Text -- Joshua 6:21-27 (NET)

6:21 They annihilated with the sword everything that breathed in the city, including men and women, young and old, as well as cattle, sheep, and donkeys. 6:22 Joshua told the two men who had spied on the land, “Enter the prostitute’s house and bring out the woman and all who belong to her as you promised her.” 6:23 So the young spies went and brought out Rahab, her father, mother, brothers, and all who belonged to her. They brought out her whole family and took them to a place outside the Israelite camp. 6:24 But they burned the city and all that was in it, except for the silver, gold, and bronze and iron items they put in the treasury of the Lord’s house. 6:25 Yet Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, her father’s family, and all who belonged to her. She lives in Israel to this very day because she hid the messengers Joshua sent to spy on Jericho. 6:26 At that time Joshua made this solemn declaration: “The man who attempts to rebuild this city of Jericho will stand condemned before the Lord. He will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations and his youngest son when he erects its gates!” 6:27 The Lord was with Joshua and he became famous throughout the land.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Jos 6:21

Being commanded to do so by the sovereign Lord of every man's life; and being informed by God before that the Canaanites were abominably wicked, and deserved the severest punishments. As for the infants, they were guilty of original sin, and otherwise at the disposal of their creator; but if they had been wholly innocent, it was a great favour to them to take them away in infancy, rather than reserve them to those dreadful calamities which those who survived them were liable to.

Wesley: Jos 6:22

Which together with the wall upon which it leaned, was left standing, by a special favour of God to her.

Wesley: Jos 6:23

'Till they were cleansed from the impurities of their Gentile state, and instructed in the Jewish religion, and solemnly admitted into that church, for which Rahab's good counsel and example had doubtless prepared them.

Wesley: Jos 6:25

For that general command of rooting out the Canaanites seems to have had some exception, in case any of them had sincerely and seasonably cast off their wickedness, and submitted to the Israelites.

Wesley: Jos 6:26

Or, made them to fear; caused the people, or some in the name of all, to swear for the present and succeeding generations, and to confirm their oath by a curse.

Wesley: Jos 6:26

That is, from God's presence, and by his sentence, as they are said to cast lots before the Lord, Jos 18:8, Jos 18:10, that is, expecting the design from God. He intimates, that he doth not utter this upon a particular dislike of that place, but by divine inspiration. God would have the ruins of this city remain as a standing monument of God's justice against this wicked and idolatrous people, and of his almighty power in destroying so great and strong a city by such contemptible means.

Wesley: Jos 6:26

That is, that shall attempt to build it. So this curse is restrained to the builder, but no way belongs to those who should inhabit it after it was built, as is evident from 2Ki 4:18; Luk 19:1, Luk 19:5.

Wesley: Jos 6:26

That is, he shall lose all his children in the work, the first at the beginning, others in the progress of it by degrees, and the youngest in the close of it, when the gates use to be set up. This was fulfilled, 1Ki 16:34.

Wesley: Jos 6:27

(So the Chaldee:) Even Christ himself, the same that was with Moses. Nothing makes a man appear more truly great, than to have the evidences of God's presence with him.

JFB: Jos 6:20-21

Towards the close of the seventh circuit, the signal was given by Joshua, and on the Israelites' raising their loud war cry, the walls fell down, doubtless burying multitudes of the inhabitants in the ruins, while the besiegers, rushing in, consigned everything animate and inanimate to indiscriminate destruction (Deu 20:16-17). Jewish writers mention it as an immemorial tradition that the city fell on the Sabbath. It should be remembered that the Canaanites were incorrigible idolaters, addicted to the most horrible vices, and that the righteous judgment of God might sweep them away by the sword, as well as by famine or pestilence. There was mercy mingled with judgment in employing the sword as the instrument of punishing the guilty Canaanites, for while it was directed against one place, time was afforded for others to repent.

JFB: Jos 6:22-23

It is evident that the town walls were not demolished universally, at least all at once, for Rahab's house was allowed to stand until her relatives were rescued according to promise.

JFB: Jos 6:23

A temporary exclusion, in order that they might be cleansed from the defilement of their native idolatries and gradually trained for admission into the society of God's people.

JFB: Jos 6:24

Except the silver, gold, and other metals, which, as they would not burn, were added to the treasury of the sanctuary.

JFB: Jos 6:25

Rahab

JFB: Jos 6:25

A proof that this book was written not long after the events related.

JFB: Jos 6:26

That is, imposed upon his countrymen a solemn oath, binding on themselves as well as their posterity, that they would never rebuild that city. Its destruction was designed by God to be a permanent memorial of His abhorrence of idolatry and its attendant vices.

JFB: Jos 6:26

That is, makes the daring attempt to build.

JFB: Jos 6:26

Shall become childless--the first beginning being marked by the death of his oldest son, and his only surviving child dying at the time of its completion. This curse was accomplished five hundred fifty years after its denunciation (see on 1Ki 16:34).

Clarke: Jos 6:21

They utterly destroyed - both man, and woman, etc. - As this act was ordered by God himself, who is the Maker and Judge of all men, it must be right: for the Judge of all the earth cannot do wrong. Nothing that breathed was permitted to live; hence the oxen, sheep, and asses, were destroyed, as well as the inhabitants.

Clarke: Jos 6:23

Brought out Rahab, and her father, etc. - Rahab having been faithful to her vow of secrecy, the Israelites were bound by the oath of the spies, who acted as their representatives in this business, to preserve her and her family alive

Clarke: Jos 6:23

And left them without the camp - They were considered as persons unclean, and consequently left without the camp; (see Lev 13:46; Num 12:14). When they had abjured heathenism, were purified, and the males had received circumcision, they were doubtless admitted into the camp, and became incorporated with Israel.

Clarke: Jos 6:24

Only the silver, and the gold - they put into the treasury, etc. - The people were to have no share of the spoils, because they had no hand in the conquest. God alone overthrew the city; and into his treasury only the spoils were brought. This is one proof that the agitation of the air, by the sound of the people’ s voice, was not the cause of the fall of the city walls

Clarke: Jos 6:24

Vessels of brass and of iron - Instead of כלי keley , Vessels, the Septuagint, in the Alexandrian copy, evidently have read כל col , All, with the omission of the י yod ; for in Jos 6:19 they translate πας χαλκος και σιδηρος, All the brass and iron: but this reading does not appear in any of Kennicott’ s or De Rossi’ s MSS.

Clarke: Jos 6:25

And she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day - This is one proof that the book was written in the time to which it is commonly referred; and certainly might have been done by the hand of Joshua himself, though doubtless many marginal notes may have since crept into the text, which, to superficial observers, give it the appearance of having been written after the days of Joshua. See the preface to this book.

Clarke: Jos 6:26

And Joshua adjured them at that time - It appears that he had received intimations from God that this idolatrous city should continue a monument of the Divine displeasure: and having convened the princes and elders of the people, he bound them by an oath that they should never rebuild it; and then, in their presence, pronounced a curse upon the person who should attempt it. The ruins of this city continuing would be a permanent proof, not only of God’ s displeasure against idolatry, but of the miracle which he had wrought in behalf of the Israelites; and for these reasons God willed that it should not be rebuilt: nevertheless, he left men to the operation of their own free will, and recorded the penalty which those must pay who should disobey him

Clarke: Jos 6:26

He shall lay the foundation thereof, etc. - This is a strange execration; but it may rather be considered in the light of a prediction. It seems to intimate that he who should attempt to rebuild this city, should lose all his children in the interim, from laying the foundation to the completion of the walls; which the author of 1Ki 16:34 says was accomplished in Hiel the Beth-elite, who rebuilt Jericho under the reign of Ahab, and laid the foundation of it in Abiram, his first-born, and set up its gates in his youngest son Segub: this was 550 years after Joshua pronounced the curse. But we are not sure that this means that the children either died a natural or violent death on this occasion for we may understand the history as relating to the slow progress of the work. Hiel having begun the work at the birth of his first-born, was not able to conclude before the birth of his last child, who was born many years after: and as their names are mentioned, it is very likely that the distance of time between the birth of each was well known when this history was written; and that the extraordinary length of time spent in the work, in which a multitude of vexatious delays had taken place, is that to which the prophetic execration relates. Yet the first opinion is the most probable. We must not suppose that Jericho had been wholly neglected from its overthrow by Joshua to the days of Hiel; if it be the same with the city of palm trees, mentioned Deu 34:3. We find it mentioned as an inhabited place in the beginning of Jdg 1:16, a short time after the death of Joshua: And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees, with the children of Judah, etc.; and this said city (if the same with the city of palm trees) was taken from the Israelites by Eglon king of Moab, Jdg 3:13. The ambassadors of David, who were disgracefully treated by Hanun king of the Ammonites, were commanded to tarry at Jericho till their beards should grow, 2Sa 10:4, 2Sa 10:5. It appears, therefore, that there was a city which went under this name long before the time of Hiel, unless we can suppose that the city of palm trees was a different place from Jericho, or that the name Jericho was given to some part of the circumjacent country after the city was destroyed, which is very probable. After Hiel had rebuilt this city, it became of considerable consequence in the land of Judea: the courses of priests lodged there, who served in their turns at the temple; see Luk 10:30. There was a school of the prophets there, which was visited by Elijah and Elisha, 2Ki 2:4, 2Ki 2:5, 2Ki 2:18; and it was at this city that our Lord miraculously healed blind Bartimeus, Mar 10:46; Luk 18:35, etc. At present, Jericho is almost entirely deserted, having but thirty or forty miserable cabins in it, which serve for a place of refuge to some wretched Moors and Arabs, who live there like beasts. The plain of Jericho, formerly so celebrated for its fertility, is at present uncultivated, producing nothing but a few wild trees, and some very indifferent fruits. See Calmet.

Clarke: Jos 6:27

So the Lord was with Joshua - Giving him miraculous assistance in all his enterprises; and this was what he was naturally led to expect from the communication made to him by the captain of the Lord’ s host, Jos 5:14, etc

1.    Many attempts have been made either to deny the miracle in the fall of Jericho, or to account for it on natural causes. Reference has already been made to some of these in the note on Jos 6:20. But to those who believe the Divine authenticity of the New Testament, every objection of this kind is removed by the authority of the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, Heb 11:30; By Faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been compassed about seven days. Hence we find that it was a miraculous interference; and that Joshua’ s faith in the promise made to him by the captain of the Lord’ s host, was the instrument which God chose to employ in the accomplishment of this important purpose

2.    The same is said of Rahab: By Faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace, Heb 11:31. She believed that the true God was on the side of the Hebrews, and that all opposition to them must be in vain; and this faith led her to put herself under the Divine protection, and in virtue of it she escaped the destruction that fell on her countrymen. Thus God has ever chosen to put honor on faith, as the instrument by which he will perform his greatest miracles of justice and mercy. God, who cannot lie, has given the promise; he that believes shall have it accomplished; for with God nothing shall be impossible, and all things are possible to him that believes. These are Scriptural maxims, and God cannot deny himself

3.    On the curse pronounced by Joshua on those who should rebuild Jericho, it may be necessary to make a few remarks. In ancient history we have many instances of execrations against those who should rebuild those cities which had been destroyed in war, the revival of whose power and influence was dreaded; especially such cities as had been remarkable for oppression, insolence, or perfidy. Strabo observes, lib. xiii., p. 898, ed. 1707, that Agamemnon pronounced execrations on those who should rebuild Troy, as Croesus did against those who should rebuild Sidena, in which the tyrant Glaucias had taken refuge; and this mode of execrating cities, according to Strabo, was an ancient custom - Ειτε και καταρασαμενου του Αγαμεμνονος κατα παλαιον εθος· καθαπερ και ὁ Κροισος εξελων την Σιδηνην, εις ἡν ὁ τυραννος κατεφυγε Γλαυκιας, αρας εθετο κατα των τειχιουντων παλιν τον τοπον . The Romans made a decree full of execrations against those who should rebuild Carthage, which had been the rival of their empire; and which, from its advantageous situation, might again become formidable should it be rebuilt. See Zonaras, Anal. The Ionians, according to Isocrates, pronounced the most awful execrations on those who should rebuild the temples destroyed by the Persians, that they might remain to posterity an endless monument of the impiety of those barbarians; and that none might put confidence in a people who were so wicked as to make war on the gods themselves. The other Greeks who had suffered by the Persians acted in the same way, leaving the desolated temples as a public monument of the enmity that should ever subsist between the two nations. See Calmet, and see the notes on Num 22:6.

Calvin: Jos 6:22

22.But Joshua had said unto the two men, etc The good faith of Joshua in keeping promises, and his general integrity, are apparent in the anxious care here taken. But as the whole city had been placed under anathema, a question might be raised as to this exception of one family. No mortal man was at liberty to make any change on the decision of God. Still as it was only by the suggestion of the Spirit that Rahab had bargained for her impunity, I conclude that Joshua, in preserving her, did only what was considerate and prudent.

We may add, that the messengers were not yet under any contrary obligation, as the complete destruction of the city had not been declared. It is true, they had heard in general, that all those nations were to be destroyed, but they were still at liberty to make a compact with a single woman, who had voluntarily abandoned her countrymen. But we shall afterwards meet with a far easier solution, namely, that while the Israelites, by the divine command, exhorted all whom they attacked, to surrender, by holding out the hope of pardon, the blinded nations obstinately refused the peace thus offered, because God had decreed to destroy all of them. But while all, in general, were hardened to their destruction, it follows that Rahab was exempted by special privilege, and might escape in safety, while the others perished. Joshua, therefore, judged wisely, that a woman who had voluntarily gone over to the Church, was rescued thus early, not without the special grace of God. The case of the father and the whole family is, indeed, different, but seeing they all spontaneously abjure their former state, they confirm the stipulation which Rahab had made for their safety, by the promptitude of their obedience.

Moreover, let us learn from the example of Joshua, that we do not sufficiently attest our probity, by refraining from violating our promise intentionally and of set purpose, unless we also diligently exert ourselves to secure its performance. He not only allows Rahab to be delivered by her guests, but is careful to guard against her sustaining any injury in the first tumult; and to make the messengers more diligent in performing their office, he reminds them that they had promised with the intervention of an oath.

Calvin: Jos 6:23

23.And the young men that were spies went in, etc God, doubtless, wished those to be safe, whose minds he thus inclined to embrace deliverance. Had it been otherwise, they would have rejected it not less proudly, and with no less scorn than the two sons-in-law of Lot. But a still better provision is made for them, when, by being placed without the camp, they receive a strict injunction to abandon their former course of life. ⁶⁷ For had they been immediately admitted and allowed to mix indiscriminately with the people, the thought of their impurity might never, perhaps, have occurred to them, and they might thus have continued to indulge in it. Now when they are placed apart, that they may not, by their infection, taint the flock, they are impressed with a feeling of shame, which may urge them to serious conversion.

It cannot be meant that they were thus set apart for safety, lest any one in the crowd might have risen up violently against them: for they would have been received by all with the greatest favor and gladness, whereas they might have been attacked in a solitary place more easily, and even with impunity. Their impurity, therefore, was brought visibly before them, that they might not while polluted come rashly forward into the holy meeting, but rather might be accustomed by this rudimentary training to change their mode of life. For it is added shortly after, that they dwelt in the midst of the people; in other words, having been purged from their defilement’s, they began to be regarded in the very same light as if they had originally belonged to the race of Abraham. In short, the meaning is, that after they had made a confession of their previous impurity, they were admitted indiscriminately along with others. By this admission, Rahab gained one of the noblest fruits of her faith.

Calvin: Jos 6:26

26.And Joshua adjured them, etc This adjuration, then, was not merely to have effect for one day, but to warn posterity through all ages that that city had been taken only by divine power. He wished, therefore, that the ruins and devastation should exist for ever as a kind of trophy; because the rebuilding of it would have been equivalent to an erasure effacing the miracle. In order, therefore, that the desolate appearance of the place might keep the remembrance of the divine power and favor alive among posterity, Joshua pronounces a heavy curse upon any one who should again build the ruined city. From this passage we gather that the natural torpidity of men requires the aid of stimulants to prevent them from burying the divine favors in oblivion; and hence this spectacle, wherein the divine agency was made conspicuous to the people, was a kind of indirect censure of their ingratitude.

