua 1:13; 21:44; 22:4
Meaning: Rest, a settled place of peace and security after struggle and wandering. God gives Israel rest from all its enemies in the land He swore to give.
Theological Significance: The rest of Canaan is a shadow of a greater rest. Hebrews teaches that because Israel’s rest was incomplete, “there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9), entered by faith in Christ, who says, “Come to me... and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
חָזַק (chazaq) — “Be Strong”
Usage: Joshua 1:6, 7, 9, 18; 10:25
Meaning: To be strong, firm, resolute, to take hold and hold fast. Repeatedly paired with amats, “be courageous,” it is the LORD’s charge to Joshua at every threshold.
Theological Significance: Biblical courage is not self-confidence but confidence in God’s presence and word: “Be strong and courageous... for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (1:9). The same ground of courage carries into the New Testament, where believers are told to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Ephesians 6:10).
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