John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
Joshua 3:1
INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 3
Joshua removed from Shittim to Jordan, where he stayed three days, Jos 3:1; the people are directed to move when they saw the ark bore by the priests, and what distance they should keep from it, Jos 3:3; are bid to sanctify themselves against the morrow, when wonders would be wrought, Jos 3:5; and the priests are ordered to take up the ark, Jos 3:6; Joshua is encouraged by the Lord, and instructed to command the priests when they come to Jordan to stand still in it, Jos 3:7; and he declares to all the people, as a token that God would drive the Canaanites from before them, that as soon as the feet of the priests bearing the ark should rest in the waters of Jordan, they should be parted, and make way for them to pass through, Jos 3:9; which accordingly came to pass, so that all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, Jos 3:14.
Ver. 1. And Joshua rose early in the morning,.... The morning after the spies had returned and made their report; which, as Kimchi rightly observes, was the ninth of Nisan; for on the morrow, which was the tenth, the people passed over Jordan, see Jos 3:5. Moses, according to the Jewish writers, died on the seventh of Adar or February; the thirty days of his mourning ended the seventh of Nisan or March; two days before they were ended the spies were sent, who returned on the eighth day of the month; and the morning following Joshua rose early, which shows his readiness and alacrity to proceed in the expedition he was directed and encouraged to:
and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan; from Shittim in the plains of Moab, to the river Jordan:
he and all the children of Israel; he as their general, and they an army of six hundred thousand fighting men under him, besides women and children, and others that came along with them:
and lodged there before they passed over; lay there encamped a night before they passed over the river Jordan.
Joshua 3:2
Ver. 2. And it came to pass after three days,.... At the end of the three days they were bid to prepare food for their expedition, and to go over Jordan, Jos 1:11;
that the officers went through the host; the camp of Israel; very probably the same as in Jos 1:10; this was, no doubt, by the order of Joshua, and who was directed to it by the Lord.
Joshua 3:3
Ver. 3. And they commanded the people,.... In the name of Joshua, by whom they were sent:
saying, when ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it: the Targum reads, the priests and Levites; so the Septuagint: it was the business of the Levites, particularly the Kohathites, to bear the ark in journeying, but here the priests, who also were Levites, were to carry it: it is remarked in the Talmud {p}, that there are three places in which the priests are said to bear the ark; here, and when they surrounded Jericho, Jos 6:6; and when it was returned to its place in the times of David,
2Sa 15:29; and Kimchi and Abarbinel observe a fourth, when it was brought into Solomon's temple, 1Ki 8:6;
then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it; their usual signal for marching was the cloud, when that was taken up, Nu 9:17, &c. but now the ark, the clouds of glory having removed at the death of Moses, and were seen no more, as Abarbinel and other Jewish writers observe; and therefore it was proper the Israelites should be made acquainted with this signal; for, as Jarchi says, this journey was different from all the journeys (though that of the three days journey from Sinai must be excepted, Nu 10:33), for all the time Moses was in being, the pillar of cloud marched first and showed them the way, and the ark moved after two of the standards (Judah and Reuben), and now the ark went first: the cloud was a figure of the dark and cloudy dispensation of the law, particularly the ceremonial law, the shadow of good things to come, and which continued only during the former state, and discontinued to be of any use when the Mosaic dispensation ceased, and when Joshua or Jesus was come: the ark was a type of Christ, the forerunner for us entered, and whom we are to follow whithersoever he goes or directs to, in the exercise of grace and performance of duty; and the ark being carried now by different persons, may denote that Christ was held forth in a weaker manner under the legal dispensation, and by his apostles and ministers under the Gospel dispensation in a clearer and stronger manner, and who are to be followed no further or longer than as they bear the ark or direct to Christ.
{p} T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 33. 2.
Joshua 3:4
Ver. 4. Yet there shall be a space between you and it,.... The ark; the Keri or marginal reading is, "between you and them"; the priests that bear it: hence sprung a fiction among the Jews, that there were two arks, the ark of the Shechinah or divine Majesty, and the ark of Joseph, in which his bones were put, which went together {q}; which Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abarbinel take notice of, but has no foundation in the text:
about two thousand cubits by measure; by a certain well known measure, that of a common cubit; for the "caph" we render "about" is a note of truth, reality, and certainty, and designs the exact precise measure here given: this difference was to be observed, partly in reverence to the ark, the symbol of the divine Presence; Christ is to be reverenced by his people, and so his word and ordinances; and there is a reverence and respect due to his ministers and priests that bear the ark; as also that they might the better see the ark and go after it, as Ben Gersom; or the way in which they should go, as is suggested in the following clause; and likewise have the better view of the greatness of the miracle, as Abarbinel; the dividing of the waters of Jordan as soon as the ark came to it, and while it was in it: the Jews conclude from hence that this was the measure of ground they may go on a sabbath day, and no further, called a sabbath day's journey, Ac 1:12;
come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go; over Jordan into Canaan's land; for being at some distance from them they could better discern that and the way he directed them to walk in: Christ the antitype of the ark is the way to the heavenly Canaan, and his ministers point out the right way of salvation by him, in the ministration of the word, by attending to which the way is seen and known in which men must go:
for ye have not passed [this] way heretofore; a path indeed untrodden by any; neither they nor any other ever went into Canaan the way they were now going, through the river Jordan as on dry land: the way to heaven by Christ is only revealed in the Gospel, and only trodden by believers in him, and especially the way to glory through Jordan's river; or death is an untrodden path, which, though the way of all flesh, is a trackless path, and gone through, but once, and those who pass it have never before gone that way.
{q} T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 13. 1.
Joshua 3:5
Ver. 5. And Joshua said unto the people,.... On the third day; and the thirtieth day of the mourning for Moses, Jarchi says, was the first of the three days, and that being the seventh day of the month, this must be the ninth, as it is most clear the morrow was the tenth:
sanctify yourselves; in a ceremonial sense, by washing their bodies and their clothes, and abstaining from their wives; and in a moral sense, by acts of religion and devotion, by prayer and meditation, and the exercise of repentance and, good works: it may denote that sanctification is necessary to our passage over Jordan, or through death to the heavenly Canaan, for without holiness no man shall see the Lord:
for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you: in their sight and presence, and for them, by dividing the waters of Jordan, that they might pass through it as on dry land; this, as Kimchi says, was the tenth of Nisan, as is plain from Jos 4:19.
Joshua 3:6
Ver. 6. And Joshua spoke unto the priests,.... On the morrow, that is, on the tenth day of the month, the day on which they went over Jordan:
saying, take up the ark of the covenant; in which the law was put, which was the covenant between God and the people, from whence the ark had this name; and in which it was typical of Christ, in whom both the law, the covenant of works, was fulfilled, and with whom the covenant of grace was made; who is the Mediator; surety, and messenger of it, and in whom all the blessings and promises of it are, and with whom it is, and will be kept for evermore: the ark, the priests were ordered to take up and bear on their shoulders; for no other way might they carry it; these typified the ministers of Christ who bear his name, his Gospel in the world, see Ac 9:15;
and pass over before the people; over the river Jordan, to direct them in the way through it, and encourage them to follow them:
and they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people; from the place where they had lodged the night before to the brink of the river.
Joshua 3:7
Ver. 7. And the Lord said unto Joshua,.... Out of the tabernacle:
this day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel; by working the miracle afterwards related; dividing the waters, which was done on this day, and was but the beginning of wonders; for other great and marvellous things were done for him and by him, by which it appeared he was high in the favour of God, greatly esteemed and honoured by him, and so would be great and honourable in the account of the people:
that they may know that as I was with Moses, [so] I will be with thee; by dividing the waters of Jordan for him, as he had divided the waters of the Red sea for Moses; which, as it was a token of his powerful presence with him, this would be a like token of it with Joshua. The Targum is,
"as my Word was for the help of Moses, so shall my Word be for thy help.''
Joshua 3:8
Ver. 8. And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the Lord,.... Who were subject to Joshua, the chief governor of the nation, and general of the army, as well as the common people; and whose commands they were to obey, and especially when they appeared to be from the Lord:
saying, when ye come to the brink of the water of Jordan; not of the bank of it, but of the water, which had now overflowed its bank; that is, the brink or extremity of it, which was nearest to them, and to which they first came; though it is a notion of some Jewish commentators {t}, and which some Christian interpreters {u} have given into, and both of considerable note, that this was the further extremity, or the brink on the other side of the river; but, according to this notion, they must pass the river to the other side before the waters were divided, which is not credible; and must return again into the midst of the river, which is not probable; and besides, it is expressly said, that as soon as their feet dipped in the brim, or extremity of the water, the waters parted, which must be the first brim or extremity they came at, Jos 3:15;
ye shall stand still in Jordan; after the waters were parted; upon their coming to, and touching, the brink of them, they proceeded, and went into the middle of the river, where they were ordered to stop and stand still.
{t} Kimchi, Abarbinel. {u} Masius, Drusius.
Joshua 3:9
Ver. 9. And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, come hither,.... Very probably to the door of the tabernacle:
and hear the words of the Lord your God; which he was about to deliver to them as from him, and in his name.
Joshua 3:10
Ver. 10. And Joshua said,.... To the people as follows:
hereby ye shall know that the living God [is] among you; who has life in and of himself, and is the author of life to all his creatures; and is so called in opposition to the lifeless idols of the Gentiles: and it may be, as Abarbinel observes, to suggest to them, that though Moses was dead, the Lord lived, and lives for evermore; and by the following miracle of dividing the waters of Jordan, it would be a plain case that the Lord was yet among them, to protect and defend them, deliver and save them:
and [that] he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites; all the seven nations are mentioned, even the Girgashites, who are sometimes omitted, to assure them of the expulsion of them all, to make way for their entire possession of the land of Canaan, as had been promised them.
Joshua 3:11
Ver. 11. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth,.... Some both Jewish and Christian interpreters, because there is a distinguishing accent on the word "covenant", read the words "the ark of the covenant, even the Lord of all the earth"; so in some copies of our English Bible, as if the ark was called the Lord of all the earth, because of his presence and dwelling there; but, as Kimchi observes, either the word "ark" is wanting, or the word "covenant", and may be supplied either thus,
"the ark of the covenant, the ark (I say) of the Lord of all the earth;''
or thus,
"the ark of the covenant, which is the covenant of the Lord of all the earth:''
the true meaning is what Abarbinel gives,
"the ark of the covenant of the Lord, who is the Lord of the whole earth;''
the Maker and possessor of the whole earth, the whole terraqueous globe; and can do what he pleases in the earth, or in the water; and can control the powers of nature, and do what is beyond them, things miraculous and astonishing:
passeth before you into Jordan; not only unto it, but into it, into the river itself; and, by the power of him whose presence was with it, the waters of Jordan were to be divided, to give them a passage through it as on dry land, and so it came to pass.
Joshua 3:12
Ver. 12. Now therefore take ye twelve men,.... For what end and purpose is not mentioned. Abarbinel is of opinion, that they were chosen and appointed, that every man might pitch upon and take a place for his tribe to encamp in, when they came on the other side Jordan: whether this was Joshua's view or no is not certain; however, the use he made of these, thus provided by divine direction, is related Jos 4:2;
and these were to be taken out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man; Levi not reckoned, having no part in the land; and so we find that tribe left out in other accounts, when there was a choice of twelve men out of each of the tribes, Nu 13:4.
Joshua 3:13
Ver. 13. And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord,.... Which they were bid to take up and carry, Jos 3:6;
the Lord of all the earth; this shows that not the ark, but the Lord, is called "the Lord of all the earth", See Gill on "Jos 3:11":
shall rest in the waters of Jordan; the meaning is, as soon as their feet should touch them, or they should set their feet in them, when they came to the brink of them:
[that] the waters of Jordan shall be cut off [from] the waters that come down from above; from above the place where the priests came, and the children of Israel after passed over:
and they shall stand upon an heap; or one heap; stop and rise up high, as if piled up one upon another, and stand unmoved. This had been made known to Joshua by divine revelation, and is what he hints at, Jos 3:5; and now plainly speaks out, and foretells before it came to pass; and which must serve to magnify Joshua, as in Jos 3:7; and give him great credit and honour among the people.
Joshua 3:14
Ver. 14. And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents to pass over Jordan,.... Which they had pitched very near it, upon their removal from Shittim, and in which they had lodged the night past:
and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people; at the distance of two thousand cubits.
