And a ch. 1.5. and pass over before the people. (7) And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, "as I was with Moses, so I I will be with thee. (8) And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan. b Ps. 114. 3. c Acts 7. 45. man. over Jordan. (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, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they 'shall stand upon an heap. (14) And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests. bearing the ark of the covenant before the people; (15) and as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,) (16) that the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho. (17) And the priests that bare (9) And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God. (10) And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, 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. (11) Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan. (12) Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a Chron. 12, 15; the ark of the covenant of the LORD Ecclus. 24. 26. people should follow the cloudy pillar, and under Joshua, the written law of God. But it is a strange picture, and one that may well call up our reverent wonder, that the Israelites should pass over Jordan and assail the Canaanites, with the ten commandments carried before them, and as it were leading the way. Was not this the direct object of the conquest of Canaan, that God's law should not only have a people to obey it, but a country in which its working might be exhibited to the nations, as the law of the land? 66 (7) The Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee .-Compare chap. iv. 14, on that day the Lord magnified Joshua.' These words mark the beginning and end of the section. The details that follow in chap. iv. 15, &c., seem to be added by way of appendix. The passage of Jordan, being the principal event, is exhibited by itself; and other particulars of attendant circumstances are given separately. A somewhat similar plan appears to be adopted in chap. x., but the arrangement of both narratives is at first sight somewhat complex, and not quite clear. It is here stated that the passage of Jordan was to be to Joshua what the giving of the law at Sinai was to Moses, "that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever (Exod. xix. 9). But the power which establishes Joshua is the work of the written instead of the spoken word. (11) The ark of the covenant.-The ten commandments are presented throughout this narrative as a covenant. So Exod. xxxiv. 28, "the words of the covenant, the ten commandments." It must be remembered that a promise precedes all the commandments. "I am Jehovah thy God." The "ten words" that follow are the testimony to His character who commanded the covenant. (See Silver Sockets, p. 28.) The thing signified by the dividing of Jordan does indeed exhibit the law as a covenant in a way that those who followed Joshua can hardly have conceived. But history must come before prophecy, if prophecy is to be understood. (12) Take you twelve men.-These were selected beforehand and kept in readiness, that there might be no delay in the work which they had to do (chap. iv. 3). (13) The soles of the feet of the priests.Observe that the priests, the ark-bearers, did not stand in the middle of the bed of the river, but at the edge of the flood. They had no need to advance further. As soon as their feet "rested" in the overflow," Jordan was driven back." The waters descending from the north as it were recoiled and shrank away, and stood in " one heap." up (16) Very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan.-The written text is "in Adam," but the Masorites read it "from Adam." The reading makes no difference to the literal fact. The two prepositions, in and from, express the same thought. The heap of water stood up as it were in Adam. From Adam to the place where Israel crossed, the river-bed was dry-the heap was as far away as Adam, but as it was not actually in the city, the word in was most likely altered to from. The more difficult reading, in, may very possibly be the best. For Zaretan see 1 Kings iv. 12 and vii. 46. Adam, as the name of a city, does not occur elsewhere. The meaning of the fact has been well pointed out by Bishop Wordsworth on this place. Zaretan was beneath Jezreel, but has not been identified. Adam has been thought to be at the ford Damieh, thirty miles away. stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan. a b ch. 3. 12. CHAPTER IV.-(1) And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD a Deut. 27. 2. spake unto Joshua, saying, (2) Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, (3) and command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night. (4) Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: (5) and Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel : (6) that this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers 1in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? (7) then ye shall IV. 1 Heb., to morrow. twelve (3) Out of the midst of Jordan.. stones-(9) Twelve stones in the midst of Jordan.