The substance of the imprecation is, that if any one ever attempt to rebuild Jericho he may be made sensible by the unpropitious and mournful result that he had done a cursed and abominable work. For to lay the foundations in his first-born, were just as if he were to cast forth his son to perish, crushed and buried beneath the mass of stones; and to set up the gates in his younger son, is the same thing as to plan an edifice which could not be erected without causing the death of a son. Thus he who should dare to make the insane attempt is condemned in his own offspring. Nor did Joshua utter this curse at his own suggestion; he was only the herald of celestial vengeance.

This makes it the more monstrous that among the people of God a man should have been found, whom that fearful curse, couched in formal terms, could not restrain from sacrilegious temerity. In the time of Ahab (1Kg 16:34) arose Hiel, a citizen of Bethel, who dared, as it were avowedly, to challenge God in this matter; but the Sacred History at the same time testifies, that the denunciation which God had pronounced by the mouth of Joshua did not fail of its effect; for Hiel founded the new Jericho in Abiram his first-born, and set up its gates in his younger son Segub, and thus learned in the destruction of his offspring what it is to attempt anything against the will and in opposition to the command of God. ⁶⁸

Defender: Jos 6:26

It was God's will that, because of its wickedness, Jericho should not be rebuilt, and a curse would fall upon the man who would attempt it. Such a man would lose all his children between the times of the beginning and completion of its reconstruction. This curse was literally fulfilled some 500 years later when a man named Hiel rebuilt Jericho (1Ki 16:34)."

TSK: Jos 6:21

And they : The Canaanites were ripe for destruction; and God was pleased, instead of destroying them by a pestilence, a famine, or an earthquake, to employ the Israelites as the executioners of his vengeance. Had an angel been commissioned to slay them, who would have charged him with iniquity or cruelty? In all public calamities infants are involved; and tens of thousands of infants die in great agony every year. Now, either God is not the agent in these calamities (which opinion, though often implied in men’ s reasonings on these subjects, is not far from atheism); or they must consist with the most perfect justice and goodness.

utterly : Jos 9:24, Jos 9:25, Jos 10:28, Jos 10:39, Jos 11:14; Deu 2:34, Deu 7:2, Deu 7:3, Deu 7:16, Deu 20:16, Deu 20:17; 1Sa 15:3, 1Sa 15:8, 1Sa 15:18, 1Sa 15:19; 1Ki 20:42; Psa 137:8, Psa 137:9; Jer 48:18; Rev 18:21

TSK: Jos 6:22

Joshua : Jos 6:17, 2:1-24

as ye sware unto her : Jos 2:12-14, Jos 2:17-20, Jos 9:15, Jos 9:18-20; 2Sa 21:2, 2Sa 21:7; Psa 15:4; Eze 17:13, Eze 17:16, Eze 17:18; Eze 17:19; Heb 11:31

TSK: Jos 6:23

out Rahab : Jos 2:18; Gen 12:2, Gen 18:24, Gen 19:29; Act 27:24; Heb 11:7

kindred : Heb. families

left them : Num 5:2, Num 5:3, Num 31:19; Act 10:28; 1Co 5:12; Eph 2:12

TSK: Jos 6:24

burnt : Jos 8:28; Deu 13:16; 2Ki 25:9; Rev 17:16, Rev 18:8

only the silver : Jos 6:19

TSK: Jos 6:25

Rahab : Jos 11:19, Jos 11:20; Jdg 1:24, Jdg 1:25; Act 2:21; Heb 11:31

she dwelleth : Mat 1:5

unto : Jos 4:9

because : Jam 2:25

TSK: Jos 6:26

adjured : This is to be regarded as a prediction, that he who rebuilded this city should lose all his children in the interim between the laying of the foundation to the completion of the walls. Num 5:19-21; 1Sam. 14:24-46; 1Ki 22:16; Mat 26:63; Act 19:13

Cursed : 1Ki 16:34; Mal 1:4

TSK: Jos 6:27

the Lord : Jos 1:5, Jos 1:9; Gen 39:2, Gen 39:3, Gen 39:21; Deu 31:6; Mat 18:20, Mat 28:20; Act 18:9, Act 18:10; 2Co 13:14; 2Ti 4:17, 2Ti 4:22

his fame : Jos 9:1, Jos 9:3, Jos 9:9; 1Sa 2:30; 2Sa 7:9; Mat 4:24, Mat 14:1

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Jos 6:23

The part of the wall adjoining Rahab’ s house had not fallen along with the rest. Rahab and "all that she had,"i. e., the persons belonging to her household, were brought out and "left without the camp of Israel."These words literally "made to rest outside the camp of Israel"- indicate that being still in their paganism, they were separated from the camp of the Lord. This was only for a time. They desired, and eventually obtained, admission to the covenant of the chosen people of God Jos 6:25.

Barnes: Jos 6:25

Even unto this day - These words are rightly noted as implying that the narrative was written not long after the occurrences which it records.

Barnes: Jos 6:26

Adjured - i. e. put an oath upon them; or, perhaps, actually caused them themselves to take an oath (compare Mat 26:63). The words of the oath have in the original a rhythmical character which would tend to keep them on the lips and in the memory of the people.

Buildeth this city - i. e. rebuilds the fortifications. Jericho was at once occupied by the Benjamites. Jos 18:21, and the natural advantages of the situation were such that it would not be likely to be left long desolate. Joshua speaks in the text as a warrior. He lays a ban on the re-erection of those lofty walls which had bidden defiance to God’ s host, and been by God’ s signal interposition overthrown. Hiel, the Bethelite, reckless of the prophecy recorded in our text, began and completed the circumvallation of the city a second time (see the marginal reference). Hiel did not found a new city but only fortified an existing one.

He shall lay the foundation thereof in his first-born - i. e. when he begins this work his eldest son shall die, when he completes it his youngest shall die (see 1Ki 16:34 note).

This chapter read in the light of the New Testament has indications of a further import and bearing than such as concerned Joshua and the Jews. As Joshua, the leader and captain of the Jewish theocracy, is a type of Christ, so is Jericho to be taken (with all Christian expositors) as a type of the powers opposed to Christ and His cause. The times which prepare for the close of God’ s present dispensation are signified in the days during which the people obeyed and waited; as the number of those days, seven, the number of perfection, represents that "fullness of time,"known only to God, at which His dispensation will culminate and close. Thus the circumstances which lead up to the fall of Jericho are an acted prophecy, as was that fall itself, which sets forth the overthrow of all that resists the kingdom of which Christ is the head; and particularly the day of judgment, in which that overthrow will be fully and finally accomplished. Paul, in describing that day, seems to borrow his imagery from this chapter (see 1Th 4:16).

Poole: Jos 6:21

Being commanded to do so by the sovereign Lord of every man’ s life; and being informed by God before that the Canaanites were abominably wicked, and deserved the severest punishments. As for the infants, they were guilty of original sin, and otherwise at the disposal of their Creator, as the clay is in the hands of the potter; but if they had been wholly innocent, it was a great favour to them to take them away in infancy, rather than reserve them to those dreadful calamities which those who survived them were liable to.

Poole: Jos 6:22

The harlot’ s house together with the wall upon which it leaned, was left standing, either by a special favour of God to her, or for the reason alleged upon Jos 6:5 .

Poole: Jos 6:23

Till they were cleansed from the impurities of their Gentile state, and instructed in the Jewish religion, and solemnly admitted into that church in the usual way, to which Rahab’ s good counsel and example had doubtless very much prepared them; and this stupendous work of God confirmed their purposes.

Poole: Jos 6:25

For that general command of rooting out the Canaanites seems to have had some exception, in case any of them had sincerely and seasonably cast off their idolatry and wickedness, and submitted themselves to the Israelites, as we shall see hereafter.

Poole: Jos 6:26

Adjured them or, made them to swear; caused the people, or some in the name of all, to swear for the present and succeeding generations, and to confirm their oath by a curse.

Before the Lord i.e. from God’ s presence, and by his sentence, as they are said to east lots before the Lord, Jos 18:8,10 , i.e. expecting the decision from God. He intimates, that he doth not utter this in a passion, or upon a particular dislike of that place, but by Divine inspiration, as appears from 1Ki 16:34 . God would have the ruins of this city remain as a standing monument of God’ s justice against this wicked and idolatrous people, and of his almighty power in destroying so great and strong a city by such contemptible means.

That riseth up and buildeth i.e. that shall attempt or endeavour to build it. So this curse is restrained to the builder, but no way belongs to those who should inhabit it after it was built, as is evident from 2Ki 2:18 Luk 19:1,5 . The builder shall lose all his children in the work, the first at the beginning, others in the progress of it by degrees, and the youngest in the close of it, when the gates use to be set up. This was fulfilled, 1Ki 16:34 .

Haydock: Jos 6:23

Men. Hebrew, "boys;" a name given to people advanced in years. ---

Camp. A respect for the majesty of God, would not permit the Israelites to introduce unbelievers into the camp. They were first instructed, and then the men were circumcised, and the women received baptism. (Calmet)

Haydock: Jos 6:25

Day. Rahab prefigured the wild olive tree, which St. Paul says was engrafted on the good olive tree, (Romans xi. 24,) and which will remain till the end of the world. (Theodoret, q. 8.) She married Salmon, of the tribe of Juda, and became the ancestor of David and of the Messias. (Calmet)

Haydock: Jos 6:26

Cursed, &c. Jericho, in the mystical sense, signifies iniquity; the sounding of the trumpets by the priests, signifies the preaching of the word of God; by which the walls of Jericho are thrown down, when sinners are converted; and a dreadful curse will light on them who build them up again. (Challoner) ---

Gates. Some copies of the Septuagint insert here that the curse fell upon Azan (Hiel) of Bethel, 3 Kings xvi. 34. Before his time, there was a city of palm-trees, or Jericho, built in the neighbourhood. (Josephus, Jewish Wars v. 4.) Though Hiel was so severely punished, no one made any scruple to live there. Elias and Jesus Christ himself honoured the place with their presence. The city is now almost in ruins, and the territory uncultivated. Ancient history mentions similar imprecations against obnoxious cities. Thus the Romans cursed the rebuilders of Carthage, and Agamemnon followed "the ancient custom," says Strabo, (xiii.) laying a curse upon those who should rebuild the city of Troy. The Ionians and Greeks forbad those temples to be re-established, which the Persians had destroyed, that they might remain eternal monuments of the impiety of the latter, and of the hatred which subsisted between the two nations. (Pausanias in Phoc.) (Calmet)

Gill: Jos 6:21

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, Deu 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.

Gill: Jos 6:22

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.

Gill: Jos 6:23

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.

Gill: Jos 6:24

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, Rev 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.

Gill: Jos 6:25

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, Mat 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, Mat 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.

Gill: Jos 6:26

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, Luk 19:1.

Gill: Jos 6:27

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.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Jos 6:21

¹ tn Heb “all which was in the city.”

NET Notes: Jos 6:22

¹ tn Heb “the house of the woman, the prostitute.”

² tn Heb “and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her as you swore on oath to her.”

NET Notes: Jos 6:23

¹ tn Or “placed them outside.”

NET Notes: Jos 6:24

¹ tn The Hebrew text adds “with fire.”

² tn Heb “the treasury of the house of the Lord.” Technically the Lord did not have a “house” yet, so perhaps this refers to the tabernacle using later terminology.

NET Notes: Jos 6:25

¹ tn Heb “kept alive.”

² tn Heb the house of her father.”

³ tn Or “among the Israelites”; Heb “in the midst of Israel.”

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

NET Notes: Jos 6:26

¹ tn Normally the Hiphil of שָׁבַע (shava’) has a causative sense (“make [someone] take an oath”; see Josh 2:17, 20), but here (see also Josh 23:7) no object is stated or implied. If Joshua is calling divine judgment down upon the one who attempts to rebuild Jericho, then “make a solemn appeal [to God as judge]” or “pronounce a curse” would be an appropriate translation. However, the tone seems stronger. Joshua appears to be announcing the certain punishment of the violator. 1 Kgs 16:34, which records the fulfillment of Joshua’s prediction, supports this. Casting Joshua in a prophetic role, it refers to Joshua’s statement as the “word of the Lord” spoken through Joshua.

² tn Heb “rises up and builds.”

³ tc The LXX omits “Jericho.” It is probably a scribal addition.

⁴ tn The Hebrew phrase אָרוּר לִפְנֵי יְהוָה (’arur lifney yÿhvah, “cursed [i.e., condemned] before the Lord”) also occurs in 1 Sam 26:19.

⁵ tn Heb “With his firstborn he will lay its foundations and with his youngest he will erect its gates.” The Hebrew verb יַצִּיב (yatsiv, “he will erect”) is imperfect, not jussive, suggesting Joshua’s statement is a prediction, not an imprecation.

NET Notes: Jos 6:27

¹ tn Heb “and the report about him was in all the land.” The Hebrew term אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”) may also be translated “earth.”

Geneva Bible: Jos 6:23

And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them ^{( n )} without the camp of Israel.

^{( n )} For it was not lawful for strangers to dwell among the Israelites, till they were purged.

Geneva Bible: Jos 6:24

And they burnt the city with fire, and all that [was] therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the ^{( o )} house of the LORD.

^{( o )} Meaning, the tabernacle.

Geneva Bible: Jos 6:25

And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she ^{( p )} dwelleth in Israel [even] unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

^{( p )} For she was married to Salmon prince of the tribe of Judah, (Mat 1:5).

Geneva Bible: Jos 6:26

And Joshua adjured [them] at that time, saying, Cursed [be] the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: ^{( q )} he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest [son] shall he set up the gates of it.

^{( q )} He will build it to the destruction of all his stock, which was fulfilled in Hiel of Beth-el, (1Ki 16:34).

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Jos 6:1-27

1 Jericho is shut up.

2 God instructs Joshua how to beseige it.

12 The city is compassed.

17 It must be accursed.

20 The walls fall down.

22 Rahab is saved.

26 The builder of Jericho is cursed.

Maclaren: Jos 6:25

Joshua 6:25

This story comes in like an oasis in these terrible narratives of Canaanite extermination. There is much about it that is beautiful and striking, but the main thing is that it teaches the universality of God's mercy, and the great truth that trust in Him unites to Him and brings deliverance, how black soever may have been the previous life.

I need not tell over again the story, told with such inimitable picturesqueness here: how the two spies, swimming the Jordan in flood, set out on their dangerous mission and found themselves in the house of Rahab, a harlot; how the king sent to capture them, how she hid them among the flax-stalks bleaching on the fiat roof, confessed faith in Israel's God and lied steadfastly to save them, how they escaped to the Quarantania hills, how she perished not' in the capture, entered into the community of Israel, was married, and took her place--hers!--in the line of David's and Christ's ancestries.

The point of interest is her being, notwithstanding her previous position and history, one of the few instances in which heathen were brought into Israel. The Epistle to the Hebrews and James both refer to her. We now consider her story as embodying for us some important truths about faith in its nature, its origin, its power.

I. Faith In Its Constant Essence And Its Varying Objects.

Her creed was very short and simple. She abjured idols, and believed that Jehovah was the one God. She knew nothing of even the Mosaic revelation, nothing of its moral law or of its sacrifices. And yet the Epistle to the Hebrews has no scruple in ascribing faith to her. The object of that Epistle is to show that Christianity is Judaism perfected. It labors to establish that objectively there has been advance, not contradiction, and that subjectively there is absolute identity. It has always been faith that has bound men to God. That faith may co-exist with very different degrees of illumination. Not the creed, but the trust, is the all-important matter. This applies to all pre-Christian times and to all heathen lands. Our faith has a fuller gospel to lay hold of. Do not neglect it.

Beware lest people with less light and more love get in before you, who shall come from the east and the west.'

II. Faith In Its Origin In Fear.

There are many roads to faith, and it matters little which we take, so long as we get to the goal. This is one, and some people seem to think that it is a very low and unworthy one, and one which we should never urge upon men. But there are a side of the divine nature and a mode of the divine government which properly evoke fear.

God's moral government, His justice and retribution, are facts.

Fear is an inevitable and natural consequence of feeling that His justice is antagonistic to us. The work of conscience is precisely to create such fear. Not to feel it is to fall below manhood or to be hardened by sin.