Joshua 3:15
Ver. 15. And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan,.... Not to the bank, which was overflowed, but to the extremity of the water overflowing:
and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water; which was doubtless the first they came to, and not the brim or extremity of it on the other side:
for Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest; that is, of barley harvest, as appears from the time of year; for it was in the first month, the month Nisan, or Abib, which answers to part of March, and April, it used to overflow, 1Ch 12:15; and it was now the tenth day of that month, Jos 4:19; on the sixteenth of which, at the time of the passover, the sheaf of the firstfruits of barley harvest was offered up, Le 23:10; the inundation continued all the time of harvest; and so Aristeas {w} testifies, that
"the river being filled, it overflows as the Nile in the time of harvest, and waters much of the country:''
it overflows its banks both on the one side and on the other, the eastern and western shores. This overflow is supposed to be occasioned either by the latter rains, which fell about this time; or rather by the snow on Mount Lebanon melting at this time of the year, when the sun has great strength in those parts, and which poured down in great quantities into this river, that took its rise from thence. Josephus {x} speaks of Mount Lebanon and of the fountains of Jordan together; and says they have their rise from the mountain; and of the snow of Lebanon see Jer 18:14. This river continued to overflow at this season in the times of David, 1Ch 12:15; and in the times of Aristeas, who lived in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, as before observed; and some late travellers {y} observe,
"it generally happens in the month Nisan; that is, from the middle of March to the middle of April, the time of the first harvest;''
but Mr. Maundrell {z}, who was upon the spot in 1697, and at the proper time of its overflowing, perceived nothing of it. He says,
"there is a small descent, which you may fitly call the, first and outermost bank of Jordan, as far as which it may be supposed the river does, or at least did anciently, overflow; but at present (whether it was because the river has by its rapidity of current worn its channel deeper than it was formerly, or whether because its waters are diverted some other way) it seems to have forgot its ancient greatness; for we could discern no sign or probability of such overflowings when we were there, which was the thirtieth of March, being the proper time for these inundations; nay, so far was the river from overflowing, that it ran at least two yards below the brink of the channel.''
However, at this time of the passage of the children of Israel through it, it was overflowing; which made the miracle the greater.
{w} Hist. de 72. Interpret. p. 41. {x} Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 22. {y} Egmont and Heyman's Travels, vol. 1. p. 335, 336. {z} Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 81, 82.
Joshua 3:16
Ver. 16. That the waters which came down from above,.... Above where the priests' feet rested, and which came down from Mount Lebanon, and the fountains of Jordan northward:
stood [and] rose up upon an heap; they stopped their current, and as the water came down they rose up on high, and made one vast heap of waters:
very far from the city of Adam, that is, beside Zaretan; the Cetib, or textual reading, is, "in Adam the city"; we follow the marginal reading, "from Adam": both readings, as is usually, if not always the case, are to be received; and the meaning is, that this heap of waters, though the river was at a considerable distance from Adam; yet through the overflow of it, it reached to, and was "in Adam": this city was in Perea, on the other side Jordan, that side on which the Israelites were before their passage; and Zaretan, which is supposed to be the same with Zartanah, and Zarthan, 1Ki 4:12, was on this side, in the tribe of Manasseh; and the sense is, not that Adam was on the side of Zaretan, or near it, for it was on the other side of the river; and according to the Talmudists {a} was twelve miles from it; but the construction is with the word "heap", "which [heap] was on the side of Zaretan"; it was there where the waters were heaped up; it seems as if they reached on the one side to Adam, and on the other side to Zaretan:
and those that came down towards the sea of the plain, [even] the salt sea, failed, [and] were cut off; those waters, which were below where the priests' feet rested, ran down into the lake Asphaltites, where Sodom and Gomorrah formerly stood, the sea of the plain, or vale of Siddim, Ge 14:3; sometimes called the dead sea, and here the salt sea, its water being exceeding salt; so, Mr. Maundrell, the above mentioned traveller {b} testifies on his own knowledge;
"the water of the lake (the lake Asphaltites, or dead sea, says he) was very limpid, and salt to the highest degree; and not only salt, but also extreme bitter and nauseous;''
so that these waters running down thither, and those above stopped, made a dry channel for sixteen or eighteen miles: and the people passed over right against Jericho; which was the city Joshua had in view to attack first, and had sent spies thither to get intelligence of it, and the disposition of the people in it: See Gill on "Jos 2:1".
{a} T. Hieros. Sotah, fol. 21. 4. {b} Maundrell, ut supra, (Journel from Aleppo to Jerusalem) p. 84. Ed. 7.
Joshua 3:17
Ver. 17. And the priests that bare the ark of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan,.... Which for its breadth Mr. Maundrell, the above mentioned traveller, says {c} might be about twenty yards over, and its depth exceeded his height; but Dr. Shaw {d}, a later traveller still, says,
"the river Jordan is by far the most considerable river, excepting the Nile, either of the coast of Syria, or of Barbary. I computed it to be about thirty yards broad, but the depth I could not measure, except at the brink, where I found it to be three yards.''
Now in the midst of this river the priests bearing the ark stood firm on dry ground, the waters above being stopped and those below cut off. This perhaps might give rise to the fables among the Heathens of the river Scamander being swelled for the destruction of Achilles, and dried up by Vulcan, of which Homer {e} makes mention; and of the river Inachus, dried up by Neptune, as the Grecians fable; however, if Heathens can credit these accounts, surely we Christians ought to believe this, attested by divine revelation. And this may denote the presence of Christ with his people in afflictions, who will not suffer those waters to overflow them, and in death itself, when the swellings of Jordan shall not come near them to distress them; and when the covenant of grace will appear firm and sure, and be their great support; and when also the feet of the ministers of Christ stand firm, and their faith fails not; which is of great use, and very encouraging to the spiritual Israel of God:
and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground; the waters being divided to a space large enough for such a body of people to pass over, and which continued
until all the people were clean passed over Jordan; perfectly and completely, not one being left behind, or lost in the passage through it; in the midst of which the priests stood until all were passed over. So the spiritual Israel of God must all go over Jordan's river, or must all go through the valley of the shadow of death; and they will all go over safe to Canaan's land, to the heavenly glory; their souls go immediately to heaven at death, and their bodies will be raised at the last day, and be reunited to them, and partake of happiness with them; nor will anyone of them be lost; they all clean pass over, and arrive safe; for they are the chosen of God, the care and charge of Christ, the purchase of his blood, partake of his grace, and have the earnest of his Spirit.
{c} Maundrell, Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 83. {d} Travels, p. 346. {e} Iliad. 21.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
Joshua 4:1
INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 4
This chapter relates an order, that is men, should take twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, and carry them to the first place they lodged at as a memorial of their passage over it, Jos 4:1; and how Joshua set up twelve other stones in the river itself, Jos 4:9; and how many of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, went before the Israelites when they passed over, Jos 4:10; which being done, the priests were ordered to come out of Jordan, when the waters returned to their place, Jos 4:15; The time when this miracle was wrought is observed, Jos 4:19; and an account is given of Joshua's pitching the twelve stones taken out of Jordan in Gilgal, and the use they were to be of in future time, Jos 4:20.
Ver. 1. And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan,.... As related, Jos 3:17;
that the Lord spake unto Joshua, saying: as follows.
Joshua 4:2
Ver. 2. Take you twelve men out of the people,.... Joshua had before this ordered twelve men to be taken from among them, which seems to have been done of himself; and now he has a direction from God for it, and what to employ them in:
out of every tribe a man; so that what they did was in the name of the several tribes, and as representing them.
Joshua 4:3
Ver. 3. And command you them, saying,.... As follows:
take you hence out of the midst of Jordan; so that they were obliged to go back into the midst of Jordan, having already passed over it, as appears from Jos 4:1;
out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm; where being stones, they chose to stand upon them, and which were a firm standing for them; and which secured them from the slime and mud at the bottom of the river the waters left behind; though it is not absolutely necessary to understand it that they were to take, and did take, the stones from under their feet, but those that lay about the place where they stood:
twelve stones; each man a stone; and, according to the Samaritan Chronicle {f}, every man inscribed his name on the stone:
and ye shall carry them over with you; from the place they took them up, to the place they should next stop at:
and leave them in the lodging place where you shall lodge this night: which was in the place afterwards called Gilgal, Jos 4:19.
{f} Apud Hottinger. Smegma Oriental. p. 500, 503.
Joshua 4:4
Ver. 4. Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had prepared of the children of Israel,.... It may be for some other purpose, Jos 3:12; but this was the destination of them eventually, and as by divine direction:
out of every tribe a man: as he had before ordered, and was now directed to.
Joshua 4:5
Ver. 5. And Joshua said unto them,.... The twelve men:
pass ye over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of Jordan; that is, they were to go back to Jordan again, which they had passed over, and go into the midst of it, where were the priests bearing the ark; for it is not to be imagined that the ark went along with them, or followed them, they going before it; but they went where that was, just before it, from whence they were to take the stones, as next directed:
and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder; by which it appears they were large stones they were to take, not what they could carry in their hands, but what they were obliged to take upon their shoulders:
according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; who had that day passed over Jordan, of which these stones were to be a memorial.
Joshua 4:6
Ver. 6. That this may be a sign among you,.... A commemorative one:
[that] when your children ask [their fathers] in time to come; or "tomorrow" {g} and so in all time, or any time hereafter:
saying, what mean you by these stones? what is the reason of setting them up, and in this place, and being just of such a number?
{g} rxm aurion, Sept. "eras", Pagninus, Montanus.
Joshua 4:7
Ver. 7. Then ye shall answer them,.... By informing them of the design and use of them:
that the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord when it passed over Jordan; the waters below from those that were, above, which stood up on an heap; so that they were divided and separated from each other, and made dry land for a passage of the children of Israel; and this was done before, and in the presence of the ark of the covenant, to show that is was owing to the power of God, of whose presence the ark was a symbol:
the waters of Jordan were cut off; which is repeated for the confirmation of it, and that it might be taken notice of as a very marvellous event, and to be ascribed to the divine omnipotence and goodness:
and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever; which, whenever seen and observed by them, would put them in mind of this wonderful appearance of God for them; and Jerom {h} speaks of them as if seen by Paula in his time, whose life and travels in those parts are written by him.
{h} Epitaph. Paulae in tom. 1. Oper. fol. 59. K.
Joshua 4:8
Ver. 8. And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded,.... That is, the twelve men taken out of the twelve tribes of Israel, and who were the representatives of them in this action;
and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; they took the exact number, and out of the very place Joshua was ordered to direct them to do:
and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged: which, as Josephus says {i}, was fifty furlongs from Jordan, which was above six miles; so far they carried these stones on their shoulders:
and laid them down there; which afterwards were put in proper order by Joshua, or at least by his direction.
{i} Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 4.
Joshua 4:9
Ver. 9. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan,.... Twelve other stones, as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions, and so Jarchi; which he set one upon another, so that they might be seen above the water; or however the water of Jordan being clear, they might easily be discerned by those who either passed over the river, or walked by the side of it, where they were; and perhaps may be the very stones John the Baptist pointed at in Mt 3:9; since it was at Bethabara he was baptizing, supposed to be the very place of the passage of the children of Israel over Jordan, and had its name from thence, Joh 1:28;
in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood; and which was done in commemoration of it: the words will bear to be read "under the station" of the feet of the priests: hence Jarchi fancies these were set, that their feet might not sink in the mud at the bottom of the river; but this, though here recorded, might be done by Joshua immediately after the priests were come out of Jordan, or as they were coming up: hence some think Joshua was the last that came up from it; but Abarbinel observes, that the word signifies "in the room" or "stead of", See Gill on "Ex 21:24"; so that these stones were placed in the room and stead of the station of the priests, in the midst of the river, and in memory of it:
and they are there unto this day; to the time of the writing of this book, which is no objection to Joshua being the writer of it, though it is by some made one; since it might be wrote by him, as doubtless it was, when such an observation could not be impertinent; and if what has been before observed is true, these stones were in the same place in the times of John the Baptist; and that they were in the order in which they were first set; for that they were in the waters of Jordan, there could scarce be any question of it. This was done to perpetuate the memory of this remarkable event: so Alexander the great set up twelve altars on the borders of India, by the river Oraxes, in commemoration of his exploits {k}.
{k} Arrian. Expedit. Alex. l. 5. Curtius, l. 9. sect. 3.
Joshua 4:10
Ver. 10. For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan,.... Though on dry ground, the waters being divided:
until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua; that is, until all the people had passed over Jordan, as the Lord had ordered Joshua, to encourage them unto, and go over with them, Jos 1:2; and which Moses, by divine direction, had given Joshua in charge to do,
De 31:7; Kimchi interprets this of the setting up of the stones in Jordan, and the removal of the other to Gilgal, of which Moses said nothing to Joshua; and though it may be true of the former, that the priests stood in Jordan till that was done, which is not certain, yet not of the latter; for it is plain, and it is most reasonable to conclude, that the priests were come up from the midst of Jordan before Israel marched to Gilgal, or even began their march, see Jos 4:18; and much less is this to be understood of the stones at Ebal, as others, and so referred to De 27:2; which was not done until after Ai was taken, Jos 8:24. And it is not reasonable to imagine that the priests should continue in Jordan to that time; Abarbinel thinks it refers to the words in Jos 1:3; which had been spoken by the Lord to Joshua, and had been expressed by Moses, De 11:24; and which he supposes were now repeated by Joshua, and the priests continued in their station until he had made an end of rehearsing them; the last clause relating to Moses is left out in the Septuagint version:
and the people hasted and passed over; not stood in fear of the waters of the river returning upon them; rather through an eager desire of setting their feet on the land of Canaan, and it may be to relieve the priests from their station as soon as might be.