-It would seem that we are to understand two cairns to have been set up, one on either side the river, to mark the place where the Israelites crossed. The western cairn was in Gilgal, the other on the opposite side, at the edge of the overflow, where the priests had stopped. The only difficulty lies in the words above cited, in the midst of Jordan. The phrase, like many other Hebrew phrases, is used in a different way from that in which we should use it. The words "in the middle of the Jordan" to an English reader appear to mean half-way between the banks. But if the river were divided, and half of it had recoiled many miles towards the north, and the rest flowed away to the south, any one standing between these two parts of the river might be said to stand in the midst of Jordan, the two parts being on either side; and he would be equally in the midst, as regards them, whether he were at the edge of the stream or not. It is contrary to common-sense, as well as to the words of the text, to suppose that a cairn was set up in the midst of the river's bed. 66 'They are there unto this day," the writer adds in verse 9. It is perfectly clear from chap. iii. 8 that the priests stood at the brim of the overflow. That spot and no other would be the particular spot which it would be most interesting to mark, the place from which Jordan, in full flood, was driven back. Further, the words "in the midst " (Hebrew, b'thôk) do not necessarily mean more than within. In Joshua Set up by Joshua. answer 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 of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. (8) And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, 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, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. (9) And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there unto this day. (10) For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until every thing was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over. (11) And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the LORD passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people. xix. 1, it is said the inheritance of Simeon was within (b'thok) the inheritance of the children of Judah. Yet it was entirely on one edge of it. May not the ark standing in the midst of Jordan represent that suspension of the power of death which is effected by the interposition of our Saviour, and fills the interval between the reign of death "from Adam to Moses," and the "second death" that is to come? (7) The waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant.-Observe that the act is indirectly ascribed to the ark of the covenant. (8-9) According to the number of the tribes -Every tribe was represented by a stone on either side Jordan. The two cairns represent a complete Israel in the wilderness, and a complete Israel in the promised land. "Thou shalt remember all the way that the Lord thy God led thee." "By the grace of God I am what I am.' (10) According to all that Moses commanded Joshua. It would seem that the passage of Jordan had been made the subject of some directions by Moses, though nothing is written concerning the manner of it in the Pentateuch. It is noticeable that if Israel had gone into the land when Moses brought them to the frontier at Kadesh-barnea, in the second year of the Exodus, they would have had no occasion to pass the Jordan at all. When the route was changed we cannot say, unless the compassing of the land of Edom (Num. xxi.), when they left Kadesh the second time, because they were not permitted to cross that territory, marks the decision. If so, the fact suggests some interesting reflections. unto them: (13) about forty thousand 1 Or, ready armed. twelve stones, which they took out of 1 prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto battle, to the plains of Jericho. (14) On that day the LORD magnified Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. (21) And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and 2 Heb., plucked up. shall ask their fathers in time to they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life. come, saying, What mean these stones? (22) then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. (23) For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red (18) And it came 4 Heb., to morrow. sea, which he dried up from before us, (15) And the LORD spake unto Joshua, to pass, when the priests that bare the 3 5 Heb., all days. (13) About forty thousand.-The totals of these three tribes at the last census (Num. xxvi.) were :Reuben (verse 7), 43,730; Gad (verse 18), 40,500; Manasseh (verse 34), 52,700, or for the exact half, 26,350. Thus the entire force of the two and a half tribes might amount to 110,580. They therefore left more than half their number to protect their families and their dwellings. This does not seem inconsistent with the spirit of their agreement with Moses, or with the interpretation of that agreement by Joshua and their fellow-Israelites. (See Num. xxxii. 16, 17, 24, 26.) The permission to build cities implies the right to fortify and defend them. Reuben, Gad, and Simeon formed the second division on the march in the wilderness (Num. x. 18—20). Why Reuben and Gad discarded Simeon, and associated themselves with part of Manasseh, is not explained. (See Names on the Gates of Pearl.-Simeon.) (14) All the days of his life.-This ends the section, as appears by comparison with chap. iii. 7. Observe that Joshua's position, as equal to Moses in the respect of the people, dates from the passage of Jordan, a fact not to be forgotten in considering his Antitype. (16) Command the priests...that they come up out of Jordan.-Observe that the removal of the priests and the ark of the covenant from their station in Jordan is made the subject of a distinct section, and treated as a distinct event. It need not have been so for the purpose of the mere historical narrative. We might have taken it for granted. But the significance of the event is so marked as to receive a separate notice. We are not suffered to forget by what means Jordan was driven back, and held in check; and the check was not meant to be perpetual. We are reminded that the suspension of the power of death for men has its limits. When the day of grace is over, the waters will "return unto their place and flow over all the banks as before." (Comp. Isa. xxviii. 