Text -- Joshua 3:3-17 (NET)

3:3 and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, you must leave here and walk behind it. 3:4 But stay about three thousand feet behind it. Keep your distance so you can see which way you should go, for you have not traveled this way before.” 3:5 Joshua told the people, “Ritually consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will perform miraculous deeds among you.” 3:6 Joshua told the priests, “Pick up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they picked up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people. 3:7 The Lord told Joshua, “This very day I will begin to honor you before all Israel so they will know that I am with you just as I was with Moses. 3:8 Instruct the priests carrying the ark of the covenant, ‘When you reach the bank of the Jordan River, wade into the water.’” 3:9 Joshua told the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God!” 3:10 Joshua continued, “This is how you will know the living God is among you and that he will truly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. 3:11 Look! The ark of the covenant of the Ruler of the whole earth is ready to enter the Jordan ahead of you. 3:12 Now select for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one per tribe. 3:13 When the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the Lord, the Ruler of the whole earth, touch the water of the Jordan, the water coming downstream toward you will stop flowing and pile up.” 3:14 So when the people left their tents to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. 3:15 When the ones carrying the ark reached the Jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the ark touched the surface of the water– (the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest time)– 3:16 the water coming downstream toward them stopped flowing. It piled up far upstream at Adam (the city near Zarethan); there was no water at all flowing to the sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea). The people crossed the river opposite Jericho. 3:17 The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan. All Israel crossed over on dry ground until the entire nation was on the other side.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Jos 3:3

¹ sn The ark of the covenant refers to the wooden chest that symbolized God’s presence among his covenant people.

² tn Heb “set out from your place.”

³ tn Or “march.”

NET Notes: Jos 3:4

¹ tn Heb “But there should be a distance between you and it, about two thousand cubits in measurement.”

sn The precise distance is uncertain, but the measurement designated אַמָּה (’ammah, “cubit”) was probably equivalent to approximately eighteen inches (one and one-half feet, or 45 cm) in length.

² tn Heb “do not approach it.”

³ tn Heb “know.”

NET Notes: Jos 3:7

¹ tn Or more literally, “to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel.”

NET Notes: Jos 3:8

¹ tn Heb “the edge of the waters of the Jordan.” The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied for clarity.

² tn Heb “stand in the Jordan.” Here the repetition of the word “Jordan” would be redundant according to contemporary English style, so it was not included in the translation.

NET Notes: Jos 3:10

¹ tn Heb “said.”

NET Notes: Jos 3:11

¹ tn Or “Lord”; or “Master.”

NET Notes: Jos 3:13

¹ tn Heb “the soles of the feet.”

² tn Or “Lord”; or “Master.”

³ tn Or “rest in.”

⁴ tn Heb “the waters of the Jordan, the waters descending from above, will be cut off so that they will stand in one pile.”

NET Notes: Jos 3:14

¹ tn The verb, though not in the Hebrew, is added for clarification.

NET Notes: Jos 3:15

¹ tn Heb “dipped into the edge.”

² tn Heb “and the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest.”

sn The lengthy description of the priests’ arrival at the Jordan and the parenthetical reminder that the Jordan was at flood stage delay the climax of the story and add to its dramatic buildup.

NET Notes: Jos 3:16

¹ tn Heb “the waters descending from above stood still.”

² tn Heb “they stood in one pile very far away.”

³ tn Heb “the [waters] descending toward the sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) were completely cut off.”

sn The Salt Sea is an ancient name for the Dead Sea.

⁴ map For the location of Jericho see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

NET Notes: Jos 3:17

¹ tn Heb “and all Israel was crossing over on dry ground until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.”