Joshua 4:11
Ver. 11. And it came to pass, when the people were clean passed over,.... Every one of them, as in Jos 3:17;
that the ark of the Lord passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people; that is, the priests bearing the ark came out of the midst of Jordan in the sight of all the people, who were on the banks of it, on the other side, where they had been stationed during the passage of the people; though this motion of them was not until they received an order for it, of which there is an after mention. The Septuagint version reads, "and the stones before them"; see Jos 4:8.
Joshua 4:12
Ver. 12. And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh,.... Who were settled on the other side Jordan, in the countries taken from Sihon and Og:
passed over armed before the children of Israel; the rest of the tribes:
as Moses spake unto them; or ordered them, and as they promised they would, Nu 32:17.
Joshua 4:13
Ver. 13. About forty thousand prepared for war,.... Accoutred with proper armour to defend themselves, and their brethren, and annoy their enemies: this is to be understood of such a number of the above mentioned tribes; otherwise the number of all Israel that went over Jordan, even armed or fighting men, besides women and children, were five hundred thousand or more. Now though the number of men fit for war, of these tribes, were an hundred thirty thousand, who were all, according to the original agreement, under obligation to go with their brethren over Jordan into Canaan's land, and continue with them until it was subdued, and they had rest in it; yet Joshua took no more than about forty thousand of them, who we may suppose were select men, and fit for his purpose; the rest were left to look after their flocks, their families, and their lands: these
passed over before the Lord unto battle; over Jordan, before the ark of the Lord, as that stood in Jordan, bore by the priests there, being ready to engage in battle whenever it was necessary: and they went on with their brethren
to the plains of Jericho; to a place afterwards called Gilgal; see Jos 4:19. The Septuagint version is, to the city Jericho.
Joshua 4:14
Ver. 14. On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of Israel,.... Made him great and honourable in their esteem, by doing what he foretold would be done, dividing the waters of Jordan, drying up the river to make a passage for them through it, as on dry land:
and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life; had a reverend esteem of him, and affection for him, and yielded obedience to him all his days; see Ex 14:31.
Joshua 4:15
Ver. 15. And the Lord spake unto Joshua,.... When all the people had passed over jordan:
saying; as follows.
Joshua 4:16
Ver. 16. Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony,.... In all places before, in this history, the ark is called the ark of the covenant, here the ark of the testimony, which signifies the same thing, the law; which was both the covenant between God and the people, and a testimony of his will unto them; the Septuagint version has both words:
that they come up out of Jordan; where they stayed until all the people passed over, for the encouragement of them, and until they received this order.
Joshua 4:17
Ver. 17. Joshua therefore commanded the priests,.... In obedience to the Lord, and sent them an order:
saying; as follows:
come ye up out of Jordan; from the midst of the river to the bank of it, which was properly an ascent.
Joshua 4:18
Ver. 18. And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord were come up out of the midst of Jordan,.... According to the command of Joshua in the name of the Lord:
[and] the soles of the priests' feet were lift up upon the dry land; and set upon it, on the bank of Jordan, and shores of the land of Canaan:
that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place; those that came from above, and had stood on an heap, gradually came down into the channel, and those below that were cut off returned:
and flowed over all his banks, as [they did] before; and usually did at this time of the year, see Jos 3:15; so that there was no decrease or loss of the waters by their failing, and being cut off.
Joshua 4:19
Ver. 19. And the people came up out of Jordan,.... The channel of it, to the shore:
on the tenth [day] of the first month; the month Nisan or Abib, which from the time of Israel's coming out of Egypt was appointed the first month of the year, Ex 12:2; on the fifteenth of which month they came out of Egypt, having kept the passover on the fourteenth at even; so that their coming out of Egypt, to their entrance into Canaan, was just forty years, wanting five days. This tenth day was the day in which the passover was taken from the flock, and kept till the fourteenth, on which day the children of Israel kept their first passover in Canaan, in the plains of Jericho, Jos 5:10;
and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho; it has its name here by anticipation, for it was so named after this for a reason given, Jos 5:9; It was, according to Josephus {l}, ten furlongs, or a mile and a quarter, from Jericho. Jerom says {m}, there was shown in his time a desert place two miles from Jericho, had in wonderful esteem by men of that country, which he suggests was this place; as it was had in great veneration, both by the worshippers of the true God, and by idolaters, for many ages.
{l} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 4.) {m} De loc. Heb. fol. 91. M.
Joshua 4:20
Ver. 20. And those twelve stones which they took out of Jordan,.... The twelve men who were sent there for that purpose, and took them from thence, and brought them hither, Jos 4:3;
did Joshua pitch in Gilgal; set them in rows, or one upon another, and made a pillar of them commemorative of their passage over Jordan into the land of Canaan: according to Josephus {n}, he made an altar of these stones; and Ben Gersom is of opinion, that they were placed in the sanctuary by the ark, though not in it; which yet was the sentiment of Tertullian {o}, but very improbable; since that ark was not capable of such a number of large stones; and it must be a very large ark or chest, if one could be supposed to be made on purpose for them; but it is most likely they were erected in form of a pillar or statue, in memory of this wonderful event, the passage of Israel over Jordan, see Jos 4:7; they may be considered as emblems of the twelve apostles of Christ, and their ministrations and writings; their number agrees, and so does the time of their appointment to go into all the world, and preach the Gospel, which was after the resurrection of Christ, typified by the passage of Joshua over Jordan, and out of it; the name of one of them, and he a principal one, was Peter or Cephas, which signifies a stone; and all of them in a spiritual sense were lively stones, chosen and selected from others, and called by grace, and were very probably most, if not all of them, baptized in this very place, Bethabara, from whence these stones were taken; and were like them unpolished, as to external qualifications, not having an education, and being illiterate, but wonderfully fitted by Christ for his service; and were not only pillars, as James, Cephas, and John, but in some sense foundation stones; as they were the instruments of laying Christ ministerially, as the foundation of salvation, and of preaching the fundamental truths of the Gospel, in which they were constant and immovable; and their ministry and writings, their Gospels and epistles, are so many memorials of what Christ, our antitypical Joshua, has done for us in passing over Jordan's river, or through death; finishing thereby transgression and sin, obtaining peace, pardon, righteousness, and salvation, opening the way to the heavenly Canaan, abolishing death, and bringing life and immortality to light.
{n} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 4.) {o} Contr. Marcion. l. 4. c. 13.
Joshua 4:21
Ver. 21. And he spoke unto the children of Israel, saying,.... At the same time he set up the stones:
when you children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying,
What [mean] these stones? See Gill on "Jos 4:6".
Joshua 4:22
Ver. 22. Then ye shall let your children know,.... The meaning of the erection of these stones, acquaint them with the whole history, the meaning of which they are designed to perpetuate:
saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land; and if they should ask how that could possibly be done, or if they did not, they were to inform them by what means it was brought about, as follows.
Joshua 4:23
Ver. 23. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over,.... As this is supposed to be said in future time, and to persons who were not upon the spot when this was done, and so entirely ignorant of the affair; it is not to be understood of them personally, but of the same people they were of, the people of Israel in former times, of their ancestors, and of them in them; the benefits of which they enjoyed by possessing the land of Canaan their fathers were at this time introduced into:
as the Lord your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over; for though the generation of men, for the most part, was dead, that passed through the Red sea; yet as Joshua himself, and Caleb and Eleazar, and it may be some others that were not among the murmurers, were still living, for whom that miracle was wrought, this way of speaking is very properly made use of; and especially when it is observed, that there were many of the present generation then young, which passed over, and even those unborn were in and represented by their ancestors, and who enjoyed the advantages of that wonderful mercy; so these two strange events are joined together, as instances of divine power and goodness, in Ps 114:3.
Joshua 4:24
Ver. 24. That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it [is] mighty,.... Even almighty, and can do that which is marvellous and surprising, and above the power of nature to effect; things unsearchable and past finding out, which cannot be expressed, or conceived how and by what means they are brought about; this the very Heathens would own and acknowledge when they should see these stones, and be told the meaning of them, or should hear of this amazing event:
that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever; as the above mentioned end was to be answered among the people of the earth by these stones, this among the people of Israel; who upon sight of them would call to mind the power and goodness of God, which would serve to keep an awe of his majesty on their mind, a due reverence of him and his greatness, and engage them to fear, serve, and worship him; who by such acts as these had abundantly showed himself to be the only true and living God, and the covenant God of them his people Israel; the Septuagint version is,
"that ye may worship the Lord your God in every work.''
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
Joshua 5:1
INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 5
The Canaanites being dispirited on the passage of the children of Israel through Jordan, Jos 5:1; Joshua is ordered to circumcise such of the people of Israel that were uncircumcised, Jos 5:2; in order to their eating of the passover, which was now to be kept, Jos 5:10; and they being now provided with corn sufficient, the manna ceased, Jos 5:11; and there appeared to Joshua a divine Person, in an human form, to encourage and direct him what to do in the conquest of the land, and particularly Jericho, Jos 5:13.
Ver. 1. And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which [were] on the side of Jordan westward,.... On the side the Israelites were now on; and this is observed, to distinguish them from the other kings of the Amorites beyond Jordan, on the eastern side, who were already conquered by the Israelites, Sihon and Og, who seem to be a colony that went over from the Amorites in Canaan, and possessed themselves of that part of the land of Moab. These seem to be put for several others of the nations of the land not mentioned, who doubtless were as much dispirited as they; and they are the rather mentioned, because they were a principal nation, and a very powerful and warlike one, see Am 2:9.
and all the kings of the Canaanites which [were] by the sea; the Mediterranean sea; the Septuagint version calls them the kings of Phoenicia; and that which was strictly and property so lay on that coast, in which were the cities of Tyre and Sidon, though the whole land of Canaan was sometimes so called; unless this is to be understood, either of the dead sea, or of the sea of Galilee; of which Canaanites, see Nu 13:29; however, be they the one or the other, or both, as most likely, when they
heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted,
neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel; they lost all their courage, and never recovered it any more; concluding it was all over with them, since such wonderful things were done for them by the Lord: the word "we" shows that the writer of this history was one that passed over Jordan, and who can be supposed but Joshua himself? this circumstance, I think, strongly corroborates that opinion.
Joshua 5:2
Ver. 2. At that time the Lord said unto Joshua,.... When the people had passed over Jordan, and had pitched in Gilgal, and Joshua had set up the stones there; and particularly when the dread of them had seized the inhabitants of Canaan, and deprived them of all their courage; and so was a fit time for the execution of what is next ordered, and seems designed in the providence of God among other things particularly for that:
make them sharp knives; not that Joshua was to make them himself, but to order them to be made; for a considerable number would be wanted for the use to be made of them: the Targum calls them sharp razors; and Ben Gersom says they were made of brass, more likely of iron or steel, which perhaps he means; but the Hebrew text is, "knives of rocks", "flints" or "stones"; and so Maimonides {p} interprets the words, and as they are rendered in various versions {q}; with such an instrument Zipporah circumcised her son; and like them were the "samia testa" {r}, with which the priests of the mother of the gods were castrated; and the "saxum acutum" of Ovid {s}; and such the Americans used in slaying beasts, and the Egyptians {t} in the dissecting of their dead bodies; and which the Talmudists allow of as lawful; and in the east the Jews to this day use knives of stone in circumcision {u};
See Gill on "Ex 4:25".
and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time; not that circumcision was to be repeated on them that had been circumcised already, who had found out ways and means to draw over the foreskin again, as some in later times did; or who had been imperfectly circumcised according to the rite enjoined by Abraham, which some Jewish writers say was not perfect; neither of which was the case. Kimchi, and so Ben Melech, interpret the word, "oftentimes", frequently, one time after another; as if the sense was, Joshua was to circumcise them, or take care they were circumcised, some at one time, and some at another, until the whole was finished; but this is not what is meant, it refers to a former general circumcision; not to the circumcision, as first administered in Abraham's time, for there had been a multitude of instances of it since that time; but to the circumcision of the Israelites at, about, or quickly after their coming out of Egypt; either before their eating of their first passover, the night they went out of Egypt, as Jarchi {w}; or rather some time in the three days' darkness of the Egyptians, as Dr. Lightfoot {x} thinks; or else when they were about Sinai, just before the celebration of the passover there, Nu 9:1; from which time it had been neglected; not cause unnecessary, while they were in the wilderness, to distinguish them from others, which was not the principal, at least not the only use of it; nor because forbidden the Israelites for their disobedience, murmurings, and rebellion, it not being probable that God should prohibit the observance of a command of his on that account; nor so much through criminal neglect, at least contempt of it, as because of their frequent journeying, and the inconvenience of performing it, being always uncertain, when they had pitched their tents, how long they should stay, and when they should remove, since this depended upon the taking up of the cloud; wherefore, unless they could have been sure of a continuance for a proper time, it was not safe to administer it; and now it was enjoined, partly because they were about to celebrate the passover, which required circumcision in all that partook of it,
Ex 12:43; and partly because they had now entered into the land of Canaan, which was given them in the covenant of circumcision,
Ge 17:8; wherefore it became them now to observe it, and as typical of spiritual circumcision, necessary to the heavenly Canaan, as well as to distinguish them from the uncircumcised Canaanites they were coming among; and they did not think themselves under obligation to observe it till they came to settle in that land, as some think, who hereby account for their long neglect of it.