16-18, 20.) until we were gone over: (24) that all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God 5 for ever. CHAPTER V.-(1) And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amor EVENTS AT GILGAL (chaps. iv. 19-v. 12, inclusive). (19) On the tenth day of the first month.Of the forty-first year after they left Egypt. Exactly forty years before, on the tenth day of the first month, (Exod. xii. 5), they had been commanded to take them a lamb for an house," that they might keep the Passover. The forty years of the Exodus were now complete, and on the self-same day they passed over the last barrier, and entered the Promised Land. 66 (20-v. 9) It would seem that these verses all belong to one section. The use of the first person in chap. v. 1, "until we were passed over," is most naturally explained by taking the verse as part of what the Israelites were to say to their children by the command of Joshua. The difficulty has been met in the Hebrew Bible by a Masoretic reading, in which "they" is substituted for "we." But the more difficult reading is to be preferred. There is nothing else in the section that creates any difficulty. The twenty-third verse authorises a comparison between the passage of Jordan and the passage of the Red Sea. As the one is called a baptising unto Moses," in the New Testament, we may call the other a baptising unto Joshua. (Comp. the us” in chap. iv. 23, with the "we" of chap. v. 1.) The first person also appears in verse 6, "that he would give us." It would appear that, besides explaining the erection of the stones, the Israelites were also to explain to their children the meaning of Gilgal, the place where the stones were, and this explanation is not completed until the end of verse 9. 66 66 a Ex. 4. 25. ites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed flints. over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel. (2) At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee alsharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. (3) And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. (4) And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt. (5) Now all the people that came out were circumcised: 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. (6) For the 1 Or, knives of 2 Or, Gibeah-haaraloth. b Num. 14. 23. Heb., when the people had made Circumcision Renewed. children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD Sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey. (7) And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way. (8) And it came to pass, 3 when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole. (9) And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day. 4 (10) And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the That is, Rolling. fourteenth day of the month at even in THE CIRCUMCISION OF ISRAEL BY JOSHUA (verses 2-9). (2) Make thee sharp knives.-Authorities are divided between the rendering "sharp knives" and "knives of flint." The first seems best supported, as far as the meaning of the words is concerned. The expression is "knives of tsurim.” The word tsûr does not seem anywhere to be connected with the material of the tool, but rather with the edge of it. Knives of keen edge is, therefore, the better translation. At the same time they may have been stone knives in this instance. The idea that they were so is supported by an addition in the LXX. to chap. xxiv. 30: "They put with him (Joshua) into the tomb... the knives of stone with which he circumcised the children of Israel and there they are to this day." The ceremony being a kind of special consecration, it is not unlikely to have been performed with special instruments, which were not used before or after. Comp. Ps. lxxxix. 43, "Thou hast turned the tsûr (keen edge) of his sword;' 2 Sam. ii. 16, "Helkath Hazzurim"-i.e., the field of keen blades; Exod. iv. 25, "Zipporah took a tzôr"; Ezek. iii. 9, an adamant harder than tzôr." 66 (4) The cause why Joshua did circumcise.As the narrative stands it is not quite obvious why uncircumcision is called "the reproach of Egypt,' whereas all the people born in Egypt were circumcised. The uncircumcision attached to those who were born in the wilderness, during the years of wandering. But that period of wandering, between the departure from Kadesh-barnea and the return to Kadesh (thirty-seven and a half years, Num. xv.-xix., inclusive), is a kind of blank in the story of the Exodus. The five chapters which belong to it in the Book of Numbers contain no note of progress as to time or place. The people had "turned back in their hearts to Egypt" (Acts vii. 39; Num. xiv. 4), and were bearing the reproach of their apostasy all those years, "the reproach of Egypt." Suffering under the "breach of promise" of Jehovah (Num. xiv. 34), they appear to have omitted the sign of the covenant, as though they were no longer the people of God. The passage of Jordan was the practical proof of Israel's restoration to Divine favour, and they were brought into covenant with Him once more. (6) Us.-The first person is used here as in chaps. iv. 23, v. 7. The whole passage from chap. iv. 22 to chap. v. 6 seems intended to be the reply of the fathers to the children. -Com (9) This day have I rolled away pare Isa. xxv. 8, "He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke (or reproach) of His people shall He take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it"; Col. ii. 11, "In whom (Christ) also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in the putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him"; and 1 Cor. xv. 54, When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, then... Death is swallowed up in victory." 