That fear is meant to lead us to God and love. Rahab fled to God. Peter' girt his fisher's coat to him,' and lost his fear in the sunshine of Christ's face, as a rainbow trembles out of a thunder-cloud when touched by sunbeams.

We have all grounds enough to fear.Urge these as a reason for trust.

III. Faith In Its Relation To The Previous Life.

It is a strange instance of blindness that attempts have been made to soften down the Bible's plain speaking about Rahab's character.

In her story we have an anticipation of New Testament teaching.

The' woman that was a sinner.'Mary Magdalene.Then drew near all the publicans and sinners for to hear Him.'

She shows us that there is no hopeless guilt. None is so in regard to the effects of sin on a soul. There is no heart so indurate as that its capacity for being stirred by the divine message is killed.

There is none hopeless in regard to God.

His love embraces all, however bad. The bond which unites to Him is not blamelessness of life but simple trust.

The grossest vice is not so thorough a barrier as self-satisfied self-righteousness.

A thin slice of crystal will bar the entrance of air more effectually than many folds of stuff.

IV. Faith In Its Practical Effects.

Rahab's story shows how living faith, like a living stream, will cut a channel for itself, and must needs flow out into the life.

Hence James is right in using her as an example of how we are justified by works and not by faith only,' and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews is equally right in enrolling her in his great muster-roll of heroes and heroines of faith, and asserting that by faith' she perished not among them who believed not.' The one writer fastens on a later stage in her experience than does the other. James points to the rich fruit, the Epistle to the Hebrews goes deeper and lays bare the root from which the life rose to the clusters.

The faith that saves is not a barren intellectual process, nor an idle trust in Christ's salvation, but a practical power. If genuine it will mould and impel the life.

So Rahab's faith led her, as ours, if real, will lead us, to break with old habits and associations contrary to itself. She ceased to be Rahab the harlot,' she forsook her own people and her father's house.' But her conquest of her old self was gradual. A lie was a strange kind of first-fruits of faith. Its true fruit takes time to flower and swell and come to ripeness and sweetness.

So we should not expect old heads on young shoulders, nor wonder if people, lifted from the dunghills of the world, have some stench and rags of their old vices hanging about them still. That thought should moderate our expectations of the characters of converts from heathenism, or from the degraded classes at home. And it should be present to ourselves, when we find in ourselves sad recurrences of faults and sins that we know should have been cast out, and that we hoped had been so.

This thought enhances our wondering gratitude for the divine long-suffering which bears with our slow progress. Our great Teacher never loses patience with His dull scholars.

V. Faith As The Means Of Deliverance And Safety.

From external evils it delivers us or not, as God may will. James was no less dear, and no less faithful, than John, though he was early slain with the sword,' and his brother died in extreme old age in Ephesus. Paul looked forward to being' delivered from every evil work,' though he knew that the time of his being' offered' was at hand, because the deliverance that he looked for was his being saved into His heavenly kingdom.'

That true deliverance is infallibly ours, if by faith we have made the Deliverer ours.

There is a more terrible fall of a worse city than Jericho, in that day when the city of the terrible ones shah be laid low,' and our Joshua brings it to the ground, even to the dust.' In that same day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: we have a strong city, salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks,' and into that eternal home He will certainly lead all who are joined to Him, and separated from their foul old selves, and from the city of destruction,' by faith in Him.

MHCC: Jos 6:17-27

Jericho was to be a solemn and awful sacrifice to the justice of God, upon those who had filled up the measure of their sins. So He appoints, from whom, as creatures, they received their lives, and to whom, as sinners, they had forfeited them. Rahab perished not with them that believed not, Heb 11:31. All her kindred were saved with her; thus faith in Christ brings salvation to the house, Act 16:31. She, and they with her, were plucked as brands from the burning. With Rahab, or with the men of Jericho; our portion must be assigned, as we posses or disregard the sign of salvation; even faith in Christ, which worketh by love. Let us remember what depends upon our choice, and let us choose accordingly. God shows the weight of a Divine curse; where it rests there is no getting from under it; for it brings ruin without remedy.

Matthew Henry: Jos 6:17-27

The people had religiously observed the orders given them concerning the besieging of Jericho, and now at length Joshua had told them (Jos 6:16), " The Lord hath given you the city, enter and take possession."Accordingly in these verses we have,

I. The rules they were to observe in taking possession. God gives it to them, and therefore may direct it to what uses and intents, and clog it with what provisos and limitations he thinks fit. It is given to them to be devoted to God, as the first and perhaps the worst of all the cities of Canaan. 1. The city must be burnt, and all the lives in it sacrificed without mercy to the justice of God. All this they knew was included in those words, Jos 6:17. The city shall be a cherem , a devoted thing, at and all therein, to the Lord. No life in it might be ransomed upon any terms; they must all be surely put to death, Lev 27:29. So he appoints from whom as creatures they had received their lives, and to whom as sinners they had forfeited them; and who may dispute his sentence? Is God unrighteous, who thus taketh vengeance? God forbid we should entertain such a thought! There was more of God seen in the taking of Jericho than of any other of the cities of Canaan, and therefore that must be more than any other devoted to him. And the severe usage of this city would strike a terror upon all the rest and melt their hearts yet more before Israel. Only, when this severity is ordered, Rahab and her family are excepted: She shall live and all that are with her. She had distinguished herself from her neighbours by the kindness she showed to Israel, and therefore shall be distinguished from them by the speedy return of that kindness. 2. All the treasure of it, the money and plate and valuable goods, must be consecrated to the service of the tabernacle, and brought into the stock of dedicated things, the Jews say because the city was taken on the sabbath day. Thus God would be honoured by the beautifying and enriching of his tabernacle; thus preparation was made for the extraordinary expenses of his service; and thus the Israelites were taught not to set their hearts upon worldly wealth nor to aim at heaping up abundance of it for themselves. God had promised them a land flowing with milk and honey, not a land abounding with silver and gold; for he would have them live comfortably in it, that they might serve him cheerfully, but not covet either to trade with distant countries or to hoard for after times. He would likewise have them to reckon themselves enriched in the enriching of the tabernacle, and to think that which was laid up in God's house as truly their honour and wealth as if it had been laid up in their own. 3. A particular caution is given them to take heed of meddling with the forbidden spoil; for what was devoted to God, if they offered to appropriate it to their own use, would prove accursed to them; therefore (Jos 6:18) " In any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing; you will find yourselves inclined to reach towards it, but check yourselves, and frighten yourselves from having any thing to do with it."He speaks as if he foresaw the sin of Achan, which we have an account of in the next chapter, when he gives this reason for the caution, lest you make the camp of Israel a curse and trouble it, as it proved that Achan did.

II. The entrance that was opened to them into the city by the sudden fall of the walls, or at least that part of the wall over against which they then were when they gave the shout (Jos 6:20): The wall fell down flat, and probably killed abundance of people, the guards that stood sentinel upon it, or others that crowded about it, to look at the Israelites that were walking round. We read of thousands killed by the fall of a wall, 1Ki 20:30. that which they trusted to for defence proved their destruction. The sudden fall of the wall, no doubt, put the inhabitants into such a consternation that they had no strength nor spirit to make any resistance, but they became an easy prey to the sword of Israel, and saw to how little purpose it was to shut their gates against a people that had the Lord on the head of them, Mic 2:13. Note, The God of heaven easily can, and certainly will, break down all the opposing power of his and his church's enemies. Gates of brass and bars of iron are, before him, but as straw and rotten wood, Isa 45:1, Isa 45:2. Who will bring me into the strong city? Wilt not thou, O God? Psa 60:9, Psa 60:10. Thus shall Satan's kingdom fall, nor shall any prosper that harden themselves against God.

III. The execution of the orders given concerning this devoted city. All that breathed were put to the sword; not only the men that were found in arms, but the women, and children, and old people. Though they cried for quarter, and begged ever so earnestly for their lives, there was no room for compassion, pity must be forgotten: they utterly destroyed all, Jos 6:21. If they had not had a divine warrant under the seal of miracles for this execution, it could not have been justified, nor can it justify the like now, when we are sure no such warrant can be produced. But, being appointed by the righteous Judge of heaven and earth to do it, who is not unrighteous in taking vengeance, they are to be applauded in doing it as the faithful ministers of his justice. Work for God was then bloody work; and cursed was he that did it deceitfully, keeping back his sword from blood, Jer 48:10. But the spirit of the gospel is very different, for Christ came not to destroy men's lives but to save them, Luk 9:56. Christ's victories were of another nature. The cattle were put to death with the owners, as additional sacrifices to the divine justice. The cattle of the Israelites, when slain at the altar, were accepted as sacrifices for them, but the cattle of these Canaanites were required to be slain as sacrifices with them, for their iniquity was not to be purged with sacrifice and offering: both were for the glory of God. 2. The city was burnt with fire, and all that was in it, Jos 6:24. The Israelites, perhaps, when they had taken Jericho, a large and well-built city, hoped they should have that for their head-quarters; but God will have them yet to dwell in tents, and therefore fires this nest, lest they should nestle in it. 3. All the silver and gold, and all those vessels which were capable of being purified by fire, were brought into the treasury of the house of the Lord; not that he needed it but that he would be honoured by it, as the Lord of hosts, of their hosts in particular, the God that gave the victory and therefore might demand the spoil, either the whole, as here, or, as sometimes, a tenth, Heb 7:4.

IV. The preservation of Rahab the harlot, or inn-keeper, who perished not with those that believed not, Heb 11:31. The public faith was engaged for her safety by the two spies, who acted therein as public persons; and therefore, though the hurry they were in at the taking of the town was no doubt very great, yet Joshua took effectual care for her preservation. The same persons that she had secured were employed to secure her, Jos 6:22, Jos 6:23. They were best able to do it who knew her and her house, and they were fittest to do it, that it might appear it was for the sake of her kindness to them that she was thus distinguished and had her life given her for a prey. All her kindred were saved with her; like Noah she believed to the saving of her house; and thus faith in Christ brings salvation to the house, Act 16:31. Some ask how her house, which is said to have been upon the wall (Jos 2:15), escaped falling with the wall; we are sure it did escape, for she and her relations were safe in it, either though it joined so near to the wall as to be said to be upon it, yet it was so far off as not to fall either with the wall or under it; or, rather, that part of the wall on which her house stood fell not. Now being preserved alive, 1. She was left for some time without the camp to be purified from the Gentile superstition, which she was to renounce, and to be prepared for her admission as a proselyte. 2. She was in due time incorporated with the church of Israel, and she and her posterity dwelt in Israel, and her family was remarkable long after. We find her the wife of Salmon, prince of Judah, mother of Boaz, and named among the ancestors of our Saviour, Mat 1:5. Having received Israelites in the name of Israelites, she had an Israelite's reward. Bishop Pierson observes that Joshua's saving Rahab the harlot, and admitting her into Israel, were a figure of Christ's receiving into his kingdom, and entertaining there, the publicans and the harlots, Mat 21:31. Or it may be applied to the conversion of the Gentiles.

V. Jericho is condemned to a perpetual desolation, and a curse pronounced upon the man that at any time hereafter should offer to rebuild it (Jos 6:26): Joshua adjured them, that is, the elders and people of Israel, not only by their own consent, obliging themselves and their posterity never to rebuild this city, but by the divine appointment, God himself having forbidden it under the sever penalty here annexed. 1. God would hereby show the weight of a divine curse; where it rests there is no contending with it nor getting from under it; it brings ruin without remedy or repair. 2. He would have it to remain in its ruins a standing monument of his wrath against the Canaanites when the measure of their iniquity was full, and of his mercy to his people when the time had come for their settlement in Canaan. The desolations of their enemies were witnesses of his favour to them, and would upbraid them with their ingratitude to that God who had done so much for them. The situation of the city was very pleasant, and probably its nearness to Jordan was an advantage to it, which would tempt men to build upon the same spot; but they are here told it is at their peril if they do it. Men build for their posterity, but he that builds Jericho shall have no posterity to enjoy what he builds; his eldest son shall die when he begins the work, and if he take not warning by that stroke to desist, but will go on presumptuously, the finishing of his work shall be attended with the funeral of his youngest, and we must suppose all the rest cut off between. This curse, not being a curse causeless, did come upon that man who long after rebuilded Jericho (1Ki 16:34), but we are not to think it made the place ever the worse when it was built, or brought any hurt to those that inhabited it. We find Jericho afterwards graced with the presence, not only of those two great prophets Elijah and Elisha, but of our blessed Saviour himself, Luk 18:35; Luk 19:1; Mat 20:29. Note, It is a dangerous thing to attempt the building up of that which God will have to be destroyed. See Mal 1:4.

Lastly, All this magnified Joshua and raised his reputation (Jos 6:27); it made him not only acceptable to Israel, but formidable to the Canaanites, because it appeared that God was with him of a truth: the Word of the Lord was with him, so the Chaldee, even Christ himself, the same that was with Moses. Nothing can more raise a man's reputation, nor make him appear more truly great, than to have the evidences of God's presence with him.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jos 6:6-27

Taking of Jericho. - In the account of this we have first of all a brief statement of the announcement of the divine message by Joshua to the priests and the people (Jos 6:6, Jos 6:7); then the execution of the divine command (Jos 6:8-20); and lastly the burning of Jericho and deliverance of Rahab (Jos 6:21-27).

Jos 6:6-7

In communicating the divine command with reference to the arrangements for taking Jericho, Joshua mentions in the first place merely the principal thing to be observed. The plural ויּאמרוּ ("they said"), in Jos 6:7, must not be altered, but is to be explained on the ground that Joshua did not make the proclamation to the people himself, but through the medium oft he shoterim, who were appointed to issue his commands (see Jos 1:10-11; Jos 3:2-3). In this proclamation the more minute instructions concerning the order of march, which had been omitted in Jos 6:3-5, are given; namely, that החלוּץ was to march in front of the ark. By החלוּץ , "the equipped (or armed) man," we are not to understand all the fighting men, as Knobel supposes; for in the description of the march which follows, the whole of the fighting men ("all the men of war,"Jos 6:3) are divided into החלוּץ and המּאסּף ( Eng. Ver . "the armed men"and "the rereward,"Jos 6:9 and Jos 6:13), so that the former can only have formed one division of the army. It is very natural therefore to suppose, as Kimchi and Rashi do, that the former were the fighting men of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh ( הצּבא חלוּצי , Jos 4:13), and the latter the fighting men of the rest of the tribes. On the meaning of מאסּף , see at Num 10:25. If we turn to the account of the facts themselves, we shall see at once, that in the report of the angel's message, in Jos 6:3-5, several other points have been passed over for the purpose of avoiding too many repetitions, and have therefore to be gathered from the description of what actually occurred. First of all, in Jos 6:8-10, we have the appointment of the order of marching, namely, that the ark, with the priests in front carrying the trumpets of jubilee, was to form the centre of the procession, and that one portion of the fighting men was to go in front of it, and the rest to follow after; that the priests were to blow the trumpets every time they marched round during the seven days (Jos 6:8, Jos 6:9, Jos 6:13); and lastly, that it was not till the seventh time of going round, on the seventh day, that the people were to raise the war-cry at the command of Joshua, and then the walls of the town were to fall (Jos 6:10, Jos 6:16). There can be no doubt that we are right in assuming that Joshua had received from the angel the command which he issued to the people in Jos 6:17., that the whole town, with all its inhabitants and everything in it, was to be given up as a ban to the Lord, at the time when the first announcement concerning the fall of the town was made.

Jos 6:8-10

Execution of the divine Command . - Jos 6:8-11. The march round on the first day; and the instructions as to the war-cry to be raised by the people, which are appended as a supplement in Jos 6:10. "Before Jehovah," instead of "before the ark of Jehovah,"as the signification of the ark was derived entirely from the fact, that it was the medium through which Jehovah communicated His gracious presence to the people. In Jos 6:9, תּקעוּ is in the perfect tense, and we must supply the relative אשׁר , which is sometimes omitted, not only in poetry, but also in prose, after a definite noun in the accusative (e.g., Exo 18:20; see Ewald , §332, a .). There is not sufficient ground for altering the form of the word into תּקעי , according to the Keri , as תּקע is construed in other cases with the accusative השּׁופר , instead of with בּ , and that not only in poetry, but also in prose (e.g., Jdg 7:22, as compared with Jdg 7:18-20). ותקוע הלוך , "trumpeting continually" (Eng. Ver. "going on and blowing"). הלוך is used adverbially, as in Gen 8:3, etc.