{p} Moreh Nevochim, par. 1. c. 16. {q} Myru twbrh macairav petrinav, Sept. "cultros lapideos", V. L. "cultros petrarum", Munster, Montanus, Piscator. {r} Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 35. c. 12. Arnob. adv. Gentes, l. 5. p. 189. {s} Fast. l. 4. ver. 237. {t} Herod. Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 86. {u} Vid. Pfeiffer. Dubia Vexata, cent. 2. loc. 46. {w} So in Pirke Eliezer, c. 29. {x} Works, vol. 1. p. 40.
Joshua 5:3
Ver. 3. And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel,.... Not that Joshua circumcised them himself, any more than he made the knives himself, but he ordered both to be done, and took care that they were done. And as any that had skill might make the knives, so might any circumcise; circumcision was not restrained to any order of men, not to the priests and Levites, but any might perform it; so that though the number to be circumcised was great, it might soon be finished: and this was done
at the hill of the foreskins; as the place was afterward called from hence; these being heaped up one upon another, made a hill of them, as the Jews say {y}, being covered with dust. This circumcision performed by Joshua, or his orders, was typical of the spiritual circumcision without hands, which those that believe in Jesus, the antitype of Joshua, partake of.
{y} Pirke Eliezer, ut supra. (c. 29.) Jarchi in loc.
Joshua 5:4
Ver. 4. And this [is] the cause why Joshua did circumcise,.... Or the reason of the command given him to circumcise the children of Israel at this time, namely, what follows:
all the people that came out of Egypt [that were] males, [even] all the men of war; meaning such that were twenty years old, and upwards:
died in the wilderness, by the way, after they came out of Egypt; not directly, but in a course of forty years, as they journeyed through the wilderness; this is to be understood with an exception of Joshua, Caleb, Eleazar, &c. but then there was a large number who were under twenty years of age, that came out of Egypt, and were now living.
Joshua 5:5
Ver. 5. Now all the people that came out were circumcised,.... All that came out of Egypt, and males, were circumcised, whether under or above twenty years of age; for though it is possible all were circumcised before they came out of Egypt, which favours the opinion of Dr. Lightfoot, that they might be circumcised during the three nights' darkness of the Egyptians, when they could take no advantage of it, as Levi and Simeon did of the Shechemites; and which seems more probable than that it should be on the night they came out of Egypt, when many must have been unfit for travelling, and seems preferable to that of their being circumcised at Mount Sinai, which was a year after their coming out of Egypt:
but all the people [that were] born in the wilderness by the way, as they came forth out of Egypt, [them] they had not circumcised; the reasons of which neglect; See Gill on "Jos 5:2". The phrase, "by the way", seems to point at the true reason of it, at least to countenance the reason there given, which was on account of their journey; that is, their stay at any place being uncertain and precarious; so the Jews say {z}, because of the affliction or trouble of journeying, the Israelites did not circumcise their children. This is to be understood of all males only born in the wilderness, they only being the subjects of circumcision.
{z} Pirke Eliezer, ut supra. (c. 29.)
Joshua 5:6
Ver. 6. For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness,.... Wanting a few days, the round number is given: not forty two, as the Septuagint version:
till all the people [that were] men of war, which came out of Egypt,
were consumed; all that were above twenty years of age, excepting Joshua and Caleb:
because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord; but murmured against him, and against his servants, and particularly against Aaron, being the high priest; and chiefly because of the report of the spies, and their murmurs then, which so incensed the Lord against them, that he threatened them with an entire consumption of their carcasses, and which accordingly was fulfilled, to which the following clause refers:
unto whom the Lord sware, that he would not show them the land which the Lord sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey; see Nu 14:23.
Joshua 5:7
Ver. 7. And the children [whom] he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised,.... Who were born to them in the wilderness, and succeeded them, some of which might be near forty years of age; as for those that were born before, of which there might be many now living, they had been circumcised already, but others, were not:
for they were circumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way; or while journeying the forty years in the wilderness; which, as before observed, seems to be the true reason of the omission of circumcision.
Joshua 5:8
Ver. 8. And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people,.... Which seems as if it was done in one day, even on the same day they passed over Jordan, and came to Gilgal; though Bishop Usher {a} thinks it was the day following; and so the Jews {b} say it was on the eleventh of Nisan:
that they abode in their places in the camp till they were whole: till the wound made by circumcision was healed; now as it was on the tenth day they passed over Jordan, and came to Gilgal, where they were circumcised, there were three entire days between that and the fourteenth, when they kept the passover; during which time they kept within their tents in the camp, being unfit to move from thence, for on the third day of circumcision they were usually sore, Ge 34:25; but being well on the fourth, were able to attend the passover. As the providence of God greatly appeared in favour of Israel, by causing a dread to fall on their enemies, that they durst not sally out of the city and attack them; so it showed great faith in Joshua, and the Israelites, to administer circumcision at this time, just as they were landed in an enemy's country; and when the waters of Jordan were returned, and there was no going back, and if they could, as they were not in a condition to fight, so not to flee.
{a} Annales Vet. Test. p. 38. {b} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 11. p. 31.
Joshua 5:9
Ver. 9. And the Lord said unto Joshua,.... Out of the tabernacle:
this day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you; either the reproach of being reckoned office same religion with the Egyptians, they now having observed the command of the Lord, and thereby declared themselves to be his servants and worshippers, which sense Ben Gersom mentions; or else the reproach with which the Egyptians reproached them, that they were brought out from them into the wilderness for evil, to be destroyed there, they now being safely arrived in the land of Canaan; which tense he seems to approve of, and so Abarbinel: or rather by it is meant the reproach of being bondmen, and slaves, as they were in Egypt, having now entered upon their inheritance, they as free men, the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were heirs unto; and perhaps it was this sense of the phrase led Josephus {c} to give a wrong interpretation of the word "Gilgal", which he says signifies "liberty": and adds,
"for, having passed the river, they knew they were free from the Egyptians, and from troubles in the wilderness;''
though the more commonly received sense is, that this reproach is to be understood of uncircumcision, which was the reproach of the Egyptians, they at this time not using circumcision they afterwards did, when some of the nations thereabout used it, who descended, from Abraham, as the Midianites, Ishmaelites, Arabians, and Edomites:
wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day; which signifies "rolling" {d}; so that when it is met with before, it is so called by anticipation.
{c} Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 11. {d} A llg "volvit, devolvit", Buxtorf.
Joshua 5:10
Ver. 10. And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal,.... Not after their circumcision, but before, and where they continued encamped during that, and until the passover had been kept by them; this was little more than a mile from Jericho, See Gill on "Jos 4:19";
and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even; exactly as it was ordered to be observed, and was observed when first kept, Ex 12:6;
in the plains of Jericho: a proper place both for their encampment, and the celebration of the passover, and where very likely they met with lambs enough for their purpose, which belonged to the inhabitants of Jericho; or however being now got into the good land, they needed not, and were under no temptation of sparing their own: historians agree, as Strabo {e}, Josephus {f}, and others, that Jericho was seated in a plain.
{e} Geograph. l. 16. p. 525. {f} De Bello Jud. l. 4. c. 8. sect. 2.
Joshua 5:11
Ver. 11. And they did eat the old corn of the land,.... That of the last year, as some versions {g}, which agree with ours; in which they seem to follow the Jewish writers, who, as particularly Kimchi, Gersom, and Ben Melech, interpret it of the old corn, for this reason, because they might not eat of the new until the wave sheaf was offered up,
Le 23:10; of which old corn they suppose the unleavened cakes were made, and was also parched corn, though that word the Septuagint version translates "new"; and indeed were it not for the above law, there does not seem to be any reason for rendering it old corn, only corn of the land, as the Septuagint does; and there is some difficulty how they should get at the old corn, which it may be supposed was laid up in the granaries, when Jericho was close shut up, and none went in or out; unless they met with it in some of the villages near at hand, or it was brought them by the traders in corn, of whom they bought it, or found it in some houses and barns without the city:
on the morrow after the passover; which Kimchi and Ben Gersom say was on the fifteenth of Nisan, the passover being on the fourteenth; but if the morrow after the passover is the same with the morrow after the Sabbath, Le 23:11; that was the sixteenth of Nisan; and so Jarchi here says, this is the day of waving the sheaf, which was always done on the sixteenth: it is difficult to say which day is meant; if it was the sixteenth, then it may refer to what they ate on that day, after the sheaf was offered {h}; if it was the fifteenth, it seems necessary to understand it of the old corn; and such they must have to make their unleavened cakes of, both for the passover on the fourteenth, and the Chagigah, or feast of unleavened bread, which began the fifteenth, as it follows:
unleavened bread, and parched [corn] in the selfsame day; unleavened bread, for the uses before mentioned, they were obliged to, and parched corn for their pleasure; but new corn, as the Septuagint render it, was expressly forbidden before the waving of the sheaf, Le 23:14; and therefore old corn seems to be meant; this was just forty years to a day from their coming out of Egypt.
{g} rwbem "de frumento praeteriti anni", Montanus; sic, Munster, Tigurine version, Vatablus. {h} So in Seder Olam Rabba, c. 11. p. 31.
Joshua 5:12
Ver. 12. And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land,.... There being now no further need of it; miracles are not wrought or continued when unnecessary; for the ceasing of the manna shows, that it was not a common but an extraordinary provision. The ceasing of the manna, which was a type of Christ, may signify the cessation of Gospel ordinances, in which Christ is held forth as food for his people. These are to continue till all the spiritual Israel of God have passed over the river Jordan, or death, even until the end of the world, and then to cease, Mt 28:19; the eating of the old corn may signify the glories of the future state, the joys and happiness of the heavenly Canaan, prepared for those that love the Lord from the foundation of the world; it may denote those ancient things the saints will feed and live upon to all eternity; the eternal love of the three divine Persons, electing grace, the ancient settlements of grace, the everlasting covenant of grace, and the blessings of it; the glorious Mediator of it, that was set up from everlasting, and the grace given to them in him before the world began:
neither had the children of Israel manna any more; having no more need of it, as the saints in heaven will stand in no more need of Gospel ordinances:
but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year; the increase of the land, not only of the fields, but of the vineyards and oliveyards, which they had neither sown nor planted, see De 6:10; which may denote the plenty and variety of the joys of heaven, and glories of the future state; the various fruits which grow on Christ, the tree of life, brought forth every month, or continually; all which will be enjoyed through the free grace of God, without the works or merits of men.
Joshua 5:13
Ver. 13. And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho,.... Or "in Jericho" {i}; not in the city itself, but in the border of it, as Kimchi and Ben Melech; or on the side of it, as Jarchi; on one side of which he was reconnoitring by himself, very probably seeking for a proper place where to make his first attack; or if he could find out some avenue to the city, whereby he could enter more easily; or it may be he was meditating a scheme how to subdue the city; and it is very likely praying to God that he would direct him, and succeed him. Ben Gersom interprets it, his thoughts were in Jericho; and both he, and Abarbinel, suppose, that what follows was in a vision of prophecy, that it seemed to him that he was in Jericho, and saw a person, as after described, and was only a dream or night vision; but, no doubt, whether this was in the day or in the night, which is not certain, it was a real sight that Joshua had, or one really appeared to him as a man, as after related:
that he lifted up his eyes, and looked; his eyes before looked downwards, as the eyes of a person in deep study and meditation usually do:
and, behold, there stood a man over against him; not a mere man, nor a created angel in an human form, but a divine Person in such a form, even the Son of God, who frequently appeared in this manner to the patriarchs; as is clear from the worship paid unto him by Joshua, by his calling him Lord, and owning himself to be his servant; and by the ground on which he stood, being holy through his presence, as well as by his title, the Captain of the Lord's host. Jarchi says, this is Michael, which, if understood of Michael the uncreated angel, the head of all principality and power, is right, who is always meant by Michael, whenever he is spoken of in Scripture; and so this is interpreted by the ancient Jews {k} of the Angel the Redeemer:
with his sword drawn in his hand; who sometimes is said to have a twoedged one come out of his mouth, and sometimes one girt on his thigh, and here with one drawn out of the scabbard, to justify the war with the Canaanites, and to encourage Joshua to proceed in it. His sword has been drawn against his enemies, and those of his people from the beginning, ever since the fall of man, when enmity commenced between him and the seed of the serpent; it appeared drawn when here on earth combating with all our spiritual enemies, and will never be put up until all enemies are put under his feet:
and Joshua went unto him; which showed great courage, presence of mind, and magnanimity:
and said unto him, [art] thou for us, or for our adversaries? by his appearing in this warlike posture, he concluded it was to take on one side or the other, either on the side of Israel, or of the Canaanites; and he seemed to suspect that it was on the side of the latter, and that he was one that was come to defy the armies of Israel, as Goliath afterwards did, 1Sa 17:8; and to engage in a single combat with Joshua their general, and so decide the war; in which, had this been the case, Joshua was ready to fight with him.