66 (10) The passover.-This is the third Passover in Israel's history. The first two were kept under Moses -(1) in Egypt, when the Lord delivered them; (2) the second at Sinai, when He had "brought them unto Himself." (3) The third is on the other side Jordan, under Joshua. Two belong to the Exodus, or going out; one to the Eisodus, or coming in. Compare Luke xxii. 16: "I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God." Observe the connection between the Passover and circumcision. The law in Exod. xii. 48 is, "no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof." Hence, while they wandered in the wilderness, this uncircumcised generation could not keep the Passover. (11) They did eat of the old corn.-The word occurs nowhere else except in verse 12. It need not have been last year's corn; in fact, it seems to have been the produce of this very harvest. It seems to mean 'that which was brought to them," and was "the fruit" or "produce" of the land of Canaan, probably brought to the camp for sale. (12) The manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land.The date should be noticed. On the fourteenth day was the Passover; on the fifteenth, Israel ate of the produce of the land. From that day the manna fell no more-i.e., on the sixteenth day of the first month of the year of their entering the land of Canaan, it was not found. On the sixteenth day of the second month of the first year of the Exodus, it first appeared (Exod. xvi. 1, 7, 13, 14). Thirty-nine years and eleven months it fell, except on the Sabbath. It kept Sabbath all through the wilderness, on the seventh day of the week, and it finally ceased, kept Sabbath (vay-yishboth, Hebrew) on the very day afterwards marked by our Lord's resurrection, which became the Lord's day. The coincidence is too remarkable to be overlooked. It is the risen Christ who takes the place of the manna; and in the discourse wherein He calls Himself "the true bread from heaven," He points again and again to resurrection as the end of the life which He gives: I will raise him up at the last day" (John vi. 39, 40, 44, 54). Then the manna, which is the food of the wilderness, shall keep Sabbath, for "they shall hunger no more." The food of the wilderness is that which Israel ate, not knowing what it was. Of the other world it is written, "then shall I know, even as also I am known." 66 THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN. (13) At this point commences the second great division of the book. The Passage of Jordan was the great event of the first portion; and for that Joshua received special directions from Jehovah. A vision now appears to him, to inaugurate his second great enterprise, which was to put the inhabitants of Canaan to the sword. The character of this vision should be carefully noted, as it is of the utmost importance to the interpretation of the book. Joshua's Vision. saries? (14) And he said, Nay; but as 1 captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? (15) And the captain of the LORD's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. b CHAPTER VI.- (1 Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. (2) And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and (13) There stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand. - This should be compared with the vision which Moses saw at Horeb (Exod. iii.), when the angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. The equality of the two visions is proved by the use of the same command on both occasions," Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground" (Exod. iii. 5; Josh. v. 15). But the actual appearances must be contrasted. "The bush burning with fire, but not consumed," presents to us the figure of suffering Israel in the furnace; and "in all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them." The man with the drawn sword is the sign of victory. Jehovah no longer suffers with and in His people, but He stands forth to lead them with the drawn sword. In regard of this and earlier theophanies, see Excursus on Gen. 16. Art thou for us, or for our adversaries ? (14) And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am Í now come-i.e., Jehovah will take part in this conflict, not as an ally or an adversary, but as commander-in-chief. It is not Israel's quarrel, in which they are to ask the Divine assistance. It is the Lord's own quarrel, and Israel and Joshua are but a division in His host. The wars of Israel in Canaan are always presented by the Old Testament as "the wars of the Lord." It would be well to remember this aspect of the story. The conquest of Canaan is too often treated as an enterprise of the Israelites, carried out with great cruelties, for which they claimed the Divine sanction. The Old Testament presents the matter in an entirely different light. The war is a Divine enterprise, in which human instruments are employed, but so as to be entirely subordinate to the Divine will. Jehovah is not for Israel, nor for Israel's foes. He fights for His own right hand, and Israel is but a fragment of His army. The sun stood still," "the stars in their courses fought against "His foes. "The treasures of the hail" were opened, which He had "reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war." VI. (1) Now Jericho -This verse should be read parenthetically, and verses 2-5 should be taken as the orders given to Joshua by the captain of the Lord's host. |