Jos 6:11

"So the ark of the Lord compassed the city," not "Joshua caused the ark to compass the city."The Hiphil has only an active, not a causative, meaning here, as in 2Sa 5:23, etc.

Jos 6:12-14

The march on each of the next five days resembled that on the first. "So they did six days." In Jos 6:13, ותקעוּ does not stand for ותקוע , but corresponds to ותקעוּ in Jos 6:8; and the participle הולך is used interchangeably with the inf. abs. הלוך , as in Gen 26:13; Jdg 4:24, etc., so that the Keri הלוך is an unnecessary emendation.

Jos 6:15-20

On the seventh day the marching round the town commenced very early, at the dawning of the day, that they might go round seven times. כּמּשׁפּט , in the manner prescribed and carried out on the previous days, which had become a right through precept and practice. On the seventh circuit, when the priests had blown the trumpet, Joshua commanded the fighting men to raise a war-cry, announcing to them at the same time that the town, with all that was in it, was to be a ban to the Lord, with the exception of Rahab and the persons in her house, and warning them not to take of that which was laid under the ban, that they might not bring a ban upon the camp of Israel. The construction in v. 16, "it came to pass at the seventh time the priests had blown the trumpets, then Joshua said, ... " is more spirited than if the conjunction כּאשׁר had been used before תּקעוּ , or בּתקוע had been used. Because the Lord had given Jericho into the hands of the Israelites, they were to consecrate it to Him as a ban ( cherem ), i.e., as a holy thing belonging to Jehovah, which was not to be touched by man, as being the first-fruits of the land of Canaan. (On cherem , see the remarks at Lev 27:28-29.) Rahab alone was excepted from this ban, along with all that belonged to her, because she had hidden the spies. The inhabitants of an idolatrous town laid under the ban were to be put to death, together with their cattle, and all the property in the town to be burned, as Moses himself had enjoined on the basis of the law in Lev 27:29. The only exceptions were metals, gold, silver, and the vessels of brass and iron; these were to be brought into the treasury of the Lord, i.e., the treasury of the tabernacle, as being holy to the Lord (Jos 6:19; vid., Num 31:54). Whoever took to himself anything that had been laid under the ban, exposed himself to the ban, not only because he had brought an abomination into his house, as Moses observes in Deu 7:25, in relation to the gold and silver of idols, but because he had wickedly invaded the rights of the Lord, by appropriating that which had been laid under the ban, and had wantonly violated the ban itself. The words, "beware of the ban, that ye do not ban and take of the ban" (Jos 6:18), point to this. As Lud. de Dieu observes, "the two things were altogether incompatible, to devote everything to God, and yet to apply a portion to their own private use; either the thing should not have been devoted, or having been devoted, it was their duty to abstain from it."Any such appropriation of what had been laid under the ban would make the camp of Israel itself a ban, and trouble it, i.e., bring it into trouble ( conturbare , cf. Gen 34:30). In consequence of the trumpet-blast and the war-cry raised by the people, the walls of the town fell together, and the Israelites rushed into the town and took it, as had been foretold in Jos 6:5. The position of העם ויּרע is not to be understood as signifying that the people had raised the war-cry before the trumpet-blast, but may be explained on the ground, that in his instructions in Jos 6:16 Joshua had only mentioned the shouting. But any misinterpretation is prevented by the fact, that it is expressly stated immediately afterwards, that the people did not raise the great shout till they heard the trumpet-blast.

As far as the event itself is concerned, the difference attempts which have been made to explain the miraculous overthrow of the walls of Jericho as a natural occurrence, whether by an earthquake, or by mining, or by sudden storming, for which the inhabitants, who had been thrown into a false security by the marvellous procession repeated day after day for several days, were quite unprepared (as Ewald has tried to explain the miracle away), really deserve no serious refutation, being all of them arbitrarily forced upon the text. It is only from the naturalistic stand-point that the miracle could ever be denied; for it not only follows most appropriately upon the miraculous guidance of Israel through the Jordan, but is in perfect harmony with the purpose and spirit of the divine plan of salvation. "It is impossible,"says Hess , "to imagine a more striking way, in which it could have been shown to the Israelites that Jehovah had given them the town. Now the river must retire to give them an entrance into the land, and now again the wall of the town must fall to make an opening into a fortified place. Two such decisive proofs of the co-operation of Jehovah so shortly after Moses' death, must have furnished a pledge, even to the most sensual, that the same God was with them who had led their fathers so mightily and so miraculously through the Read Sea."That this was in part the intention of the miracle, we learn from the close of the narrative (Jos 6:27). But this does not explain the true object of the miracle, or the reason why God gave up this town to the Israelites without any fighting on their part, through the miraculous overthrow of their walls. The reason for this we have to look for in the fact that Jericho was not only the first, but the strongest town of Canaan, and as such was the key to the conquest of the whole land, the possession of which would open the way to the whole, and give the whole, as it were, into their hands. The Lord would give His people the first and strongest town of Canaan, as the first-fruits of the land, without any effort on their part, as a sign that He was about to give them the whole land for a possession, according to His promise; in order that they might not regard the conquest of it as their own work, or the fruit of their own exertions, and look upon the land as a well-merited possession which they could do as they pleased with, but that they might ever use it as a gracious gift from the Lord, which he had merely conferred upon them as a trust, and which He could take away again, whenever they might fall from Him, and render themselves unworthy of His grace. This design on the part of God would of necessity become very obvious in the case of so strongly fortified a town as Jericho, whose walls would appear impregnable to a people that had grown up in the desert and was so utterly without experience in the art of besieging or storming fortified places, and in fact would necessarily remain impregnable, at all events for a long time, without the interposition of God. But if this was the reason why the Lord gave up Jericho to the Israelites by a miracle, it does not explain either the connection between the blast of trumpets or the war-cry of the people and the falling of the walls, or the reason for the divine instructions that the town was to be marched round every day for seven days, and seven times on the seventh day. Yet as this was an appointment of divine wisdom, it must have had some meaning.

The significance of this repeated marching round the town culminates unquestionably in the ark of the covenant and the trumpet-blast of the priests who went before the ark. In the account before us the ark is constantly called the ark of the Lord, to show that the Lord, who was enthroned upon the cherubim of the ark, was going round the hostile town in the midst of His people; whilst in Jos 6:8 Jehovah himself is mentioned in the place of the ark of Jehovah. Seven priests went before the ark, bearing jubilee trumpets and blowing during the march. The first time that we read of a trumpet-blast is at Sinai, where the Lord announced His descent upon the mount to the people assembled at the foot to receive Him, not only by other fearful phenomena, but also by a loud and long-continued trumpet-blast (Exo 19:16, Exo 19:19; Exo 20:14-18). After this we find the blowing of trumpets prescribed as part of the Israelitish worship in connection with the observance of the seventh new moon's day (Lev 23:24), and at the proclamation of the great year of jubilee (Lev 25:9). Just as the trumpet-blast heard by the people when the covenant was made at Sinai was as it were a herald's call, announcing to the tribes of Israel the arrival of the Lord their God to complete His covenant and establish His kingdom upon earth; so the blowing of trumpets in connection with the round of feasts was intended partly to bring the people into remembrance before the Lord year by year at the commencement of the sabbatical month, that He might come to them and grant them the Sabbath rest of His kingdom, and partly at the end of every seven times seven years to announce on the great day of atonement the coming of the great year of grace and freedom, which was to bring to the people of God deliverance from bondage, return to their own possessions, and deliverance from the bitter labours of this earth, and to give them a foretaste of the blessed and glorious liberty to which the children of God would attain at the return of the Lord to perfect His kingdom (vid., Pentateuch, pp. 631f.). But when the Lord comes to found, to build up, and to perfect His kingdom upon earth, He also comes to overthrow and destroy the worldly power which opposes His kingdom. The revelation of the grace and mercy of God to His children, goes ever side by side with the revelation of justice and judgment towards the ungodly who are His foes. If therefore the blast of trumpets was the signal to the congregation of Israel of the gracious arrival of the Lord its God to enter into fellowship with it, no less did it proclaim the advent of judgment to an ungodly world. This shows clearly enough the meaning of the trumpet-blast at Jericho. The priests, who went before the ark of the covenant (the visible throne of the invisible God who dwelt among His people) and in the midst of the hosts of Israel, were to announce through the blast of trumpets both to the Israelites and Canaanites the appearance of the Lord of the whole earth for judgment upon Jericho, the strong bulwark of the Canaanitish power and rule, and to foretel to them through the falling of the walls of this fortification, which followed the blast of trumpets and the wary-cry of the soldiers of God, the overthrow of all the strong bulwarks of an ungodly world through the omnipotence of the Lord of heaven and earth. Thus the fall of Jericho became the symbol and type of the overthrow of every worldly power before the Lord, when He should come to lead His people into Canaan and establish His kingdom upon earth. On the ground of this event, the blowing of trumpets is frequently introduced in the writings of the prophets, as the signal and symbolical omen of the manifestations of the Lord in great judgments, through which He destroys one worldly power after another, and thus maintains and extends His kingdom upon earth, and leads it on towards that completion to which it will eventually attain when He descends from heaven in His glory at the time of the last trump, with a great shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, to raise the dead and change the living, to judge the world, cast the devil, death, and hell into the lake of fire, create a new heaven and new earth, and in the new Jerusalem erect the tabernacle of God among men for all eternity (1Co 15:51.; 1Th 4:16-17; Rev 20:1; 21).

The appointment of the march round Jericho, which was to be continued for seven days, and to be repeated seven times on the seventh day, was equally significant. The number seven is a symbol in the Scriptures of the work of God and of the perfection already produced or to be eventually secured by Him; a symbol founded upon the creation of the world in six days, and the completion of the works of creation by the resting of God upon the seventh day. Through this arrangement, that the walls of Jericho were not to fall till after they had been marched round for seven days, and not till after this had been repeated seven times on the seventh day, and then amidst the blast of the jubilee trumpets and the war-cry of the soldiers of the people of God, the destruction of this town, the key to Canaan, was intended by God to become a type of the final destruction at the last day of the power of this world, which exalts itself against the kingdom of God. In this way He not only showed to His congregation that it would not be all at once, but only after long-continued conflict, and at the end of the world, that the worldly power by which it was opposed would be overthrown, but also proved to the enemies of His kingdom, that however long their power might sustain itself in opposition to the kingdom of God, it would at last be destroyed in a moment.

Jos 6:21-23

After the taking of Jericho, man and beast were banned, i.e., put to death without quarter (Jos 6:21; cf. Jos 6:17); Rahab and her relations being the only exceptions. Joshua had directed the two spies to fetch them out of her house, and in the first instance had them taken to a place of safety outside the camp of Israel (Jos 6:22, Jos 6:23). "Her brethren," i.e., her brothers and sisters, as in Jos 2:13, not her brothers only. "All that she had" does not mean all her possessions, but all the persons belonging to her house; and "all her kindred "are all her relations by birth or marriage, with their dependants (cf. Jos 2:13). Clericus is correct in observing, that as Rahab's house was built against the town-wall, and rested partly upon it (Jos 2:15), when the wall fell down, that portion against or upon which the house stood cannot have fallen along with the rest, "otherwise when the wall fell no one would have dared to remain in the house."But we must not draw the further inference, that when the town was burned Rahab's house was spared.

(Note: The statements made by travellers in the middle ages, to the effect that they had seen Rahab's house ( Rob . Pal. ii. pp. 295-6), belong to the delusions of pious superstition.)

וגו מחוּץ ויּנּיחוּם (Jos 6:23; cf. Gen 19:16), "they let them rest," i.e., placed them in safety, "outside the camp of Israel," sc., till they had done all that was requisite for a formal reception into the congregation of the Lord, viz., by giving up idolatry and heathen superstition, and turning to the God of Israel as the only true God (to which circumcision had to be added in the case of the men), and by whatever lustrations and purifications were customary at the time in connection with reception into the covenant with Jehovah, of which we have no further information.

Jos 6:24-25

After man and beast had been put to death, and Rahab and her relatives had been placed in security, the Israelites set the town on fire with everything in it, excepting the metals, which were taken to the treasury of the tabernacle, as had been commanded in Jos 6:19. On the conquest of the other towns of Canaan the inhabitants only were put to death, whilst the cattle and the rest of the booty fell to the conquerors, just as in the case of the conquest of the land and towns of Sihon and Og (compare Jos 8:26-27; Jos 10:28, with Deu 2:34-35, and Deu 3:6-7), as it was only the inhabitants of Canaan that the Lord had commanded to be put under the ban (Deu 7:2; Deu 20:16-17). In the case of Jericho, on the contrary, men, cattle, and booty were all put under the ban, and the town itself was to be laid in ashes. This was because Jericho was the first town of Canaan which the Lord had given up to His people. Israel was therefore to sacrifice it to the Lord as the first-fruits of the land, and to sanctify it to Him as a thing placed under the ban, for a sign that they had received the whole land as a fief from his hand, and had no wish to grasp as a prey that which belonged to the Lord.

Jos 6:25

But Rahab and all that belonged to her Joshua suffered to live, so that she dwelt in Israel "unto this day." It is very evident from this remark, that the account was written not very long after the event.

(Note: Rahab is no doubt the same person as the Rachab mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, who married Salmon the tribe prince of Judah, to whom she bore Boaz, an ancestor of David (Mat 1:5). The doubts which Theophylact expressed as to the identity of the two, and which J. Outhou has since sought to confirm, rest for the most part upon the same doctrinal scruples as those which induced the author of the Chaldee version to make Rahab an innkeeper, namely, the offence taken at her dishonourable calling. Jerome's view, on the other hand, is a very satisfactory one. "In the genealogy of the Saviour,"he says, "none of the holy women are included, but only those whom the Scriptures blame, that He who came on behalf of sinners, being himself born of sinners, might destroy the sins of all."The different ways in which the name is written, viz., hee Rhacha'b in Matthew, andChaab in the Sept. version of Joshua, and in Heb 11:31 and Jam 2:25, is not enough to throw any doubt upon the identity of the two, as Josephus always calls the harlot Rahab hee Rhacha'bee. The chronological difficulty, that Salmon and Rahab lived much too soon to have been the parents of Boaz, which is adduced by Knobel as an argument against the identity of the mother of Boaz and the harlot Rahab, has no force unless it can be proved that every link is given in the genealogy of David (in Rth 4:21-22; 1Ch 2:11; Mat 1:5), and that Boaz was really the great-grandfather of David; whereas the very opposite, viz., the omission from the genealogies of persons of no celebrity, is placed beyond all doubt by many cases that might be cited. Nothing more is known of Rahab. The accounts of the later Rabbins, such as that she was married to Joshua, or that she was the mother of eight prophets, and others of the same kind, are fables without the slightest historical foundation (see Lightfoot, hor. hebr. et talm. in Mat 1:5).)

Jos 6:26-27

But in order to complete the ban pronounced upon Jericho in perfect accordance with the command of God in Deu 13:17, and to make the destruction of it a memorial to posterity of the justice of God sanctifying itself upon the ungodly, Joshua completed the ban with an oath: "Cursed be the man before the Lord that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho; he shall lay the foundation thereof at the price of his first-born, and set up its gates at the price of his youngest son" ( בּ denoting the price of a thing). The rhythmical parallelism is unmistakeable in this curse. The two last clauses express the thought that the builder of the town would pay for its restoration by the loss of all his sons, from the first-born to the very youngest. The word "buildeth,"however, does not refer to the erection of houses upon the site of the town that had been burnt to ashes, but to the restoration of the town as a fortification, the word בּנה being frequently used to denote the fortification of a town (e.g., 1Ki 15:17; 2Ch 11:6; 2Ch 14:5-6). This is evident in general from the fact that a town is not founded by the erection of a number of houses upon one spot, but by the joining of these houses together into an enclosed whole by means of a surrounding wall, but more particularly from the last words of the verse, in which בּנה is explained as ייסּדנּה (lay the foundation thereof) and דּלתיה יצּיב (set up the gates of it). Setting up the gates of a town is not setting up doors to the houses, but erecting town-gates, which can only be done when a town-wall has been built. But if setting up the gates would be a sign of the completion of the wall, and therefore of the restoration of the town as a fortification, the "founding"(laying the foundation) mentioned in the parallel clause can only be understood as referring to the foundation of the town-wall. This view of the curse, which is well supported both by the language and the facts, is also confirmed by the subsequent history. Joshua himself allotted Jericho to the Benjamites along with certain other towns (Jos 18:21), which proves that he intended them to inhabit it; and accordingly we find the city of palms, i.e., Jericho, mentioned afterwards as an inhabited place (Jdg 3:13; 2Sa 10:5), and yet it was not till the time of Ahab that Joshua's curse was fulfilled, when Hiel the Bethelite undertook to make it into a fortified town (1Ki 16:34).