{i} wxyryb en iericw, Sept. in Jericho, Pagninus, Montanus. {k} Bereshit. Rabba, sect. 97. fol. 84. 2. Nachmanides in loc.
Joshua 5:14
Ver. 14. And he said, nay,.... Not for or on the side of their adversaries was he come, as Joshua suspected at the first sight of him; the Septuagint version is, "he said unto him", taking al for wl, as it sometimes is:
but [as] Captain of the host of the Lord am I now come; of the host of the Lord both in heaven and in earth, angels and men, and particularly of the people of Israel, called the armies and host of the Lord, Ex 7:4; so that though Joshua was general, Christ was Generalissimo; and so Joshua understood him, and therefore showed a readiness to do whatsoever he should command him; the spiritual Israel of God, the chur
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
Joshua 6:1
INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 6
In this chapter Joshua is assured, though Jericho was closely shut up, it should be delivered into his hands, Jos 6:1; and he is directed, with the army, to go round the city six days together, seven priests bearing the ark of the Lord, with seven trumpets sounding; and on the seventh day to go round it seven times in like manner, when its wall should fall, Jos 6:3; which order Joshua communicated to the priests, and to the people, and which was put into execution by them, with some other instructions he gave them, Jos 6:6; particularly that the city, and all in it, should be devoted to the Lord, and none spared, but Rahab and her family, Jos 6:17; the success was according to the assurance given by the Lord, Jos 6:20; when all in the city were destroyed, and that was burnt with fire, and the gold, silver, brass, and iron, brought into the house of the Lord, and Rahab and her father's household were saved alive, Jos 6:21; and the chapter is closed with an adjuration of Joshua, cursing the man that should rebuild the city; and with this observation, that the fame of Joshua upon this was spread abroad throughout the country, Jos 6:26.
Ver. 1. Now Jericho was straitly shut up, because of the children of Israel,.... Or "it shut up", or "was shutting, and was shut up" {u}; that is, the king and the inhabitants shut it up within; the Targum says with iron doors, and bars of brass, and it was blocked up without by the children of Israel:
none went out and none came in; none of their forces went out to make a sally on the Israelites, or to seek to make peace with them; nor any of their neighbours went in to them, to carry them any provision, or to assist them, or to be sheltered by them, not being able to do it because of the camp of Israel.
{u} trgomw trgo "claudens et clausa", Montanus, Vatablus.
Joshua 6:2
Ver. 2. And the Lord said unto Joshua,.... The same divine Person called in the preceding chapter the Captain of the Lord's host, Jos 5:14, now with him, and who gave him the following orders, instructions, and assurances:
see, I have given into thy hand Jericho, and the king thereof: which might be concluded from the fear that was fallen upon the inhabitants of the city and their king, and from their shutting themselves up so closely, not daring to come out against Israel: and especially from this declaration and promise of the Lord; and which should be done in such a manner, as that it would clearly appear to be of the Lord, and not men:
[and] the mighty men of valour; the military men, the soldiers, or army that were under the command of the king of Jericho; or, as Kimchi reads it, "though" mighty men, yet they should not be able to defend the city, or hinder its falling into their hands; for what were they to the mighty God of Israel?
Joshua 6:3
Ver. 3. And ye shall compass the city, all [ye] men of war,.... Joshua their chief commander under the Lord, and all that were able to make war, even all above twenty years of age; these were to compass the city, not in the form of a siege, but by a procession around it:
[and] go round about the city once; or one time, for the first once in a day, and no more:
thus shall thou do six days; one after another; that is, go round it, once every day, for such a time. This order was given, according to the Jews {w}, the twenty second of Nisan, after the feast of unleavened bread was over.
{w} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 11. p. 31.
Joshua 6:4
Ver. 4. And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns,.... The ark was to be taken up and carried by priests round the city. Ben Gersom observes, that this was to direct the Israelites to keep and do according to all that was written in it; that is, in the law, which was contained in it; but no doubt the design of it was to show, that the subduing of Jericho, and the miracle that would be wrought, were owing to the power and presence of God, of which the ark was a symbol: and before it were to go seven other priests, with trumpets in their hands; which, according to our version, were made of rams horns: in the original it is "jobelim", or "jubilee" trumpets. Some think it means only such as they were to use in the year of jubilee; so Abarbinel and others, as Masius and Noldius {x}; that they had their name from Jubal, the first inventor of musical instruments, Ge 4:21; for rams' horns are objected to because they are solid, and not hollow; as if they could not be bored and made hollow, and fit for such a purpose. The Targum, Jarchi, and Kimchi, interpret the word by rams horns, as we do {y}; and observe what R. Akiba said,
"when (says he) I went into Arabia, I heard them call; a ram "jobel"; and the trumpet itself is called "jobel", because made of a ram's horn {z}:''
and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times; in the same manner as on the other days:
and the priests shall blow with the trumpets; which they were to do; and did every day.
{x} P. 160. No. 1515. {y} So Joseph. Antiqu. l. 5. c. 6. sect. 5. {z} Kimchi, Sepher. Shorash. rad. lby R. Sol. Urbim. Ohel Moed, fol. 39. 2.
Joshua 6:5
Ver. 5. And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long [blast] with the ram's horn,.... Continue blowing, and protracting, and drawing out the sound a long time; which they did only on the seventh day; on the other days it was but a short blast they made at a time; so that this being different, it would be a good sign and token to the people to do what they are next directed to:
[and] when ye hear the sound of the trumpet; drawn out to a great length:
all the people shall shout with a great shout; at once, as when an onset is made in battle, or a victory is obtained:
and the wall of the city shall fall down flat; or "under itself" {a}; which Jarchi interprets, in its place; that is, where it stood, and be swallowed up in it: so the Targum,
"and it shall be swallowed up under it;''
yet so that somewhat of it should be seen, as an attestation and proof of the miracle, as Kimchi; who says,
"it means that it should be swallowed up in its place under the earth, and a little of it appear above ground for a memorial of the miracle:''
and the people shall ascend up, every man straight before him; just as they were in the order of procession; for the wall being fallen everywhere, they would have no occasion to make up to one certain place, as when a breach is only made in one place, and the besiegers are obliged to go so many a breast to enter at it; but in this case they might go straight up from whence they were, and enter the city without any obstruction and difficulty.
{a} hytxt "sub se", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; "subtus se", Tigurine version; "sabter se", Masius.
Joshua 6:6
Ver. 6. And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests,.... Not the Levites and Kohathites, whose business it was in common to bear the ark, but upon this occasion the priests; not all of them, but as many as were sufficient for the purpose:
and said unto them, take up the ark of the covenant; by putting the staves into the rings of it, and so carry it, Ex 25:14; see Nu 7:9;
and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord: See Gill on "Jos 6:4".
Joshua 6:7
Ver. 7. And he said unto the people, pass on, and compass the city,.... The women and children, the young men under twenty years of age, the unarmed part of the camp, as distinguished from the armed men:
and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the Lord; to guard the ark, protect the priests, and defend the people, should any sally be made by the enemy upon them. These seem to design all the males that were above twenty years of age able to bear arms, and fit for war; though some restrain it to the forty thousand of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, Jos 1:14.
Joshua 6:8
Ver. 8. And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken to the people,.... Both armed and unarmed; had finished the orders and directions he gave them before mentioned:
that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns passed on before the Lord; in his sight, and by his direction, and at his command given by Joshua, and before the ark, the symbol of his presence:
and blew with the trumpets; a short blast as they went along; this they did on each of the six days:
and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them; being borne by priests, Jos 6:6.
Joshua 6:9
Ver. 9. And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets,.... Whom Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abarbinel, interpret of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh; that is, as many of them as Joshua took with him over Jordan; though rather all the armed men in the camp are meant; at least along with those mentioned went the standards of Judah and Ephraim:
and the rereward came after the ark; because the tribe of Dan was the rereward in journeying, Nu 2:31; hence the Targum paraphrases the words,
"and the tribe of the house of Dan went after the ark;''
and so both Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it: but rather the body of the people unarmed are designed; at least these were brought up by the standard of Dan; or otherwise no place in this procession is appointed for them, whose business it was to make the great shout on the seventh day with the rest:
[the priests] going on and blowing with the trumpets; the word "priests" is not in the text, but is rightly supplied; for, as Kimchi and Abarbinel observe, this is not said of the rereward, but of the priests, for they only bore and blew the trumpets; and so the Targum reads,
"the priests going on, &c.''
Joshua 6:10
Ver. 10. And Joshua had commanded the people,.... When he gave them their orders to pass on, and compass the city, Jos 6:7;
saying, ye shall not shout; that is, on any of the six days as they went round the city, only on the seventh; for this being a sign of victory, it was not to be made until the day when it should be obtained; otherwise, had they shouted, and nothing followed on it, it would have exposed them to the contempt of the inhabitants of Jericho, and would have put them in spirit, and hardened them:
nor make any noise with your voice; as laughing, singing, &c. This profound silence was to be observed, to add to the gravity and solemnity of the procession; and on account of the surprising miracle that was to be wrought, and particularly because of the ark, the symbol of the divine Presence, borne before them; and when God in his providence was about to speak in so awful a manner, and to do such a surprising work, it was very fit and decent that they should be silent before him; see Hab 2:20;
neither shall [any] word proceed out of your mouth; no conversation or discourse were to be had with each other as they passed along; for this is only to be restrained to the procession; when they returned, and in their camp, they might talk and discourse as at other times:
until the day I bid you shout, then shall ye shout; for as yet it seems Joshua had not told them how many days they should surround the city in this manner, and on what day the shout should be made by them.
Joshua 6:11
Ver. 11. So the ark of the Lord compassed the city,.... Being bore by the priests, who carried it round the city; it may as well be rendered and interpreted as it is by Kimchi,
"he, i.e. Joshua, caused the ark of the Lord to compass the city;''
that is, he gave orders to the priests to take it up, and go round with it on the first day:
going about [it] once; on that day, and no more; keeping at such a distance, as to be out of the reach of stones or arrows cast from the walls of the city:
and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp; the night following; not only the priests that bare the ark, but those that blew with the trumpets, and all the armed men, and the people.
Joshua 6:12
Ver. 12. And Joshua rose early in the morning,.... Of the second day; to take care of, direct, and prepare everything for another procession on that day; so active and diligent was he to do the will and work of God, exactly and punctually:
and the priests took up the ark of the Lord; and carried it about as they had done the day before.
Joshua 6:13
Ver. 13. And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord,.... See Gill on "Jos 6:4";
went on continually; or, "going they went" {b}: kept on going, making no stop at all, until they had compassed the city:
and blew with the trumpets; as they went along:
and the armed men went before them, but the rereward came after the ark of the Lord; which the Targum paraphrases as on Jos 6:9;
[the priests] going on, and blowing with the trumpets;
See Gill on "Jos 6:9".
{b} Kwlh Myklh "euntes eundo", Montanus.
Joshua 6:14
Ver. 14. And the second day they compassed the city once,.... Went round it one time only; as on the first:
and returned into the camp: which was at Gilgal, Jos 5:10;
so they did six days: four more after these two successively, and proceeded in the same order and manner as on those two days.
Joshua 6:15
Ver. 15. And it came to pass on the seventh day,.... Which Jarchi says was the Sabbath day, and which is a common notion of the Jews {c}; but whether it was or not, it is certain that one of these seven days must be a sabbath, in which the several things ordered were done, and the procession made. Kimchi observes, that their Rabbins say this was the sabbath day; and he adds, what is pretty remarkable,
"though they slew and burnt on the sabbath day, he that commanded the sabbath commanded to profane the sabbath in the subduing of Jericho;''
with which compare what our Lord says, Mt 12:3;
that they rose early, about the dawning of the day; having seven times the work to do they did on the other six days:
and compassed the city after the same manner seven times; after the same manner as they had done the six preceding days:
only on that day they compassed the city seven times; whereas on the other days they only went round it once, which distinguished this day from the rest.
{c} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 11. p. 31. Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 14. fol. 312. 2.
Joshua 6:16
Ver. 16. And it came to pass at the seventh time,.... Of their going round the city on the seventh day: and at the seventh time,
when the priests blew with the trumpets; as they did every time they compassed the city:
Joshua said unto the people, shout; both those that were armed, and those that were not; they were to make one grand and general shout at once, as when victory is obtained, or is sure, and so it follows:
for the Lord hath given you the city; intimating that it would be presently delivered into their hands, and in such manner, that it would plainly show it was of the Lord, and no other.
Joshua 6:17
Ver. 17. And the city shall be accursed,.... Or, be a "cherem", devoted to the Lord, as it follows:
[even] it and all that [are] therein, to the Lord; the city and the inhabitants of it should be devoted to destruction, and the riches and spoil of it dedicated to sacred uses, and not become the property of the Israelites; for as this was the first city in the had of Canaan that was conquered, it was fit the firstfruits of the conquest should be the Lord's, as an acknowledgment of his gift of the land unto them, and that the conquest of it was owing to him; though it might be some mortification to the Israelites, and a trial of their faith and obedience, that the first and so fine a city should not become their habitation, but be utterly destroyed, and not to be built more; and all the riches of it either consumed, or converted to other uses, and not their own. This Joshua thought fit to declare to the Israelites, before the taking of the city, that they might know what they had to do. The Jewish doctors generally suppose that Joshua ordered this of himself, of his own accord and will; but Kimchi is of opinion that the Lord gave him this order, which is most probable, yea, certain from Jos 7:11;
only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that [are] with her in the house; she and her father's family, as she requested, and the spies promised; here the Targum calls her, as elsewhere, Rahab the innkeeper or victualler; and so in Jos 6:22;
because she hid the messengers that we sent; and so preserved them from being taken by the messengers of the king of Jericho, who were sent in pursuit of them. These though sent only by Joshua, without the knowledge of the people, yet it being on their account, and their good, and by him as their head and governor, is ascribed to them also. This fact of Rahab's is observed by him as a reason for sparing her, and those that were with her, when all the rest would be put to the sword; and is mentioned as an instance of her faith, and of the evidence of it, Heb 11:31.
Joshua 6:18
Ver. 18. And you in any wise keep [yourselves] from the accursed thing,.... From laying hold on, secreting, and enjoying as their own, what was devoted to another use:
lest ye make [yourselves] accursed; or a "cherem", also devoted to destruction:
when ye take of the accursed thing; any part of it, be it what it will, gold or any other metal, or raiment, and the like:
and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it; for being done secretly, and not known who did it, the whole body of the people would be chargeable with it, and suffer on account of it, unless discovered and punished, and as more fully appears by an after instance.
Joshua 6:19
Ver. 19. But all the silver and gold, and vessels of brass and iron,
[are] consecrated to the Lord,.... Or rather, "for all the silver", &c. as the particle here used sometimes signifies, and is so rendered {d}: each of these metals, and whatsoever were made of them, were set apart for the Lord, and dedicated to sacred uses, and might not be converted to any other, unless what were upon their idols, which were to be burnt with fire, De 7:25;
they shall come into the treasury of the Lord; be brought into the tabernacle, as Kimchi and Abarbinel interpret it, into some apartment there destined for such service, and which is clear from Jos 6:24; the same where the offering of the officers was brought after the battle with Midian, Nu 31:54.
{d} lkw "nam totum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Joshua 6:20
Ver. 20. So the people shouted when [the priests] blew with the trumpets,.... As Joshua had charged them, Jos 6:16;
and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet,
and the people shouted with a great shout; that is, gave a loud shout, on hearing the long blast of the trumpets blown by the priests the seventh time, as they were no doubt directed by Joshua, agreeably to the order given to him; see Jos 6:5;
that the wall fell down flat; the wall of the city of Jericho, as the Lord said it should, See Gill on "Jos 6:5":
so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city; they went up to it from the plain, where they were, and entered it without any difficulty, the wall being fallen, and that everywhere: so that they went directly from the place where they were, and went in right over against them, into every quarter and, part of the city, and seized on it, and possessed it at once. Various things may be observed concerning this surprising event; as that it was supernatural, and cannot be ascribed to second causes, there being nothing in the procession round the city, the blowing of the trumpets, or shout of the people, that could occasion the wall to fall; and that no defences or fortifications are anything against God, when it is his will a city should be taken, with whom nothing is impossible; and that sometimes unlikely means are appointed and used by him for doing great things, that the power may appear to be his by which they are done; and that faith stops at nothing, when it has the word and promise of God to encourage and support it; and that God does everything in his own time and way. The falling of the walls of Jericho may be considered as an emblem of the fall of Babylon; these two cities agree, as in their greatness, so in their wickedness,
Re 17:4; and as Jericho stood in the way of Israel's inheriting the land, being a frontier and barrier town; so mystical Babylon stands in the way of the kingdom of Christ, and its spread in the world, and particularly of the conversion of the Jews, Re 11:14. The fall of Jericho was very sudden, and when not expected by the inhabitants of it; and so will be the fall of Babylon, Re 18:7; and as Jericho fell at the sound of rams horns, the destruction of antichrist, or mystical Babylon, will be through the preaching of the Gospel, Re 14:6; and as the one was by the sounding of seven priests, at the seventh time of sounding, on the seventh day; so the ruin of antichrist will be at the seventh angel's sounding the seventh trumpet, and pouring out the seventh vial, Re 10:7; and as at the destruction of the one, so of the other, but few saved from the common calamity, Re 18:4; and both never to be raised up and built again, Re 18:21; And it may be considered also as an emblem of the subjection of the Gentile world to Christ; which, like Jericho, or the moon, as some observe the name signifies, is very changeable; and as that city, and the inhabitants of it, an enemy to God, and his people, and yet made subject by the ministry of his word; as particularly it will be when the kingdoms of this world shall become his: or rather it may be an emblem of the subjection of particular souls to Christ, and the means thereof; who are like the walled city of Jericho in their unregenerate state, their hearts hard, stubborn, and inflexible, and enmity to God; are self-confident, vainly puffed up in their fleshly minds, and shut up in unbelief, and kept and guarded by Satan, the strong man armed; but all these strong holds of sin and Satan are brought down and demolished in conversion; and that by means of the sound of the Gospel, which is as despicable with men as the sound of the rams' horns were to the inhabitants of Jericho; but is a jubilee and joyful sound, a sound of love, grace, mercy, and salvation; and being accompanied with the Spirit and grace of God, is the power of God unto salvation; and mighty through him for the removing the hardness of men's hearts, and bringing them into subjection and obedience to Christ.
Joshua 6:21
Ver. 21. And they utterly destroyed all that [was] in the city,.... All the inhabitants of it, by the direction of Joshua, and according to the order of the Lord, De 7:1; being guilty of capital crimes, which deserved death, as idolatry, incest, &c.
both men and women, young and old; neither sex nor age were spared:
and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword; in which creatures chiefly lay the substance of the eastern people; see Job 1:3.
Joshua 6:22
Ver. 22. But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country,.... Whom he had sent on that errand, Jos 2:1; and what follows he had said unto them before the people entered into the city, and perhaps before the walls of it fell; and indeed from Jos 6:16, it appears to have been said at the time he gave the people orders to shout:
go into the harlot's house: he does not mention her name but they full well knew who he meant:
and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath; not so much her substance, as her father's household, she had got together there, that they might be saved, as had been promised her:
as ye sware unto her; so that this order was partly on account of her kindness to them, Jos 6:17; and partly on account of the oath which they had taken, and which Joshua would have inviolably kept.
Joshua 6:23
Ver. 23. And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab,.... Not only went into the city, but into Rahab's house, which they knew again by the scarlet thread hung out at the window of it. But here a difficulty occurs, how they could be said to go into her house, when it was built on the town wall, Jos 2:15; and that was now fallen down flat. Abarbinel thinks that when the spies went round the city, they saw the scarlet thread in the window of her house, and set their eyes on the house, or wistly observed it; and marked it in such manner, that after the fall of the wall they went to the place of her house, and brought her out, though her house was broken down, and no wall standing: but then they could not be said properly to go into her house, and bring her out. Kimchi is of opinion that not all the wall of the city fell, but what was over against the camp of Israel; and that the house of Rahab was on the wall on the other side: but it seems by the account of it as if the whole wall fell; and the apostle says, "the walls of Jericho fell down", Heb 11:30; all of them; and so the Septuagint version of Jos 6:20.
"and the whole wall, or all the wall fell round about:''
and I see not why it may not be thought that the whole wall fell, excepting that small part alone which Rahab's house stood; and that standing alone would make the miracle the greater, and show the divine approbation of saving Rahab and her family: besides, if the wall sunk down in its place all around into the earth, as the Jews understand the phrase; See Gill on "Jos 6:5"; the house might continue on it firm and unmoved, going down with it to the surface of the earth, where it may be supposed the top of the wall was; and so they might go in and take her out, and preserve her from being destroyed with the rest of the inhabitants; and not only her,
but her father and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; all other relations that were with her, particularly her sisters, which are in her request, Jos 2:13; with all that appertained to her brethren and sisters, which is there expressed also:
and they brought out all her kindred; before mentioned, or if there were any other of her relations she had taken into her house for safety; or "all her families" {e}, for her father's household might be branched out into various families, and become numerous, and so be an emblem of the number of Gentile sinners saved by Christ the antitype of Joshua:
and left them without the camp of Israel; until they, became proselytes, and embraced the religion of Israel, as Kimchi remarks. However, being Gentiles, some external rites and ceremonies were to be performed upon them, as well as a declaration at least of their renouncing idolatry was required of them, before they could be admitted into the camp of Israel; and which was required even of a proselyte of the gate, or of one that was only a sojourner among them.
{e} hytwxpvm lk "omnes familias ejus", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version.
Joshua 6:24
Ver. 24. And they burnt the city with fire, and all that [was] therein,.... As Babylon the great, of which this city was an emblem, as has been observed, See Gill on "Jos 6:20"; will be burnt with fire also, Re 18:8;
only the silver and the gold, and the vessels of brass and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord;
See Gill on "Jos 6:19".
Joshua 6:25
Ver. 25. And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive,.... From perishing by the sword, as the rest of the inhabitants did. Kimchi says, some interpret it of his giving her food, and an inheritance by which she might live; and Josephus {f} intimates the same: he says, he gave her fields, and had her in great honour and esteem; and it is the notion of some Jewish writers, that he took her to wife, and that this is meant by saving her alive; which sense Kimchi disapproves of, as being foreign; besides, it was not Joshua, but Salmon, a prince in Israel, that married her, Mt 1:5;
and her father's household, and all she had; that is, he saved alive all her relations, and it may be her cattle, if she had any; and those of her kindred also, as their sheep, oxen, and asses, when those of others were killed, Jos 6:21. Some also understand this of intermarriages of principal persons in Israel with some of her father's fairly; but it only signifies that their lives were spared, when the whole city was destroyed with the edge of the sword:
and she dwelleth in Israel [even] unto this day; which may be meant either personally of Rahab, who was living and dwelt in the land of Canaan, when this history was written; and serves to strengthen the opinion that Joshua was the writer of it, and to explain the meaning of the phrase "unto this day", elsewhere used in this book; and to remove any objection from it against his being the author of it; or else of her dwelling there in her posterity, and so she might dwell in it unto the times of the Messiah, who sprang from her, Mt 1:5;
because she hid the messengers which Joshua, sent to spy out Jericho; this was the reason of her and her father's family being saved alive;
See Gill on "Jos 6:17".
{f} Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 7.
Joshua 6:26
Ver. 26. And Joshua adjured [them] at that time,.... When the city was burnt and spoiled; not that he adjured the people individually, or one by one, which was not very practicable, but in a general way:
saying, cursed [be] the man before the Lord; let him be cursed by him with the curses written in the book of the law; and let him be driven from him, from his presence, as Cain was:
that riseth up, and buildeth this city Jericho; that rises up in future time, and rebuilds it; for it cannot be thought that after such an adjuration anyone would start up quickly, and rebuild it:
he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest [son] shall he set up the gates of it; that is, while he is laying, or as soon as he has laid the foundation of the city, his eldest son should die; and as he went on with the building, other sons of his, if he had more than two, should be taken away by death likewise; and by the time he has finished it, signified by setting up the gates of it, both for ornament and security, his youngest and last son should die also; so that his whole posterity should be taken alway, as a curse of God upon him for rebuilding the city; which was fulfilled in Hiel the Bethelite, the rebuilder of this city in the times of Ahab, five or six hundred years after this adjuration was made, when either it was forgotten, or, however, little regarded: Maimonides observes {g}, that this was made that the miracle might remain in perpetual memory, for whoever should see the wall sunk in the earth, it would be plain and clear to him that this was not the form of a building demolished, but that it fell by a miracle; and yet this city became a very flourishing one in later times; we soon hear of the school of the prophets in it, 2Ki 2:5; here, Strabo {h} says, was a royal palace, where, as Josephus {i} relates, Herod died, and who speaks of an amphitheatre and hippodrome in it; in this city sometimes the sanhedrim sat, and a great number of the stationary priests dwelt, even half a station, twelve thousand of them, all which is observed by Dr. Lightfoot {k}; our Lord himself honoured it with his presence,
Lu 19:1.
{g} Maimon. Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 50. {h} Geograph. l. 16. p. 525. {i} Antiqu. l. 17. c. 8. sect. 1. 2. {k} Chorograph. Cent. c. 47.
Joshua 6:27
Ver. 27. So the Lord was with Joshua,.... Counselling and directing him what to do, prospering and succeeding him in all that he engaged; the Targum is,
"the Word of the Lord was for the help of Joshua;''
the essential Word, Christ the Son of God, called the Captain of the Lord's host, Jos 5:14; and who, continued with him speaking to him and giving him orders, Jos 6:2;
and his fame was [noised] throughout all the country; for his wisdom and courage, for the wonderful things done for him and by him, and the great success that attended him, through the power and presence of God with him; which struck terror into the inhabitants of the land, and made his conquest of it the more easy.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
Joshua 7:1
INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 7
For the trespass of Achan the children of Israel were smitten and put to flight by the men of Ai, Jos 7:1; which gave him and the elders of the people great concern, both for Israel and for the name of the Lord, which was expressed by Joshua in prayer to God, Jos 7:6; when the Lord informed him of the reason of it, and gave him directions for finding out the guilty person, and for the punishment of him, Jos 7:10; which directions Joshua followed, and the person was found out, who being urged to a confession made one, Jos 7:16; upon which he and all he had, with the things he had taken, were burnt with fire, Jos 7:22.