(Note: Knobel's opinion, that the Jericho mentioned between the times of Joshua and Ahab in all probability did not stand upon the old site which Hiel was the first to build upon again, is at variance with 1Ki 16:34, as it is not stated there that he rebuilt the old site of Jericho, but that he began to build the town of Jericho, which existed, according to 2Sa 10:5 and Jdg 3:13, in the time of David, and even of the judges, i.e., to restore it as a fortified town; and it is not raised into a truth by any appeal to the statements of Strabo , Appian , and others, to the effect that Greeks and Romans did not choose places for building upon which any curse rested.)

Jos 6:27

Thus the Lord was with Joshua, fulfilling His promise to him (Jos 1:5.), so that his fame spread through all the land.

Constable: Jos 5:13--13:1

C. Possession of the land 5:13-12:24

Before Israel entered the land of Canaan, God had been preparing for His people to take possession of it by sovereignly directing the political affairs of Egypt. Egypt had maintained control over Canaan for many years. However with the ascension of Pharaoh Amenhotep II (1417--1379 B.C.) to the throne, Egyptian interest in Canaanite affairs began to decline. Consequently some of the Canaanite kings asserted their independence from Egyptian control and began to increase their influence and to dominate their neighbors. In addition, foreigners besides the Israelites invaded portions of Canaan. Some of the victims of oppression wrote letters to Pharaoh asking for Egyptian assistance. They sent these letters to Amarna, the capital of Egypt at this time, and they are known today as the Amarna Letters. They wrote these documents in cuneiform script. Archaeologists discovered them at Amarna in A.D. 1887. They provide much valuable information on the political and military climate in Canaan during the period of Israel's conquests.⁶⁹

"While Akhenaten [Amenhotep III, 1379-1361 B.C., the son and successor of Amenhotep II] spent his life preoccupied with religious reform, Egyptian prestige in Asia sank to a low ebb. As the Amarna Letters abundantly show, no effort was made by the court to answer the frantic appeals for help made by some princes who still professed loyalty to Egypt. The most common complaint in these letters is that unless Egypt would send troops urgently the land would fall into the hands of the Khapiru. Some historians are inclined to see in these Khapiru the Hebrews of the Bible who at this time were overrunning Palestine."⁷⁰

When the Israelites began their conquest, the Canaanite city-states did not have the protection of Egypt or any other strong world power that they had enjoyed in the past.

Constable: Jos 5:13--7:1

1. The conquest of Jericho 5:13-6:27

5:13-15 "Despite Joshua's long military experience he had never led an attack on a fortified city that was prepared for a long siege. In fact, of all the walled cities in Palestine, Jericho was probably the most invincible. There was also the question of armaments. Israel's army had no siege engines, no battering rams, no catapults, and no moving towers. Their only weapons were slings, arrows, and spears--which were like straws against the walls of Jericho."⁷¹

As Joshua contemplated attacking Jericho, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and assured him of victory.⁷²

"The Canaanite spectre had hatched in Noah's tent (Gen. 9:20-27), had evolved for generations, and now in Joshua's day would be tolerated by God no longer."⁷³

Evidently Joshua was reconnoitering near Jericho only about two miles from Gilgal. He was planning his strategy when he met the Man who identified Himself as the Captain (Prince) of the Lord's host (angelic army; cf. 1 Kings 22:19; 2 Kings 6:8-17; Ps. 148:2; Matt. 26:53; Heb. 1:14). It is obvious that Joshua perceived this Man as a mighty warrior standing before him with sword drawn ready for battle (cf. Num. 22:23; 1 Chron. 21:16). As soon as the Stranger identified Himself, Joshua bowed before Him acknowledging His superiority.

"The stranger's response put everything in proper perspective. God is sovereign. It is never a question whether God is on our side but whether we are on God's side. . . . The purpose of this encounter was not to impart commands but to inspire Joshua with humility and reverence and to instill in him the confidence that God was with him and was in control (cf. 1:9)."⁷⁴

The command to remove his sandals (v. 15) would have convinced Joshua that this was the same God who appeared to Moses at the burning bush (Exod. 3:5).

"As Moses went to investigate the bush (Exod 3:3), so Joshua goes to investigate the mysterious figure confronting him (5:13b)."⁷⁵

"The strange confrontation of 5:13-15 resembles that between Jacob and the man of God at Peniel (Gn. 32:22-32) and that between Moses and the burning bush (Ex. 3:1-4:17). In each case, the human protagonist encounters a divine messenger before facing a life-and-death conflict . . ."⁷⁶

Joshua would hardly have submitted as he did if he had not believed that this Man was the Angel of the Lord (cf. Exod. 3:5; Num. 22:31).

"The scene thus pictures Joshua as the totally obedient servant doing precisely what the divine messenger requires."⁷⁷

God not only instructed Joshua concerning what he should do in the battle ahead, but this theophany assured Joshua that Yahweh would also personally lead His people in battle. We need not conclude, however, that this divine Leader continued to be visible after this. There is no reference to Him in the record of the battle that follows. His appearance on this occasion simply impressed Joshua with the fact that God would be leading Israel.

"The whole sequence--circumcision, Passover, and theophany--emphatically declared that the Israel of conquest was the Israel of exodus. The God who had saved his people out of Egypt would now save them in Canaan."⁷⁸

6:1-5 The parenthetic comment about Jericho that opens this chapter (v. 1) emphasizes the fact that the city had strong fortifications.

As in the previous section, the writer recorded the command of God first (vv. 2-5; cf. Ps. 108:12-13) and then Joshua's execution of the command (vv. 6-21; cf. 3:7-8; 4:1-3, 15-16). Unlike Moses, who at the burning bush argued at length with the Lord about His plan (Exod. 3:11-4:17), Joshua obeyed without question.

6:6-14 The terms "Lord" and "ark" occur interchangeably here (v. 8). The Lord was over the ark, and the ark represented the Lord's presence.

Evidently the whole Israelite nation did not march around the walls of Jericho. Only warriors and priests circled the city (vv. 3, 4, 6, 9, et al.). The "people" referred to in the context (v. 7, 16, et al.) were these people, not all the Israelites. Probably representatives of the tribes participated in this march rather than all the soldiers of Israel. The line of march was as follows: soldiers, priests, the ark, and more soldiers (vv. 6-9, 13).

Jericho was not a large city. Archaeological excavations have revealed that its walls enclosed only about eight and one-half acres. The main part of the Dallas Seminary campus covers about 12 acres.

The trumpets the priests blew (vv. 4, 9, et al.) were not the long silver trumpets but rams horns (shophars). The blowing of trumpets in Israel reminded the people of God's activity for them. The priests used them to call the people to follow God who was going before them in the wilderness. Both functions were applicable on this occasion. The trumpet blasts signaled judgment to the Canaanites but victory to the Israelites (cf. 1 Cor. 15:51; 1 Thess. 4:10-17).

"The first time that we read of a trumpet-blast is at Sinai, where the Lord announced His descent upon the mount to the people assembled at the foot to receive Him, not only by other fearful phenomena, but also by a loud and long-continued trumpet-blast (Ex. xix. 16, 19, xx. 14 (18). After this we find the blowing of trumpets prescribed as part of the Israelitish worship in connection with the observance of the seventh new moon's day (Lev. xxiii. 24), and at the proclamation of the great year of jubilee (Lev. xxv. 9). Just as the trumpet-blast heard by the people when the covenant was made at Sinai was as it were a herald's call, announcing to the tribes of Israel the arrival of the Lord their God to complete His covenant and establish His kingdom upon earth; so the blowing of trumpets in connection with the round of feasts was intended partly to bring the people into remembrance before the Lord year by year at the commencement of the sabbatical month, that He might come to them and grant them the Sabbath rest of His kingdom, and partly at the end of every seven times seven years to announce on the great day of atonement the coming of the great year of grace and freedom, which was to bring to the people of God deliverance from bondage, return to their own possessions, and deliverance from the bitter labours of this earth, and to give them a foretaste of the blessed and glorious liberty to which the children of God would attain at the return of the Lord to perfect His kingdom (vid. Pentateuch, vol. ii, p. 466-7). But when the Lord comes to found, to build up, and to perfect His kingdom upon earth, He also comes to overthrow and destroy the worldly power which opposes His kingdom. The revelation of the grace and mercy of God to His children, goes ever side by side with the revelation of justice and judgment towards the ungodly who are His foes. If therefore the blast of trumpets was the signal to the congregation of Israel of the gracious arrival of the Lord its God to enter into fellowship with it, no less did it proclaim the advent of judgment to an ungodly world."⁷⁹

6:15-21 The warriors and priests were to remain silent as they circled the city each time except the last. God evidently used this strategy to impress on the people of Jericho, as well as the Israelites, that the deliverance was not by human might or power. It was by the Spirit of the Lord (cf. Zech. 4:6). He commanded the final shout on the seventh day to announce His destruction of the wall. It was a shout of joy for the Israelites.

"To emphasize the divine intervention, no secondary causes for the collapse of the wall are mentioned. It would be no less a miracle were we to find that God used an earthquake to bring the walls down."⁸⁰

The writer did not explain the reasons for Israel circling Jericho once a day for six days and then seven times the seventh day. This strategy did give the king of Jericho an opportunity to surrender. The uniqueness of this approach undoubtedly impressed everyone with the supernatural character of the victory. It involved almost incredible faith for the Israelites (Heb. 11:30). There was probably also some significance to the number seven. This may have impressed the Israelites further that the victory was a complete work of God following the pattern of the seven days of creation.

"The emphasis on the number seven (fourteen times in this chapter [cf. Exod. 24:16; 2 Kings 3:9; Job 2:11-13; Ezek. 3:15]), the use of ceremonial trumpets (made from ram's horns), the presence of priests, and the prominence of the ark all indicate that the conquest of Jericho was more than a military campaign; it was a religious event. Israel must always remember that the land was God's gift to them."⁸¹

"The significance of this repeated marching round the town culminates unquestionably in the ark of the covenant and the trumpet-blast of the priests who went before the ark. In the account before us the ark is constantly called the ark of the Lord, to show that the Lord, who was enthroned upon the cherubim of the ark, was going round the hostile town in the midst of His people; whilst in ver. 8 Jehovah himself is mentioned in the place of the ark of Jehovah."⁸²

Excavations at Jericho by John Garstang between 1930 and 1936, and more recently by Kathleen Kenyon between 1952 and 1958, have confirmed the collapse of the wall under itself as recorded. They also reveal that the invaders burned the city (v. 24) though there was some disagreement between Garstang and Kenyon concerning when this took place. Garstang held that the collapse of the wall and the burning of the city took place at approximately the same time, as the text records. However, Kenyon believed the city burned at a much earlier date and fell at a much later date.⁸³

After discussing the views of Garstang and Kenyon, Waltke concluded as follows.

"Although meager, yet the textual and the archaeological evidence regarding Jericho in Late Bronze IIA and B [1400-1200 B.C.] remarkably coincide, and once again the archaeological evidence suggests a conquest during the first quarter of the fourteenth century. Even more conclusive, however, is the evidence that the city was not occupied during the mid-thirteenth century B.C., thereby precluding the option of the commonly accepted late date for the Exodus [ca. 1280 B.C.]."⁸⁴

"On the basis of the scarabs and pottery found in the cemetery associated with City IV in Jericho, it is impossible to date the fall of that city subsequent to 1400 B.C., despite all of the negative findings of Kathleen Kenyon (as we have previously shown). On the other hand, there are absolutely insurmountable objections to the Late Date Theory [ca. 1280 B.C.] on the basis of archaeological discovery."⁸⁵

There are some things about Jericho that archaeology has not revealed.

"Jericho is a classic example of incompleteness in the archaeological record caused by the depredations of man and nature combined where--as at Dibon--the literary record (here, the Old Testament) retains phases of history lost to the excavator."⁸⁶

"Archaeological research thus leaves confusion and unanswered questions for the present generation. This does not lead us to abandon archaeological research. It reminds us of the great difficulties which stand in our way when we seek to utilize discoveries for historical reconstruction. Archaeology can rarely name sites. Seldom, if ever, can it determine precisely who destroyed a site. It often cannot tell who occupied a site; it can place only relative dates on sites. Only rarely can it excavate an entire site and secure all the evidence."⁸⁷

6:22-25 God commanded the Israelites to consecrate all the spoils of this battle to Him since He had given Jericho into their hands as the firstfruits of the land. Rahab and her possessions were exceptions because she had aided the spies. The Israelites were to burn cities under the "ban" (Heb. herem, v. 17; cf. Deut. 20:16-18) and to kill their inhabitants including the cattle (Lev. 27:29). The only objects they were to spare were metal, gold, silver, and vessels of brass and iron. These they were to place in the treasury of the tabernacle (v. 19; Num. 31:54). The Israelites completely destroyed only three Canaanite cities west of the Jordan along with their populations, namely, Jericho, Ai, and Hazor. They captured many others and slew some of their inhabitants.⁸⁸ Earlier they had devoted Hormah (Num. 21:3), Heshbon (Deut. 3:1-2), and Og's towns (Deut. 3:3) to complete destruction.

"Joshua is perhaps best known as a book of war. Israel was at war with the Canaanites, but behind these human soldiers God was waging war against sin. Earlier in Israel's history God was compared to a warrior (Ex. 14:14; 15:3; Deut. 1:30, 3:22; 20:4). But now Israel experienced His leadership in war as never before. God is constantly at war with sin because it is an affront to His holiness and because it destroys people whom He loves and desires to bless (cf. Rom. 6:23)."⁸⁹

6:26-27 The curse on the person tempted to rebuild Jericho (v. 26) would have discouraged anyone from fortifying again this city that was a symbol of military power. God wanted His people to trust in Him for their security and not to rely on physical defenses primarily (cf. 11:6). We could interpret building the city as building the fortifications of the city rather than as building houses on the site. The Israelites may have rebuilt and inhabited Jericho again during the period of the judges (18:21; Judg. 1:16; 3:13; 2 Sam. 10:5), but they may not have fortified it until much later. God executed Joshua's curse on Hiel when he rebuilt Jericho's fortifications during the reign of King Ahab of Israel (1 Kings 16:34). A better explanation may be that Canaanites rebuilt Jericho, but Hiel was the first Israelite to do so.

The miraculous victory over Jericho brought great honor to Joshua as Israel's leader (v. 27).

"Nothing can more raise a man's reputation, nor make him appear more truly great, than to have the evidences of God's presence with him."⁹⁰

Keil and Delitzsch explained the reason for the miraculous defeat of Jericho as follows.

". . . Jericho was not only the first, but the strongest town of Canaan, and as such was the key to the conquest of the whole land, the possession of which would open the way to the whole, and give the whole, as it were, into their hands. The Lord would give His people the first and strongest town of Canaan, as the first-fruits of the land, without any effort on their part, as a sign that He was about to give them the whole land for a possession, according to His promise; in order that they might not regard the conquest of it as their own work, or the fruit of their own exertions, and look upon the land as a well-merited possession which they could do as they pleased with, but that they might ever use it as a gracious gift from the Lord, which he had merely conferred upon them as a trust, and which He could take away again, whenever they might fall from Him, and render themselves unworthy of His grace. This design on the part of God would of necessity become very obvious in the case of so strongly fortified a town as Jericho, whose walls would appear impregnable to a people that had grown up in the desert and was so utterly without experience in the art of besieging or storming fortified places, and in fact would necessarily remain impregnable, at all events for a long time, without the interposition of God."⁹¹

All the aspects of the battle at Jericho strengthened Israel's faith in Yahweh. God's people learned His strength and ability to overcome all their obstacles by personal experience here. They acted in faith obeying His Word and trusting in the outcome He had promised. This day Israel reached a high water mark in her spiritual history. We should learn the same things from this record as well as from the supernatural victories God has given each of us. She also became a nation among nations in the ancient Near East.⁹²

Guzik: Jos 6:1-27

Joshua 6 - The Fall of Jericho

A. Obedience before the fall of the city of Jericho.

1. (1-5) Instructions for the battle.

Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in. And the LORD said to Joshua: "See! I have given Jericho into your hand, its king, and the mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him."

a. Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel: Jericho itself was on full alert; from a human perspective, this would be a hard, if not impossible, battle. Yet from God's perspective, the battle was already over, because He can say to Joshua I have (in the past tense) given Jericho into your hand.

i. Up to this point everything had been more or less preliminary and preparatory. Now the real task before them must be faced and tackled. The Canaanites must be dispossessed if Israel is to occupy what God has promised them.

ii. Jericho was not an exceptionally large city; but it was an important, formidable fortress city. If Israel could defeat Jericho, they could defeat anything else that would face them in Canaan. Again we see the wisdom of God as opposed to human wisdom, in that Israel faces their most difficult opponent first.

b. You shall march around the city: The method of warfare was one that made absolutely no sense according to military intelligence. It required total dependence on God.

i. It required great faith from Joshua, because he had to explain and lead the nation in this plan.

ii. It required great faith from the elders and the nation, because they had to follow Joshua in this plan.

c. The wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him: It was a plan for victory whereby it would clearly be the work of the LORD. Yet God gave them something to do, so that Israel could work in partnership with God.

i. Obviously, it was something that God could have done without Israel's help at all, but He wanted them to be a part of His work - as He wants us to be a part of His work today.

2. (6-7) Joshua tells the priests and the people.

Then Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD." And he said to the people, "Proceed, and march around the city, and let him who is armed advance before the ark of the LORD."

a. Then Joshua the son of Nun called the priests: Joshua had to tell the priests, because what they were asked to do was unusual. Normally, priests and the ark of the covenant did not go with Israel to battle.

b. Take up the ark of the covenant: The ark would be prominent in this victory, even as it was in the crossing of the Jordan River. Israel had to keep their hearts and minds on the LORD who was present with them, instead of putting their hearts and minds on the difficulty of the task in front of them.

c. And he said to the people: Joshua had to tell the people, because what they were asked to do was unusual. This was no customary way to conquer a walled, fortified city.

3. (8-14) The march of the first six days.

So it was, when Joshua had spoken to the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the LORD advanced and blew the trumpets, and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them. The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while the priests continued blowing the trumpets. Now Joshua had commanded the people, saying, "You shall not shout or make any noise with your voice, nor shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, 'Shout!' Then you shall shout." So he had the ark of the LORD circle the city, going around it once. Then they came into the camp and lodged in the camp. And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. Then seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually and blew with the trumpets. And the armed men went before them. But the rear guard came after the ark of the LORD, while the priests continued blowing the trumpets. And the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. So they did six days.

a. When Joshua had spoken to the people: Joshua does not hesitate to do what the LORD has told him to do. Often, our delays to obey God show that we really don't believe Him.

b. So he had the ark of the LORD circle the city, going around it once: Jericho was not a large city; they could easily march around it in a day's time. As the people of Jericho saw the Israelites marching around their city, they probably had a sense of both awe and horror.

c. It took courage for Israel to do this; Israel was wide open to attack during this time, and it would have been easy for the people of Jericho to attack them from the high position of the walls.

d. It took endurance for Israel to do this; the march was for six days, and they had to persist in something that didn't seem to make much sense.

e. In this, the helplessness of Israel was revealed; through six days of silent marching, they had a good look at the walls that seemed to be impenetrable - they knew that this was a battle bigger than they were.

4. (15-16) The march of the seventh day.

But it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early, about the dawning of the day, and marched around the city seven times in the same manner. On that day only they marched around the city seven times. And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people: "Shout, for the LORD has given you the city!

a. On the seventh day: This march took place over a period of seven days, meaning that Israel had to have marched on a Sabbath; but this would be a work of God's sovereign grace and power, not of human works.

b. Shout, for the LORD has given you the city! The command was given for the people to shout. After the days of silence, this comes as a recognition that God would now given them what He had promised. The LORD has given you the city!

5. (17-19) The command to destroy the city and to save Rahab is given.

"Now the city shall be doomed by the LORD to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the LORD; they shall come into the treasury of the LORD."

a. Only Rahab the harlot shall live: Joshua is careful to take care of Rahab. Her faith in the living God would find support by God's people.

b. Joshua had to command the people of Israel to stay away from the accursed things. By this he means the idols and things associated with the demonic and depraved worship of the people of Canaan.

i. The severe judgment that is brought against Jericho, and all of Canaan didn't come because they were in the "way" of God's people. It came because this was a people who were in total rebellion against God and in league with the occult, as the artifacts recovered from this period demonstrate.

c. But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the LORD: All the valuables belong to God; Jericho is the "first fruits" city of Canaan, and so the valuables are set apart to the treasury of the LORD.

B. The taking of the city of Jericho.

1. (20-21) The walls come down and the city is destroyed.

So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.

a. The wall fell down flat: We are not told that Israel knew this would be the result of their obedient marching and final shouting. They may have been as surprised as the people of Jericho were at the way God decided to deliver Jericho into their hands.

b. They utterly destroyed all that was in the city: Why was Israel commanded to practice such complete destruction? Because the greatest sins of the Canaanites were spiritual: When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you. (Deuteronomy 18:9-14)

i. Such judgment seems harsh to us, because it is harsh - and we must recognize, that at unique times, God has commanded that such judgment come to pass. I may happen either through an army that He has used (as is the case here), or through judgment that He directly brings (such as in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, Genesis 19:24-25).

c. Israel took the city: They took, after God had given (Joshua 6:2). It was clear that God gave, but that Israel had to take by obedient, persistent faith.

i. So it is with all victory in the Christian life - God gives it to us in Jesus Christ; but we must take it from Him by obedient, persistent faith.

2. (22-25) Finishing up the battle.

But Joshua had said to the two men who had spied out the country, "Go into the harlot's house, and from there bring out the woman and all that she has, as you swore to her." And the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. So they brought out all her relatives and left them outside the camp of Israel. But they burned the city and all that was in it with fire. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD. And Joshua spared Rahab the harlot, her father's household, and all that she had. So she dwells in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

a. Bring out the woman and all that she has, as you swore to her: Rahab and her household were saved. They coupled their faith in the God of Israel with a willingness to follow through on what God's messengers told them to do: stay at the house with the scarlet cord hanging from the window (Joshua 2:17-19).

b. They burned the city and all that was in it with fire . . . Joshua spared Rahab the harlot: In this, we see a contrast between judgment and salvation. All of Jericho heard about the God of Israel (Joshua 2:8-11), but only Rahab responded positively in faith towards God with that knowledge.

c. So she dwells in Israel to this day: This shows that Joshua was written at the time of Joshua; this was not the fanciful re-construction of an imaginative writer working centuries after the fact.

3. (26-27) Joshua curses the man who would re-fortify Jericho.

Then Joshua charged them at that time, saying, "Cursed be the man before the LORD who rises up and builds this city Jericho; he shall lay its foundation with his firstborn, and with his youngest he shall set up its gates." So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout all the country.

a. Cursed be the man before the LORD who rises up and builds this city Jericho: This was fulfilled in 1 Kings 16:34, which says In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the word of the LORD, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun.

b. This completes the story of Israel's victory at Jericho. We can learn from the things that marked their victory.

· Faith: Joshua and Israel believed the battle plan.

· Obedience: Joshua and Israel followed the battle plan exactly.

· Courage: Israel followed the battle plan despite danger.

· Endurance: Israel followed the battle plan over a period of time, even when it seemed that nothing was happening.

· Israel did not rely on carnal scheming and worldly methods; their trust was in the LORD, not in human ingenuity.

© 2001 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Commentary -- Other

Critics Ask: Jos 6:21

JOSHUA 6:21 —How can the total destruction of Jericho be morally justified?

PROBLEM: This passage states that the Israelites “utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.” But how can such a ruthless destruction of innocent life and property be justified?

SOLUTION: First, the Canaanites were far from “innocent.” The description of their sins in Leviticus 18 is vivid: “The land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants” (v. 25 ). They were cancerously immoral, “defiled” with every kind of “abomination,” including child sacrifice (vv. 21 , 24 , 26 ).

Second, it must be remembered that God had given the people of Palestine over 400 years to repent of their wickedness. The people of that land had every opportunity to turn from their wickedness. According to Genesis 15:16 , God told Abraham that in 400 years the descendants of Abraham would return to inherit this land, but that the iniquity of the people was not yet full. This prophetic statement indicated that God would not destroy the people of the land, including those who dwelt in Jericho, until their sins were such that their guilt merited their complete destruction in judgment.

Third, as for the killing of the little children, several things should be noted. (1) Given the cancerous state of the society into which they were born, they had no chance to avoid its fatal pollution. (2) Children who die before the age of accountability go to heaven (see comments on 2 Sam. 12:23 ). This was an act of God’s mercy to their souls to take them into His holy presence from such an unholy environment. (3) God is sovereign over life ( Deut. 32:39 ; Job 1:21 ) and can order its end according to His will and in view of the creature’s ultimate good.

Fourth, Joshua and the people of Israel were acting according to the direct command of God, not on their own initiative. The destruction of Jericho was carried out by the army of Israel, but the army of Israel was the instrument of judgment upon the sins of these people by the righteous Judge of all the earth. Consequently, anyone who would question the justification of this act is questioning God’s justice.

Fifth, it was necessary to completely exterminate any trace of the city and its people. If anything had remained, except that which was taken into the treasure house of the Lord, there would have always been the threat of heathen influence to pull the people away from the pure worship of the Lord. Sometimes radical surgery is required to completely eliminate a deadly cancer from the body.   

Introduction / Outline

JFB: Joshua (Book Introduction)

JOSHUA. The title of this book is derived from the pious and valiant leader whose achievements it relates and who is commonly supposed to have been its author. The objections to this idea are founded chiefly on the clause, "unto this day," which occurs several times (Jos 4:9; Jos 6:25; Jos 8:28). But this, at least in the case of Rahab, is no valid reason for rejecting the idea of his authorship; for assuming what is most probable, that this book was composed toward the close of Joshua's long career, or compiled from written documents left by him, Rahab might have been still alive. A more simple and satisfactory way of accounting for the frequent insertion of the clause, "unto this day," is the opinion that it was a comment introduced by Ezra, when revising the sacred canon; and this difficulty being removed, the direct proofs of the book having been produced by a witness of the transactions related in it, the strong and vivid descriptions of the passing scenes, and the use of the words "we" and "us," (Jos 5:1-6), viewed in connection with the fact, that, after his farewell address to the people, Joshua "wrote these words in the book of the law of God" [Jos 24:26] --all afford strong presumptive proof that the entire book was the work of that eminent individual. Its inspiration and canonical authority are fully established by the repeated testimonies of other Scripture writers (compare Jos 6:26 with 1Ki 16:34; compare Jos 10:13 with Hab 3:11; Jos 3:14 with Act 7:45; Jos 6:17-23 with Heb 11:30; Jos. 2:1-24 with Jam 2:25; Psa 44:2; Psa 68:12-14; Psa 78:54-55). As a narrative of God's faithfulness in giving the Israelites possession of the promised land, this history is most valuable, and bears the same character as a sequel to the Pentateuch, that the Acts of the Apostles do to the Gospels.

JFB: Joshua (Outline)

• THE LORD APPOINTS JOSHUA TO SUCCEED MOSES. (Jos. 1:1-18)
• RAHAB RECEIVES AND CONCEALS THE TWO SPIES. (Jos 2:1-7)
• THE COVENANT BETWEEN HER AND THEM. (Jos 2:8-21)
• JOSHUA COMES TO JORDAN. (Jos 3:1-6)
• THE LORD ENCOURAGES JOSHUA. (Jos 3:7-8)
• JOSHUA ENCOURAGES THE PEOPLE. (Jos 3:9-13)
• THE WATERS OF JORDAN ARE DIVIDED. (Jos 3:14-17)
• TWELVE STONES TAKEN FOR A MEMORIAL OUT OF JORDAN. (Jos 4:1-8)
• TWELVE STONES SET UP IN THE MIDST OF JORDAN. (Jos 4:9)
• THE PEOPLE PASS OVER. (Jos 4:10-13)
• GOD MAGNIFIES JOSHUA. (Jos 4:14-24)
• THE CANAANITES AFRAID. (Jos 5:1)
• CIRCUMCISION IS RENEWED. (Jos 5:2-12)
• AN ANGEL APPEARS TO JOSHUA. (Jos 5:13-15)
• JERICHO SHUT UP. (Jos 6:1-7)
• THE CITY COMPASSED SIX DAYS. (Jos 6:8-19)
• THE WALLS FALL DOWN. (Jos 6:20-21)
• RAHAB IS SAVED. (Jos 6:22-25)
• THE REBUILDER OF JERICHO CURSED. (Jos 6:26-27)
• ACHAN'S TRESPASS. (Jos 7:1)
• THE ISRAELITES SMITTEN AT AI. (Jos. 7:2-26)
• GOD ENCOURAGES JOSHUA. (Jos. 8:1-28)
• THE KING HANGED. (Jos 8:29)
• JOSHUA BUILDS AN ALTAR. (Jos 8:30-31)
• THE KINGS COMBINE AGAINST ISRAEL. (Jos. 9:1-27)
• FIVE KINGS WAR AGAINST GIBEON. (Jos 10:1-5)
• JOSHUA RESCUES IT. (Jos 10:6-9)
• GOD FIGHTS AGAINST THEM WITH HAILSTONES. (Jos 10:10-11)
• THE SUN AND MOON STAND STILL AT THE WORD OF JOSHUA. (Jos 10:12-15)
• DIVERS KINGS OVERCOME AT THE WATERS OF MEROM. (Jos 11:1-9)
• THE TWO KINGS WHOSE COUNTRIES MOSES TOOK AND DISPOSED OF. (Jos 12:1-6)
• THE ONE AND THIRTY KINGS ON THE WEST SIDE OF JORDAN, WHICH JOSHUA SMOTE. (Jos. 12:7-24)
• BOUNDS OF THE LAND NOT YET CONQUERED. (Jos. 13:1-33)
• THE NINE TRIBES AND A HALF TO HAVE THEIR INHERITANCE BY LOT. (Jos 14:1-5)
• CALEB BY PRIVILEGE REQUESTS AND OBTAINS HEBRON. (Jos 14:6-15)
• BORDERS OF THE LOT OF JUDAH. (Jos 15:1-12)
• CALEB'S PORTION AND CONQUEST. (Jos 15:13-15)
• OTHNIEL, FOR HIS VALOR, HAS ACHSAH TO WIFE. (Jos 15:16-20)
• THE GENERAL BORDERS OF THE SONS OF JOSEPH. (Jos 16:1-4)
• THE BORDERS OF THE INHERITANCE OF EPHRAIM. (Jos 16:5-9)
• LOT OF MANASSEH. (Jos 17:1-6)
• THIS COAST. (Jos 17:7-11)
• CANAANITES NOT DRIVEN OUT. (Jos 17:12-13)
• THE CHILDREN OF JOSEPH ASK FOR ANOTHER LOT. (Jos 17:14-18)
• THE TABERNACLE SET UP AT SHILOH. (Jos 18:1)
• THE REMAINDER OF THE LAND DESCRIBED. (Jos 18:2-9)
• DIVIDED BY LOT. (Jos 18:10)
• THE LOT OF SIMEON. (Jos 19:1-9)
• OF ZEBULUN. (Jos 19:10-16)
• OF ISSACHAR. (Jos 19:17-23)
• OF ASHER. (Jos 19:24-31)
• OF NAPHTALI. (Jos 19:32-39)
• OF DAN. (Jos 19:40-48)
• THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL GIVE AN INHERITANCE TO JOSHUA. (Jos 19:49-51)
• THE LORD COMMANDS THE CITIES OF REFUGE. (Jos 20:1-6)
• THE ISRAELITES APPOINT BY NAME THE CITIES OF REFUGE. (Jos 20:7-9)
• EIGHT AND FORTY CITIES GIVEN BY LOT OUT OF THE OTHER TRIBES UNTO THE LEVITES. (Jos 21:1-8)
• GOD GAVE THEM REST. (Jos 21:43-45)
• JOSHUA DISMISSES THE TWO TRIBES AND A HALF, WITH A BLESSING. (Jos 22:1-9)
• THEY BUILD THE ALTAR OF TESTIMONY ON THEIR JOURNEY. (Jos 22:10)
• THE DEPUTIES SATISFIED. (Jos 22:30-34)
• JOSHUA'S EXHORTATION BEFORE HIS DEATH. (Jos 23:1-2)
• BY FORMER BENEFITS. (Jos 23:3)
• BY PROMISES. (Jos 23:5-11)
• BY THREATENINGS IN CASE OF DISOBEDIENCE. (Jos 23:12)
• JOSHUA ASSEMBLING THE TRIBES. (Jos 24:1)
• RELATES GOD'S BENEFITS. (Jos 24:2-13)
• HIS AGE AND DEATH. (Jos 24:29-30)