Ver. 1. But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing,.... Or concerning it, with respect to it, by taking part of what was devoted to another use, and forbidden theirs: this was done, not by the whole body of the people, only by one of them; but it not being discovered who it was, it was imputed to the whole, on whom it lay to find out the guilty person and punish him, or else the whole must suffer for it: this chapter begins with a "but", and draws a vail over the fame and glory of Joshua, observed in Jos 6:27;
for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing; of what was devoted to the Lord and to sacred uses; this he had taken to himself out of the spoil of the city of Jericho, for his own use, contrary to the command of God: his descent is particularly described, that it might be known of what family and tribe he was; and it is traced up to Zerah, who was a son of Judah, Ge 38:30;
and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel; because of the sin of Achan.
Joshua 7:2
Ver. 2. And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai,.... Which was the next city of importance, though not so large as Jericho, and was, as the Jews say {l}, three miles distant from it; Abarbinel says {m} four miles, and so Bunting {n}; Jerom {o} says, that in his times very few ruins of it appeared, only the place was shown where it stood:
which [is] beside Bethaven; a name by which Bethel in later times was called, Ho 4:15; but here it is manifestly a distinct place from it; just hard by or near to this place, as Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it, was the city of Ai: Bethaven seems to have been the suburbs of it, or however was very near unto it:
on the east side of Bethel; near to which Abraham built an altar, as did Jacob also, and which in former times was called Luz, Ge 12:8; and was well known in later ages by the name of Bethel; it was reckoned about a mile from Ai: the situation of this city is so particularly described to distinguish it from another city of this name, Ai of the Amorites, Jer 49:3; and is here called "that Ai", that well known Ai, as Kimchi observes:
and spake unto them; at the time he sent them, when he gave them their orders to go thither:
saying, go up and view the country; the mountainous part of it; for they were now in a plain, where Jericho was seated; and observe what place was most proper to attack next, and which the best way of coming at it:
and the men went up and viewed Ai; what a sort of a city it was, how large, and what its fortifications, and what avenues were to it: by this it appears that Ai was built upon a hill, or at least was higher than Jericho and its plains; and with this agrees what a traveller says {p} of it, it is a village full of large ruins (in this he differs from Jerom) and from hence are seen the valley of Jericho, the dead sea, Gilgal, and Mount Quarantania, and many other places towards the east.
{l} Shemoth Rabba, sect. 32. fol. 185. 2. {m} In Josh. xx. fol. 34. 1. {n} Travels Of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 95. {o} De loc. Heb. fol. 87. E. {p} Baumgarten. Peregrinatio, l. 3. c. 1. p. 105.
Joshua 7:3
Ver. 3. And they returned unto Joshua, and said unto him, let not all the people go up,.... After they had reconnoitred the place, they came back to their general, and gave it as their opinion, that there was no need for the whole army to go up against the city:
but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; such a number they judged were sufficient to take it:
[and] make not all the people to labour thither; carrying their tents, bearing their armour, and going up hill:
for they [are but] few; the inhabitants of Ai, men and women making but twelve thousand; Jos 8:25.
Joshua 7:4
Ver. 4. So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men,.... Joshua detached from the army the largest number proposed, that there might be strength enough to take the place; and those he sent under proper officers to Ai, who went up to the very gate of the city, as appears from Jos 7:5:
and they fled before the men of Ai; for upon their appearing at the gate of their city, they came out with all their forces against them, and as soon as they did, the children of Israel durst not face them, but without engaging with them fled at once: God having forsaken them, their courage failed, the dread of their enemies falling on them.
Joshua 7:5
Ver. 5. And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men,.... In the pursuit of them, which were but few, but a sufficient rebuke of Providence; their loss was but small, but their shame and disgrace great:
for they chased them [from] before the gate; the gate of the city of Ai:
[even] unto Shebarim; not that there was a place of this name before, but it was so called from hence, because there they were broken, as Kimchi observes; and the Targum and Jarchi render it,
"until they were broken,''
their lines broken, not being able to retreat in order, but were scattered, and fled to their camp as they could: Gussetius {q} thinks it was the; name of a place, but not so called for the above reason, but because there lay broken pieces of the rock scattered about:
and smote them in the going down; the hill from Ai; "Morad", rendered "going down", may taken for the proper name of a place, and which, Kimchi says, was a place before Ai, in which there was a declivity and descent, and in that place they smote them when they fled:
wherefore the hearts of the people melted, and became as water; that is, the whole body of the people, when this little army returned defeated, their spirits failed them, their courage was lost, their nerves were loosed, and they became languid, faint, and feeble; not that their loss was so great, but that they perceived God had forsaken them, and what the issue of this would be they dreaded.
{q} Comment. Ebr. p. 825.
Joshua 7:6
Ver. 6. And Joshua rent his clothes,.... As was usual in those ancient times, on hearing bad news, and as expressive of grief and trouble {r}; see Ge 37:29;
and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord, until the eventide; in a posture of adoration and prayer, in which he continued till even; how long that was cannot be said, since the time is not mentioned when the army returned from Ai; very probably it was some time in the afternoon: this was done before the ark of the Lord, the symbol of the divine Presence, not in the most holy place, where that usually was, and into which Joshua might not enter, but in the tabernacle of the great court, over against where the ark was:
he and the elders of Israel; either the elders of the people in the several tribes, or rather the seventy elders, which were the sanhedrim or council, and which attended Joshua, and assisted him as such;
and put dust upon their heads; another rite or ceremony used in times of mourning and distress, and that very anciently, before Joshua's time and after, see Job 2:12; and among various nations; so when Achilles bewailed the death of Patroclus, he is represented by Homer {s} taking with both his hands the black earth, and pouring it on his head; so Aristippus among the Athenians is said {t} to sprinkle dust on his head in token of mourning on a certain account.
{r} "Tum pius", Aeneas, &c. Virgil. Aeneid. l. 5. prope finem. {s} amfoterhsi te cersin, &c. Iliad. 18. ver. 23. Vid. Odyss. 24. "Sparsitque cinis", &c. Seneca, Troad. Act. 1. Chorus. {t} Heliodor. Aethiop. l. 1. c. 13.
Joshua 7:7
Ver. 7. And Joshua said, alas! O Lord God,.... What a miserable and distressed condition are we in! have pity and compassion on us; who could have thought it, that this would have been our case?
wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us: who are mentioned either for the whole people of the land of Canaan; or rather, because the people of Israel were now in that part of the country which they inhabited: these words discover much weakness, diffidence, and distrust, and bear some likeness to the murmurs of the children of Israel in the wilderness; but not proceeding from that malignity of spirit theirs did, but from a concern for the good of the people and the glory of God, they are not resented by him:
would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan; in which he seems to cast the blame, not upon the Lord but upon himself and the people, who were not content to dwell on the other side, but were desirous of a larger and better country; and now ruin seemed to be the consequent of that covetous disposition and discontented mind.
Joshua 7:8
Ver. 8. O Lord, what shall I say,.... For the comfort and encouragement of the people of Israel, in vindication of thy power and faithfulness, and against the charge of weakness in thyself, unfaithfulness to thy promises, and unkindness to thy people, brought by our enemies:
when Israel hath turned their backs before their enemies? or after they have done it; what is to be said now, this being the case? he speaks as a man confounded, and at the utmost loss how to account for the power, the providence, and promises of God.
Joshua 7:9
Ver. 9. For the Canaanites,.... Those that dwell on the east and on the west of the land, see Jos 11:3; who were one of the seven nations:
and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear [of it]; of this defeat; not only the Amorites, among whom they now were, and the Canaanites before mentioned, but the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites;
and shall environ us round; come with all their forces from all parts of the land, and surround us, so that there will be no escaping for us:
and cut off our name from the earth; utterly destroy us, that we shall be no more a nation and people, and the name of an Israelite no more be heard of, see Ps 83:4;
and what wilt thou do unto thy great name? this, though mentioned last, was uppermost in the heart of Joshua, and was reserved by him as his strongest argument with God to appear for them and save them; since his own glory, the glory of his perfections, his wisdom, goodness, power, truth, and faithfulness, was so much concerned in their salvation.
Joshua 7:10
Ver. 10. And the Lord said unto Joshua, get thee up,.... From the ground where he lay prostrate, with his face to it: this he said, not as refusing his supplication to him, but rather as encouraging and strengthening him; though chiefly he said this in order to instruct him, and that he might prepare for what he was to do:
wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? in this manner, so distressed and dejected; or for this thing, as the Targum, for this defeat of the army; something else is to be done besides prayer and supplication.
Joshua 7:11
Ver. 11. Israel hath sinned,.... For though one only had committed the sin, others might have known of it, and connived at it; however, there was sin committed among them, and it must be discovered, the guilt charged, and punishment inflicted:
and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them; not the law given on Mount Sinai, called the covenant, though in general that was now broken, inasmuch as they then promised to hear and obey all that the Lord should say unto them, Ex 24:7; but it particularly means the command given, Jos 6:18; that they should take nothing of that which was devoted the Lord, and thereby make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it; and which shows that that was not a command given by Joshua of himself, but what he had from the Lord:
for they have even taken of the accursed thing; somewhat of that which was devoted to sacred uses:
and have also stolen; taken it away, not openly, but by stealth, as being conscious they ought not to have done what they did, and so sinned both against God and their own consciences:
and dissembled also; or "lied" {u}; pretended they had not taken any of the accursed thing when they had; and it is probable that the people in general, each of the tribes, families, and houses, were examined by proper officers, whether they had taken any of the spoil, or not, to themselves, and they all denied they had, and he that had taken it among the rest; and perhaps was particularly asked the question, which he answered in the negative:
and they have put [it] even amongst their own stuff; their household stuff, mixed them with their own goods that they might not be known; or put them "in their own vessels" {w}, for their own use and service.
{u} wvxk "mentiti sunt", Pagninus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. {w} Mhylkb "in vasis suis", Montanus.
Joshua 7:12
Ver. 12. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies,.... Being forsaken of God for the sin committed among them:
[but] turned [their] backs before their enemies: had not courage to face them, but fled as soon as they appeared:
because they were accursed; of God for the accursed thing that had been taken, as was threatened would be their case, should they take any of it; Jos 6:18;
neither will I be with you any more, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you; that is, until they had put to death the person who had taken of the accursed thing, and made himself thereby accursed, and even all the camp of Israel; till this was done, the Lord would not be with them to protect and defend them, and give them success against their enemies.
Joshua 7:13
Ver. 13. Up, sanctify the people,.... The word "up" not only signifies getting up from the ground on which he lay, but to bestir himself, and to be active in what he would now be enjoined and directed to do, and in the first place to "sanctify the people", that is, by giving them orders to do it themselves:
and say, sanctify yourselves against tomorrow; either by some ceremonial ablutions, or by the performance of moral duties, as prayer, repentance, and good works; or rather, they were to "prepare" themselves, as the Targum and Kimchi interpret it, to get ready against the morrow, and expect to be thoroughly searched, in order to find out the person who had taken the accursed thing:
for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, [there is] an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel; an accursed person, who had taken of what was devoted to the Lord for his own use, and so accursed:
thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you; by putting him to death.
Joshua 7:14
Ver. 14. In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes,.... One or more of every tribe, according to the number of them, were to be brought the next morning before Joshua and the elders of Israel, the sanhedrim and council of the nation, and very probably the tabernacle, where they assembled for this purpose:
and it shall be, [that] the tribe which the Lord taketh; how a tribe and so a family or household were taken is differently understood; what some of the Jewish writers say deserves no regard, as the detention of persons by the ark, or of the dulness of the stones in the Urim and Thummim: it seems best to understand the whole affair as done by casting lots {x}; so Josephus {y} and Ben Gersom; and they might in this way be said to be taken by the Lord, because the disposition of the lot is by him, Pr 16:33; now it is said, that the tribe that should be taken, as Judah was, from what follows,
shall come according to the families [thereof]; that is, the families in that tribe, meaning the heads of them, as Kimchi well observes; these were to come to the place where the lots were cast:
and the family which the Lord shall take shall come by households; on whatsoever family in the tribe the lot should fall, the heads of households in that family should appear and have lots cast on them: and the household which the Lord shall take shall come man by man; that household that should be taken by lot, the men thereof, the heads of the house, should come each of them and have lots east on them, that the particular man that sinned might be discovered.
{x} Pirke Eliezer, c. 38. Samaritan. Chronic. apud Hottinger. Smegma. Oriental. l. 1. c. 8. p. 505. Jarchi in loc. {y} Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 10.
Joshua 7:15
Ver. 15. And it shall be, [that] he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire,.... He that is taken by lot, and the accursed thing found with him, this should be the death, burning, one of the four capital punishments with the Jews: this was ordered in this case, because the city of Jericho, accursed or devoted, was burnt with fire, Jos 6:24;
he and all that he hath; the particulars of which are enumerated, Jos 7:24;
because he hath transgressed the covenant of the Lord;
See Gill on "Jos 7:11";
and because he hath wrought folly in Israel; as all sin and every transgression of the law is, and was the cause of Israel's turning their backs on their enemies; which, as Abarbinel says, was folly, and made the people of Israel look foolish, mean, and contemptible: the word has also the signification of a dead carcass, and may possibly have respect, to the thirty six men whose death he was the occasion of, Jos 7:5, and therefore justly ought to die himself.
Joshua 7:16
Ver. 16. So Joshua rose up early in the morning,.... Which showed his readiness and diligence to obey the command of God; and as there was much work to do, it required that he should rise early:
and brought Israel by their tribes: before the Lord, at the tabernacle, where he and the high priest and elders attended; each tribe was thither brought by their representatives:
and the tribe of Judah was taken: either his stone in the breastplate of the high priest looked dull, as some say, or rather the lot being cast fell on that tribe.
Joshua 7:17
Ver. 17. And he brought the family of Judah,.... That is, the tribe of Judah, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it, {z}; or rather, the several families in that tribe, even the heads of them:
and he took the family of the Zarhites: which descended from Zerah the son of Judah; that was taken by lot:
and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and cast lots on them:
and Zabdi was taken: that part of the family of the Zarhites which sprung from Zabdi, a son of Zerah.
{z} So R. Sol. Ohel Moed, fol. 94. 2.
Joshua 7:18
Ver. 18. And he brought his household man by man,.... The household of Zabdi, the heads of each house therein:
and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken; the lot fell upon him, and he was laid hold on, and detained.
Joshua 7:19
Ver. 19. And Joshua said unto Achan, my son,.... Treating him in a very humane, affectionate, and respectable manner, though so great a criminal, being a subject of his, and of the same religion and nation:
give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, by acknowledging his omniscience, justice, power, truth, and faithfulness; as in his promises so in his threatenings:
and make confession unto him; of the sin he had been guilty of; this Joshua might urge, partly for his own good, who might more reasonably expect the forgiveness of his sin: so it is said in the Misnah {a}, whoever confesses has a part in the world to come, for so we find concerning Achan, Jos 7:19; and partly for the glory of God, this being the instance in which he is directed to give it to him; and partly on account of others, particularly the tribe, family, and household to whom he belonged, who after all might not be satisfied thoroughly that he was guilty, unless he had confessed it: according to Maimonides {b}, this was but a temporary law on which Achan was put to death; for, he says, our law condemns no man to death on his own confession, nor on the prophecy of a prophet, who says that he committed such a theft; and it was not on his confession, but by the order of God, determining the affair by lot, that he was put to death: the confession Joshua directs to was not what was made to man, but to God, that is, of the evil of it, and as committed against God, though the fact itself was to be owned before man, as follows:
and tell me now what thou hast done, hide [it] not from me; what were the particular things he had taken; the lot showed he had taken something, but what that was, as yet was unknown, and where it was; and this Joshua desires him he would inform him of and satisfy him about, and without any reserve openly declare the truth.
{a} Sanhedrin, c. 6. sect. 2. {b} Pirush in ib. & Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 18. sect. 6.
Joshua 7:20
Ver. 20. And Achan answered Joshua, and said,.... He made a free and open confession of his sin:
indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel; against him who had been so good to Israel in many instances, and particularly in delivering Jericho into their hands in so extraordinary a manner; against a law of his, respecting the spoil of that city, which sin was the more aggravated thereby; and that he had committed the sin he was taken for and charged with, he owns was a true and real fact:
and thus and thus have I done; such and such things have I taken, and in the manner as follows.
Joshua 7:21
Ver. 21. When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment,.... One, as the Targum adds, for no more was taken; a garment made of Babylonish wool, as Jarchi; or a valuable garment made in Babylon, called "Shinar", for that is the word in the text, so Kimchi and Abarbinel; and Babylonian garments were in great esteem in other nations: Pliny says {c} Babylon was famous for garments interwoven with pictures of divers colours, and which gave name to them; and Plutarch {d} relates, that Cato in his great modesty, and being an enemy to luxury, having a Babylonish garment that came to him by inheritance, ordered it immediately to be sold: the Vulgate Latin version calls it a scarlet robe; and in some Jewish writings {e} it is interpreted, a garment of Babylonian purple, as if it only respected the colour; and purple and scarlet are sometimes promiscuously used and put for the same, see Mt 27:28; and were the colour worn by kings: and Josephus here calls it a royal garment, wholly interwoven with gold {f}; and some have thought it to be the garment of the king of Jericho, which is not unlikely; however, it is much more probable than that Jericho was subject to the king of Babylon, and that he had palaces in Jericho, and when he came thither was clothed with this robe, so Jarchi; as is elsewhere said {g} by others, that he had a deputy who resided in Jericho, who sent dates to the king of Babylon, and the king sent him gifts, among which was a garment of Shinar or Babylon:
and two hundred shekels of silver; which, if coined money, was near twenty five English pounds:
and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight: or a "tongue of gold" {h}; a plate of gold in the shape of a tongue, as Kimchi and Abarbinel; a piece of unwrought gold which weighed fifty shekels, and worth of our money about seventy five pounds, according to Brererwood {i}: where he saw these, and from whence he took them, is not said; according to some Jewish writers, these belonged to one of their idols; it is said {k}, he saw the Teraphim and the silver they offered before it, and the garment which was spread before it, and the tongue or wedge of gold in its mouth; and he desired them in his heart, and went and took them, and hid them in the midst of his tent: and the Samaritan Chronicle {l} makes him confess that he went into a temple in Jericho and found the above things there: and Masius conjectures that the wedge of gold was a little golden sword, with which the men of Jericho had armed their god, since an ancient poet {m} calls a little sword a little tongue:
then I coveted them, and took them; he is very particular in the account, and gradually proceeds in relating the temptation he was under, and the prevalence of it; it began with his eyes, which were caught with the goodliness of the garments, and the riches he saw; these affected his heart and stirred up covetous desires, which influenced and directed his hands to take them:
and, behold, they are [hid] in the earth in the midst of my tent; Josephus {n} says, he dug a deep hole or ditch in his tent, and put them there, that is, the Babylonish garment and the wedge of gold; which, as Ben Gersom gathers from Jos 7:25, was wrapped up and hid within the garment; which is not improbable, since otherwise no account is given of that:
and the silver under it; the two hundred shekels of silver lay under the garment in which was the wedge of gold, and so it lay under them both.
{c} Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 48. {d} In Vita Catonis. {e} Bereshit Rabba, sect. 85. fol. 75. 2. {f} Ut supra. (Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 48.) {g} Bereshit Rabba, ib. {h} bhz Nwvl "linguam auream", Montanus, Tigurine version, Masius; "lingulam auream", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. {i} De Ponder. &. Pret. Vet. Num. c. 5. {k} Pirke Eliezer, ut supra. (c. 38.) {l} Apud Hottinger, ut supra. (Smegm. Oriental. l. 1. c. 8. p. 505.) {m} Naevius apud A. Cell. Noct. Attic. l. 10. c. 25. {n} Ut supra. (Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 48.)
Joshua 7:22
Ver. 22. So Joshua sent messengers,.... Directly to Achan's tent, to see if it was as he had said, and to bring the things with them:
and they ran unto the tent; either for joy that the iniquity was discovered, as Kimchi; or that none of the tribe of Judah or of Achan's family or relations should get there before them, and take them from thence and make void the lot; so Jarchi, Ben Gersom, and Abarbinel; but, no doubt, it is remarked, to show the readiness and diligence of the messengers to obey the order of Joshua:
and, behold, [it was] hid in his tent, and the silver under it; as Achan had said.
Joshua 7:23
Ver. 23. And they took them out of the midst of the tent,.... Out of the place, hole, or pit in which they were hid:
and brought them to Joshua and to the children of Israel; to Joshua as the chief ruler, and to the elders and heads of the tribes assembled together:
and laid them out before the Lord; or "poured them out" {o}; the golden wedge, out of the garment in which it was wrapped, and the two hundred shekels of silver found under it: it seems as if these were poured or laid out separately upon the ground before the tabernacle, where the ark of the Lord was, they belonging to the spoils which were devoted to him; as well as hereby they were plainly seen by the Israelites, that these were the very things which Achan had confessed.
{o} Mquyw "fundentes", Munster; "fuderunt", Piscator.
Joshua 7:24
Ver. 24. And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah,.... Joshua and all Israel are mentioned, to show the perfect agreement between Joshua and the heads of the people in this affair of Achan, and in the nature and manner of his punishment:
and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold; which, though devoted to sacred uses, yet having been converted to another's use, and made his property, was not to be employed in the service of the sanctuary, but to be burnt with him:
and his sons and his daughters; who, according to Ben Gersom, Abarbinel, and Abendana, were not brought forth to be put to death, only to be spectators of the sentence of judgment, and the execution of it, that they might keep themselves from such evil things; though, as Achan may be supposed to be a man in years, being but the fourth generation from Judah; his sons and daughters were grown up in all probability, and might be accessories in this affair; and so, as some Jewish writers remark, were worthy of death, because they saw and knew what was done, and were silent and did not declare it {p}; and it seems by what is said, Jos 22:20; that they died as well as Achan, since it is there said, "that man perished not alone in his iniquity"; though it may be interpreted of his substance, his cattle, perishing with him; and indeed from Jos 7:25; it seems as if none were stoned but himself, that is, of his family; no mention is made of his wife, who, if he had any, as Kimchi observes, knew nothing of the matter, it being hid from her:
and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep; in which lay his substance, as that of the eastern people generally did:
and his tent, and all that he had; the tent he and his family dwelt in, with all the household goods in it:
and they brought them unto the valley of Achor; so called by anticipation here; for it had its name from the trouble Achan gave to Israel, and with which he was troubled himself: some render it, "they brought them up" {q}; and as it is more proper to descend into a valley the to go up to it, it is thought there was a mountain between the camp of Israel and this valley, so Kimchi and Ben Melech; see Ho 2:15.
{p} Pirke Eliezer, ut supra (c. 38.) Kimchi in loc. {q} wley "ascendere fecerunt", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius, Vatablus.
Joshua 7:25
Ver. 25. And Joshua said, why hast thou troubled us?.... Been the occasion of so much trouble to us, by committing this sin:
the Lord shall trouble thee this day; by the destruction of him and all that belonged to him: this is said to show that his punishment was of God, and according to his will: in the Misnah {r} an emphasis is laid on the phrase "this day", and it is observed,
"this day thou shalt be troubled, but thou shalt not be troubled in the world to come;''
suggesting that though temporal punishment was inflicted on him, yet his iniquity was forgiven, and he would be saved with an everlasting, salvation; and as it may be hoped from the ingenuous confession that he made, that he had true repentance for it, and forgiveness of it:
and all Israel stoned him with stones; hence some gather, that only Achan himself suffered death, and not his sons and daughters:
and burnt them with fire after they had stoned them with stones; which the Jewish commentators understand of his oxen, asses, and sheep; so Jarchi, Ben Gersom, and Abarbinel: likewise his tent, and household goods, the Babylonish garment, gold and silver, were burnt, and he himself also, for that is the express order, Jos 7:15; the Jews say, as particularly Jarchi observes, that he was stoned because he profaned the sabbath, it being on the sabbath day that Jericho was taken, and stoning was the punishment of the sabbath breaker, and he was burnt on the account of the accursed thing; so Abendana.
{r} Sanhedrin ut supra. (Hilchot Sanhedrin, c. 18. sect. 6.)
Joshua 7:26
Ver. 26. And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day,.... That is, at the place where he suffered, or where they laid his ashes, they heaped up a pile of stones over him, as a monument whereby it might be known hereafter where he was executed and was buried; and which pile continued to the writing of this history: such sort of funeral monuments were usual with the Heathens {s} also as well as with the Jews, see Jos 8:29; so the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger; or the effects of it ceased; the outward face of things was altered, the dealings of God in his providence with Israel were changed; though, properly speaking, there is no change in God, nor such affections and passions in him as in man:
wherefore the name of the place was called the valley of Achor unto this day; from the trouble Achan met with, and the people of Israel on his account, see Jos 7:24; and so it was called in the days of Isaiah and Hosea, Isa 65:10; and where it is prophesied of as what should be in time to come: according to Bunting {t}, it was twelve miles from Jerusalem; Jerom {u} says it was at the north of Jericho, but Lamy {w}, following Bonfrerius, places it to the south; see
Jos 15:7.
{s} Vid. Pausan. Arcadica, sive, l. 8. p. 477. & Phocica, sive, l. 10. p. 616, 617. {t} Travels of the Patriarchs, &c. p. 98. {u} De loc. Heb. fol. 88. B. {w} Apparat. Geograph. p. 61.