TSK: Joshua (Book Introduction)

The Book of Joshua is one of the most important documents in the Old Testament. The rapid conquest of the Promised Land, and the actual settlement of the Israelites in it, afford a striking accomplishment of the Divine predictions to Abraham and the succeeding patriarchs; and at the same time bear the most unequivocal and ample testimony to the authenticity of this sacred book. Several of the transactions related in it are confirmed in a very extraordinary manner, by the traditions current among heathen nations, and preserved by ancient profane historians of undoubted character. Thus there are monuments still in existence, which prove that the Carthaginians were a colony of Syrians who escaped from Joshua; as also that the inhabitants of Leptis, in Africa, came originally from the Sidonians, who abandoned their country on account of the calamities with which it was overwhelmed. Procopius relates that the Phoenicians fled before the Hebrews into Africa, and spread themselves abroad as far as the pillars of Hercules; and adds, " In Numidia, where now stands the city Tigisis (Tangiers), they have erected two columns, on which, in Phoenician characters, is the following inscription: " We are the Phoenicians who fled from the face of Jesus (Joshua) the son of Naue" (Nun).

TSK: Joshua 6 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

Jos 6:1, Jericho is shut up; Jos 6:2, God instructs Joshua how to besiege it; Jos 6:12, The city is compassed; Jos 6:17, It must be accursed; Jos 6:20, The walls fall down; Jos 6:22, Rahab is saved; Jos 6:26, The builder of Jericho is cursed.

Poole: Joshua (Book Introduction)

BOOK OF JOSHUA

THE ARGUMENT

IT is not material to know who was the penman of this book, whether Joshua, as seems most probable from Jos 24:26 , or some other holy prophet. It is sufficient that this book was a part of the Holy Scriptures, or oracles of God, committed to and carefully kept by the Jews, and by them faithfully delivered to us, as appears by the concurring testimony of Christ and his apostles, who owned and approved of the same Holy Scriptures which the church of the Jews did. But this is certain, that divers passages in this book were put into it after Joshua’ s death, as Jos 10:13 , compared with 2Sa 1:18 Jos 19:47 , compared with Jud 18:1 ; and Jos 24:29,30 . And such like insertions have been observed in the five books of Moses.

Poole: Joshua 6 (Chapter Introduction)

CHAPTER 6

Jericho is shut up by the Israelites, Jos 6:1 . The people and seven priests with the ark go round it six days, Jos 6:2-14 . On the seventh day they go round seven times; the priests blow the trumpets; the people shout; the city accursed; nothing to be taken, but all consecrated; the walls fall down; men, women, and cattle destroyed, Jos 6:15-21 . Rahab and her kindred are saved, Jos 6:22-25 . Joshua curseth the man who should rebuild Jericho, Jos 6:26 .

MHCC: Joshua (Book Introduction)

Here is the history of Israel's passing into the land of Canaan, conquering and dividing it, under the command of Joshua, and their history until his death. The power and truth of God in fulfilling his promises to Israel, and in executing his justly threatened vengeance on the Canaanites, are wonderfully displayed. This should teach us to regard the tremendous curses denounced in the word of God against impenitent sinners, and to seek refuge in Christ Jesus.

MHCC: Joshua 6 (Chapter Introduction)

(Jos 6:1-5) The siege of Jericho.

(Jos 6:6-16) The city is compassed.

(Jos 6:17-27) Jericho is taken, Rahab and her family are saved.

Matthew Henry: Joshua (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Book of Joshua

I. We have now before us the history of the Jewish nation in this book and those that follow it to the end of the book of Esther. These books, to he end of the books of the Kings, the Jewish writers call the first book of the prophets, to bring them within the distribution of the books of the Old Testament, into the Law, the Prophets, and the Chetubim, or Hagiographa, Luk 24:44. The rest they make part of the Hagiographa. For, though history is their subject, it is justly supposed that prophets were their penmen. To those books that are purely and properly prophetical the name of the prophet is prefixed, because the credibility of the prophecies depended much upon the character of the prophets; but these historical books, it is probable, were collections of the authentic records of the nation, which some of the prophets (and the Jewish church was for many ages more or less continually blessed with such) were divinely directed and helped to put together for the service of the church to the end of the world; as their other officers, so their historiographers, had their authority from heaven. - It should seem that though the substance of the several histories was written when the events were fresh in memory, and written under a divine direction, yet, under the same direction, they were put into the form in which we now have them by some other hand, long afterwards, probably all by the same hand, or about the same time. The grounds of the conjecture are, 1. Because former writings are so often referred to, as the Book of Jasher (Jos 10:13, and 2Sa 1:18), the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel and Judah, and the books of Gad, Nathan, and Iddo. 2. Because the days when the things were done are spoken of sometimes as days long since passed; as 1Sa 9:9, He that is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer. And, 3. Because we so often read of things remaining unto this day; as stones (Jos 4:9; Jos 7:26; Jos 8:29; Jos 10:27; 1Sa 6:18), names of places (Jos 5:9; Jos 7:26; Jdg 1:26; Jdg 15:19; Jdg 18:12; 2Ki 14:7), rights and possessions (Jdg 1:21; 1Sa 27:6), customs and usages (1Sa 5:5; 2Ki 17:41), which clauses have been since added to the history by the inspired collectors for the confirmation and illustration of it to those of their own age. And, if one may offer a mere conjecture, it is not unlikely that the historical books, to the end of the Kings, were put together by Jeremiah the prophet, a little before the captivity; for it is said of Ziklag (1Sa 27:6) that it pertains to the kings of Judah (which style began after Solomon and ended in the captivity) unto this day. And it is still more probable that those which follow were put together by Ezra the scribe, some time after the captivity. However, though we are in the dark concerning their authors, we are in no doubt concerning their authority; they were a part of the oracles of God, which were committed to the Jews, and were so received and referred to by our Saviour and the apostles.

In the five books of Moses we had a very full account of the rise, advance, and constitution, of the Old Testament church, the family out of which it was raised, the promise, that great charter by which it was incorporated, the miracles by which it was built up, and the laws and ordinances by which it was to be governed, from which one would conceive and expectation of its character and state very different from what we find in this history. A nation that had statutes and judgments so righteous, one would think, should have been very holy; and a nation what had promises so rich should have been very happy. But, alas! a great part of the history is a melancholy representation of their sins and miseries; for the law made nothing perfect, but this was to be done by the bringing in of the better hope. And yet, if we compare the history of the Christian church with its constitution, we shall find the same cause for wonder, so many have been its errors and corruptions; for neither does the gospel make any thing perfect in this world, but leaves us still in expectation of a better hope in the future state.

II. We have next before us the book of Joshua, so called, perhaps, not because it was written by him, for that is uncertain. Dr. Lightfoot thinks that Phinehas wrote it. Bishop Patrick is clear that Joshua wrote it himself. However that be, it is written concerning him, and, if any other wrote it, it was collected out of his journals or memoirs. It contains the history of Israel under the command and government of Joshua, how he presided as general of their armies, 1. In their entrance into Canaan, ch. 1-5. 2. In their conquest of Canaan, ch. 6-12. 3. In the distribution of the land of Canaan among the tribes of Israel, ch. 22-24. In all which he was a great example of wisdom, courage, fidelity, and piety, to all that are in places of public trust. But this is not all the use that is to be made of this history. We may see in it, 1. Much of God and his providence - his power in the kingdom of nature, his justice in punishing the Canaanites when the measure of their iniquity was full, his faithfulness to his covenant with the patriarchs, and his kindness to his people Israel, notwithstanding their provocations. We may see him as the Lord of Hosts determining the issues of war, and as the director of the lot, determining the bounds of men's habitations. 2. Much of Christ and his grace. Though Joshua is not expressly mentioned in the New Testament as a type of Christ, yet all agree that he was a very eminent one. He bore our Saviour's name, as did also another type of him, Joshua the high priest, Zec 6:11, Zec 6:12. The Septuagint, giving the name of Joshua a Greek termination, call him all along Iesous Jesus, and so he is called Act 7:45, and Heb 4:8. Justin Martyr, one of the first writers of the Christian church ( Dialog. cum Tryph. p. mihi 300), makes that promise in Exo 23:20, My angel shall bring thee into the place I have prepared, to point at Joshua; and these words, My name is in him, to refer to this, that his names should be the same with that of the Messiah. It signifies, He shall save. Joshua saves God's people from the Canaanites; our Lord Jesus saves them from their sins. Christ, as Joshua, is the captain of our salvation, a leader and commander of the people, to tread Satan under their feet, to put them in possession of the heavenly Canaan, and to give them rest, which (it is said, Heb 4:8) Joshua did not.

Matthew Henry: Joshua 6 (Chapter Introduction)

Joshua opened the campaign with the siege of Jericho, a city which could not trust so much to the courage of its people as to act offensively, and to send out its forces to oppose Israel's landing and encamping, but trusted so much to the strength of its walls as to stand upon its defence, and not to surrender, or desire conditions of peace. Now here we have the story of the taking of it, I. The directions and assurances which the captain of the Lord's host gave concerning it (Jos 6:1-5). II. The trial of the people's patient obedience in walking round the city six days (Jos 6:6-14). III. The wonderful delivery of it into their hands the seventh day, with a solemn charge to them to use it as a devoted thing (Jos 6:15-21 and Jos 6:24). IV. The preservation of Rahab and her relations (Jos 6:22, Jos 6:23, Jos 6:25). V. A curse pronounced upon the man that should dare to rebuild this city (Jos 6:26, Jos 6:27). An abstract of this story we find among the trophies of faith, Heb 11:30. " By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days."

Constable: Joshua (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title

The name of this book in Hebrew, Greek, and English comes from the principle character in it rather than from the writer. Joshua may or may not have been the writer of this book.

The title is appropriate because "Joshua" means, "Yahweh saves." Joshua is the Hebrew name that translates into Aramaic as Jesus. What Jesus is to God's people in a larger sense Joshua was to the Israelites in a smaller sense. Joshua brought God's people into the realization of many of God's plans and purposes for them. This book is a record of God's deliverance of the Israelites into what He had promised them.

In the English Bible, Joshua is one of the historical books (Genesis through Esther). In the Hebrew Bible, it is in the second of the three main divisions of the Old Testament, namely, the Prophets. The Law and the Writings are the first and third divisions. Joshua is the first book in the first half of the Prophets, the Former Prophets. The Former Prophets section contains four books (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) as does the second division, the Latter Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve [minor prophets]). The fact that the Hebrews included mainly historical books such as Joshua in the Prophets section reveals a basic attitude of God's people. They viewed what God revealed here not primarily as a historical record as much as an authoritative record of selected historical events designed to teach important spiritual lessons. We should recognize Joshua, therefore, not simply as a record of history but as a selective history intended to reveal God's will. In the Prophets section of the Old Testament, God revealed Himself through historical events as well as through the oracles of individual prophets.

"The Book of Joshua, like all other books of the Bible, is primarily a book of theology. Through it God has revealed himself and continues to do so."¹

Date and Writer

The Book of Joshua evidently came into being several years after the events recorded in the book took place. A number of statements point to a time of composition beyond the conquest and perhaps beyond the lifetime of Joshua. For example, the phrase "to this day" (4:9; 5:9; 6:25; 7:26; 8:28, 29; 9:27; 13:13; 14:14; 15:63; 16:10) refers to a time considerably after the events referred to happened. How much later is hard to say. These references point to a time of composition many years later than the actual occurrence of the events recorded.²

However the writer claims to have crossed the Jordan River when Israel entered the land (5:1 [marginal reading], 6). Therefore he must have written the book not too long after the conquest. This conclusion finds support in the general impression the reader receives that an eyewitness of the events recorded wrote the book. An editor may or may not have added the account of Joshua's death (24:29-33) to the book later (cf. Deut. 34:10-12). This depends on whether the writer wrote it before or after Joshua died.

According to Jewish tradition Joshua himself wrote the book.³ Many modern conservative Old Testament scholars believe that he did.⁴ However other good, conservative scholars believe the writer was not Joshua but a contemporary of his, possibly one of the elders of Israel.⁵ Many more scholars are unsure.⁶ I prefer the traditional view that Joshua wrote the book because I find the arguments of those who believe the writer could not have been Joshua unconvincing.

Scope

As I have explained previously, the date of the Exodus was about 1446 B.C. (cf. 1 Kings 6:1).⁷ Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness (Exod. 16:35; Num. 14:33-34). Thus Israel crossed the Jordan River and entered the land about 1406 B.C. The Book of Joshua therefore begins with events in or very close to the year 1406 B.C.

Josephus said the conquest of the land took five years.⁸ However when Caleb received his town of Hebron he said God had promised that he would enter Canaan 45 years earlier (14:10; cf. Num. 14:24). Since God gave that promise 38 years before Israel crossed the Jordan the conquest seems to have taken closer to seven years (ca. 1406-1399 B.C.). The record of this conquest occupies the first half of the Book of Joshua.

When Caleb said these words he was 85 years old (14:10). Joshua appears to have been about the same age as Caleb, perhaps a little younger. Joshua died when he was 110 (24:29). Assuming Joshua was 75 when the Israelites crossed the Jordan River, the amount of time the Book of Joshua spans may be about 35 years.⁹

The first half of the book (chs. 1-12) covers about seven years. Most of this material, specifically, chapters 1-9, deals with events that probably happened in less than one full year.

Message¹⁰

Joshua reveals that God hates sin because He loves people. (This is the message statement.) Of course He also hates sin because it offends His holiness. However in Joshua I believe the emphasis is on God's concern for the Israelites more than the vindication of His holiness.

The writer of this book portrayed Yahweh as a God of war. This side of God's character has created problems for many people. How could God be loving and yet deal so severely with the Canaanites? In view of Jesus Christ's commands to love our enemies (Matt. 5:44) and be peacemakers (Matt. 5:9) how can we justify God's dealings with the Canaanites that this book records?

The righteous side of God's character is, of course, a consistent emphasis throughout Scripture. In the Pentateuch God dealt severely with all those who oppressed the patriarchs and their descendents (cf. Exod. 15:3). In the historical books we find the same thing. The psalmist referred to Yahweh as "mighty in battle" against the forces opposed to His will (e.g., Ps. 24:8; 45:3). The prophets, especially Jeremiah, warned that God will judge sin. In the Gospels we hear and see the wrath of God manifested in Jesus' words and works against the Pharisees for their sins. In the Book of Revelation, especially chapters 6-19, John pictured the wrath of God being poured out in judgment on the whole world. In Joshua, too, we see God commanding and leading the Israelites in violent mortal conflict with sinners.

The reason God wages war against sin and sinners is that He loves people and wants to save them from destruction by sin and its consequences (cf. Rom. 6:23). If God is not a God of war, then He cannot be a God of love.

We can see God's hatred of sin in His dealings with the Canaanites and in His dealings with the Israelites in Joshua.

In the Pentateuch we discovered many statements and warnings about the Canaanites. Their wickedness was great even in Abraham's day. The Sodomites were Canaanites (Gen. 19), but the measure of their iniquity was not yet full (Gen. 15:16; cf. Lev. 18:24-28). The Ras Shamra Tablets have shed much light on Canaanite religion and culture. Archaeologists discovered these written records in northwest Syria at the site of an ancient city, Ugarit. They date from the fourteenth century B.C., the time of the conquest by Joshua.

The Canaanites wrote them in the Ugaritic language in cuneiform script. These records reveal that Canaanite culture was extremely immoral and inhumane. The Canaanites practiced prostitution of both sexes, many kinds of sexual perversion, and human sacrifice widely. They were religious practices.

As Israel anticipated entering the land occupied by these people it was a case of destroy or be destroyed. In commanding the Israelites to annihilate the Canaanites God was performing surgery to remove a cancer from human society. He was not murdering an innocent primitive people as the liberal critics of the Bible used to say. God had been extremely patient with the Canaanite tribes. They had had hundreds of years to repent after the witness of Melchizedek, Abraham, and many other God-fearing people who had lived among them. Because they did not repent, God used Israel as a broom to sweep away their filth and purify the land. He did not drive the Canaanites out simply to make room for Israel. He did so also to remove this cancerous society and its malignant influence. Israel exercised considerable restraint in dealing with the Canaanites compared with the way some other ancient Near Eastern countries dealt with people they defeated. The Assyrians, for example, were very brutal.

God also manifested His hatred of sin in His dealings with the Israelites. We have seen this already in the Pentateuch as God disciplined His chosen people when they sinned. In Joshua, when Israel lusted after the things of Canaan He dealt with her severely. Achan's sin (ch. 7) affected the whole nation. God judged Achan as He did to teach the Israelites a strong lesson concerning how serious sin is. God's dealings with His own people were even more severe than His dealings with the Canaanites.

In short, Joshua reveals that God wages war against sin wherever He finds it. He patiently waits for people to repent, but if they do not judge sin themselves, He will judge it (Acts 17:30-31; 1 Cor. 11:31). God deals more severely with His own people than with others because privilege heightens responsibility.

Not only does Joshua reveal that God wages war against sin, but it also teaches us how He does it.

God uses the forces of nature to wage war against sin. He restrained the waters of a river, shook the walls of a city, sent hail from heaven, and lengthened the hours in a day to accomplish His purposes. God rarely works in as direct ways to judge sin today. This should not lead us to conclude that He never did or never will. He will again shake the heavens and the earth to bring down His wrath on sinners (cf. Rev. 6-19). We have the privilege of living in the day of His grace when God is being patient with sinners (2 Pet. 3:9-10). Nevertheless that day will end, and He will bring judgment on our world as He did on the world of the Canaanites.

God also uses people who are loyal to Him to wage war against sin. The people God used in Joshua were men and women of faith (Heb. 11:30). God's methods are unpredictable and often seem strange to His servants. They frequently appear foolish to us. Therefore God asks that we simply trust and obey Him. Faith in Joshua means refraining from what God forbids (e.g., at Ai) as well as doing all that God directs (e.g., at Jericho). Joshua is one of the clearest illustrations in the Bible that consistent trust in and obedience to the Word of God results in overcoming, victorious, powerful, successful living. Joshua clarifies three characteristics of faith.

1. Faith involves accepting God's standard of holiness. We tend to undervalue the need for personal and corporate holiness in our day because God is not judging sin immediately as He did in Joshua's day. This is the day of His patience. Nevertheless Joshua teaches that without holiness there can be no spiritual power or consistent victory in our experience (cf. 1:8; 24:19-25).

2. Faith also means abandonment to God's will. God has revealed in His Word how His people can experience all He wants them to have. Because God's ways are not the ways we would choose from our finite carnal viewpoint we have trouble trusting God and committing ourselves wholeheartedly to His will. The Israelites succeeded at Jericho as they did because they committed themselves completely to engaging in that battle as God had commanded. They did so even though it must have looked like suicide to obey.

3. Faith also involves achievement in God's might. It is God who wins the victories. Without God His people can do nothing productive (John 15:5). However with Him all things are possible (Matt. 19:26; Phil. 4:13). The Israelites learned this when they failed at Ai. Success does not really come as a result of our action as we obey God. It comes as a result of God's action working through instruments that He finds usable.

In summary, Joshua reveals that God hates sin. He is at war with it because it offends Him but also because it destroys the people He has created to have fellowship with Himself. God uses the forces of nature and people who are loyal to Him to root out sin and bring deliverance to His people. However the people He uses must accept His standard of holiness for themselves. They must abandon themselves to His way of doing things. They must also acknowledge that victories are the result of His might, not their own.

Constable: Joshua (Outline)

Outline

I. The conquest of the land chs. 1-12

A. Preparations for entering Canaan chs. 1-2

1. God's charge to Joshua 1:1-9

2. Joshua's charge to Israel 1:10-18

3. The spying out of Jericho ch. 2

B. Entrance into the land 3:1-5:12

1. Passage through the Jordan chs. 3-4

2. Circumcision and celebration of the Passover 5:1-12

C. Possession of the land 5:13-12:24

1. The conquest of Jericho 5:13-6:27

2. Defeat at Ai ch. 7

3. Victory at Ai 8:1-29

4. Renewal of the covenant 8:30-35

5. The treaty with the Gibeonites ch. 9

6. Victory over the Amorite alliance at Gibeon 10:1-27

7. Other conquests in southern Canaan 10:28-43

8. Conquests in northern Canaan 11:1-15

9. Summary of Joshua's conquests 11:16-12:24

II. The division of the land chs. 13-21

A. The land yet to be possessed 13:1-7

B. The land east of the Jordan 13:8-33

C. The land west of the Jordan chs. 14-19

1. The rationale for the allotments 14:1-5

2. Caleb's inheritance 14:6-15

3. Judah's inheritance ch. 15

4. Joseph's inheritance chs. 16-17

5. Survey of the remaining land 18:1-10

6. The inheritance of the remaining tribes 18:11-19:51

D. The special cities 20:1-21:42

1. The cities of refuge ch. 20

2. The cities of the Levites 21:1-42

E. The faithfulness of God 21:43-45

III. Joshua's final acts and death chs. 22-24

A. The return of the two and one-half tribes to their inheritances ch. 22

B. Joshua's farewell address to the Israelites ch. 23

1. A reminder of past blessings 23:1-13

2. A warning of possible future cursing 23:14-16

C. Israel's second renewal of the covenant 24:1-28

1. Preamble 24:1

2. Historical prologue 24:2-13

3. Covenant stipulations 24:14-24

4. Provisions for the preservation of the covenant 24:25-28

D. The death and burial of Joshua and Eleazar 24:29-33

Constable: Joshua

Joshua

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Herr, Larry G. "What Archaeology Can and Cannot Do." Ministry 56:2 (February 1983):28-29.

Hess, Richard S. Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries series. Leicester, England, and Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press, 1996.

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Horn, Siegfried H. Biblical Archaeology: A Generation of Discovery. Washington: Biblical Archaeology Society, 1985.

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Kallai, Zecharia. "The Conquest of Northern Palestine in Joshua and Judges." Proceedings of the Fifth World Congress of Jewish Studies. Vol 1. Jerusalem: World Union of Jewish Studies, 1969.

Kearney, Peter J. "The Role of the Gibeonites in the Deuteronomic History." Catholic Biblical Quarterly 35:1 (1973):1-19.

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Kelso, J. L. Archaeology and Our Old Testament Contemporaries. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1966.

Kemp, Barry J. "Preliminary Report on the El-'Amarna Expedition, 1981-2." Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 69:5 (1983):5-24.

Kempinski, Aharon. "Joshua's Altar--An Iron Age I Watchtower." Biblical Archaeology Review 12:1 (January-February 1986):42, 44-49.

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_____. The Bible In Its World. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1977.

_____. "The Old Testament in its Context: 2 From Egypt to the Jordan." Theological Students' Fellowship Bulletin 60 (1971):3-11.

_____. "The Old Testament in its Context: 3 From Joshua to Solomon." Theological Students' Fellowship Bulletin 61 (1971):5-14.

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Joshua (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION.

THE BOOK OF JOSUE.

This book is called Josue , because it contains the history of what passed under him, and, according to the common opinion, was written by him. The Greeks call him Jesus; for Josue and Jesus, in the Hebrew, are the same name, and have the same signification, viz., A Saviour. And it was not without a mystery, that he who was to bring the people into the land of promise, should have his name changed from Osee (for so he was called before, Numbers xiii. 17,) to Josue , or Jesus , to give us to understand, the Moses, by his law, could only bring the people within sight of the promised inheritance, but that our Saviour, Jesus , was to bring us into it. (Challoner) --- The Hebrews who had been so rebellious under Moses, behaved with remarkable fidelity and respect towards his successor; who, by these means, more forcibly represented the Christian Church, (Du Hamel) which will be ever obedient to her divine head and observe his directions. Josue had been trained up a long time under the hand of Moses, and God had given him the commission to govern his people, in so public a manner, that no one offered to claim that high and arduous office. In effect, the whole conduct of Josue before and after his exaltation, shewed him to be most deserving of command. (Haydock) --- Josue, says the Holy Ghost, (Ecclesiasticus xlvi. 1,) was successor of Moses among the prophets , or, according to the Greek, "in prophecies." Many explain this of the obligation incumbent on him, to continue the sacred history (Calmet) and revelations where Moses had left off. The last chapter of this book informs us that he did so. Perhaps some additions, by way of farther explication, have been made by subsequent inspired writers, though most of the passages which are adduced to prove this assertion, seem to be of little force. Respecting the death of Josue, we may make the same observations as on that of Moses. It may have been written by the author of the Book of Judges. Theodoret seems to have thought that the work before us, was compiled out of the public registers, which are quoted chap. x. under the name of the book of the Lord . See Numbers xxi. 14. The Samaritans have a book or chronicle of Josue, which relates in 39 or 47 chapters, many facts of scriptural history, (Haydock) down to the reign of Adrian, intermingled with a variety of fables. It seems to be of modern date. Hottinger undertook to publish it in Latin, but was prevented by death. (Calmet) --- The true history of Josue sets before us the passage of the Jordan, the conquest of Chanaan, and the distribution of the country. After the pious general had performed all that could be expected from him, after he had twice ratified the covenant between God and his people, and exhorted the latter, with his last breath, to observe an inviolable fidelity to the only Lord, he departed this life in peace, in the 110th year of his age, and was buried at Thamnath Sare, which he had built for the place of his abode. (Haydock) --- As the five books of Moses contain the law, intermixed with history, so this first of the historical books exhibits a variety of useful precepts and predictions. The prophetical and sapiential books must be considered in the same light. (Worthington) --- They all tend to promote true wisdom and the salvation of men, provided they be perused in the same spirit with which they were written. (Haydock)

Gill: Joshua (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA

The Jews distinguish the prophets into former and latter; the first of the former prophets is Joshua, or Sepher Joshua, the book of Joshua, as it is commonly called in the Hebrew copies; the Syriac inscription is,

"the book of Joshua, the son of Nun, the disciple of Moses:''

in the Arabic version it is reckoned a book of the judges, which adds,

"the first among the judges of the children of Israel was Joshua, the son of Nun, the twenty eighth from Adam, who reigned over Israel after the Prophet Moses.''

This book bears the name of Joshua, either because it is concerning him, his actions and exploits in the land of Canaan, or because it was written by him, or both; though some ascribe it to Ezra, and others to Isaiah; but it must have been written before the times of Ahab, as appears from 1Ki 16:34; and even before the times of David, as is clear from Jos 15:63, compared with 2Sa 5:6; for though mention is made in it of the mountains of Judah and of Israel, from whence some have concluded, that the writer must have lived after the times of Rehoboam, in whose days the kingdom was divided; yet we find the distinction of Israel and Judah took place before, even in the times of David and Asaph, Psa 76:1; It is most likely that this book was written by Joshua himself, as the Jews in their Talmud ^a assert; and, indeed, who more fit for it than himself? and if written or put together by another, it is most probable that it was taken out of his diary, annals, or memoirs; and though there are some things recorded in it, which were done after his death, these might be inserted under a divine direction and influence by Eleazar, or Phinehas, or Samuel, to each of whom some ascribe the writing of this book, just as Joshua is supposed to add some verses concerning Moses at the end of the Pentateuch: however, be it wrote by whom it may, there is no doubt to be made of the divine inspiration and authenticity of it by us Christians, since some histories recorded in it are taken from it, or referred to, in Heb 11:30; and the promise made to Joshua is quoted, and applied to every believer, Heb 13:5; and the Apostle James refers to the case of Rahab, her character and conduct in it, Jam 2:25. The subject matter of this book is Joshua's taking upon him the government of the children of Israel, after the death of Moses, by a divine commission, exhortation, and encouragement given him to engage in war with the Canaanites; his conquests of them, the division of the land of Canaan to the children of Israel, and their settlement in it. It is of great use not only to give us the geography of the land of Canaan, and the history of the church of God, from the death of Moses to the times of the judges; but shows the exact fulfilment of prophecy, and the faithfulness of God to his promises in giving the land of Canaan to Israel, according to those made to their fathers, and the justice of God in punishing the Canaanites for their abominable sins, as had been foretold; and the wonderful care, of God, and his love to the people of Israel in preserving and protecting them, and in settling them in such a good land, notwithstanding all their murmurings, ingratitude, and unbelief, in the wilderness; and may serve to lead us to Christ, whose type Joshua was in the whole affair here related: his name has the signification of the salvation of the Lord in and he is by the Greek writers, and so in the New Testament, called Jesus, a Saviour, Act 7:45, Heb 4:8; and as they agree in their name, so they do in their state, condition, and character; Joshua was a servant of Moses, Christ was made under the law, and became subject to it, both moral and ceremonial; and also in their office, Joshua was the governor of Israel, and the commander of their forces, for which he was well qualified with wisdom, courage, and integrity; Christ is King of saints, the Leader and Commander of the people, who has fought their battles for them, being abundantly qualified, having the spirit of wisdom, counsel, might, and of the fear of the Lord, resting on him. Joshua was a type of Christ in various actions of his; in leading the people through the river Jordan, an emblem either of baptism, or of afflictions, or of death itself, in which Christ is with his people, and carries them through; in saving Rahab and her family, so Christ saves the worst and chief of sinners; in receiving the Gibeonites, who submitted to him, as Christ does all that come to him; in his conquest of the several kings of the Canaanites, so Christ has conquered all the spiritual enemies of his people, sin, Satan, and the world; in bringing and settling the people of Israel in the land of Canaan, their rest, and dividing it to them by lot, which Moses might not do; so Christ only brings souls into the true rest, into spiritual rest here, and eternal rest hereafter; in whom they obtain the inheritance of the heavenly glory by lot, and by whom only they enjoy salvation and eternal life, and not by the works of the law. This book contains an history of Joshua, of his government, his acts and deeds, from the death of Moses to his own; how long that was is not certain; the Jewish chronologers ^b observe, that the time of his principality we find not in the text; though they ^c say he succeeded Moses when he was eighty two years of age, and governed Israel twenty eight years; Eupolemus ^d, an Heathen writer, says thirty years. Christian writers commonly make his reign to be twenty seven years ^e; but an Arabic writer ^f stretches it further to thirty one years; he says, he took the government of the people in the seventy ninth year of his age, and reigned thirty one; but it seems more probable that he was ninety three years of age when Moses died, who lived to be an hundred ten, so that only seventeen years intervened between the death of the one and of the other; seven years Joshua was in subduing the land, and ten years more were taken up in dividing it to the people, and settling them in it, and in the government of them; after which Eleazar might rule ten years more, whose death is mentioned in it; so indeed the book may be reckoned an history of twenty seven years, though Joshua lived only seventeen of them. The Chronicle, to which the Samaritans give the name of the book of Joshua, is a spurious work; an epitome of which Hottinger ^g has compiled, and translated out of the Arabic exemplar into Latin.

Gill: Joshua 6 (Chapter Introduction)

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.