Joshua 10:12-13
sun <08121> [Sun.]
Joshua doubtless acted, on this occasion, by an immediate impulse upon his mind from the Spirit of God. The terms here employed to record the miracle, agree with the accustomed manner in which the the motions of the earth and sun are described in our own day. The sun apparently moves, but really is stationary; while the diurnal movement of the earth on its axis is by us unnoticed, and would not have been known except by astronomical science. The sun appeared to the Israelites over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Ajalon, and there they stayed in their course for "a whole day." Many vain enquiries have been made concerning the way in which this miracle was wrought, and many difficulties and objections have been urged against understanding it literally. But the fact is authenticated by the Divine testimony; and the manner in which it was accomplished lies entirely out of our province, because beyond our comprehension.
still <01826> [stand thou. Heb. be silent.]
Aijalon <0357> [Ajalon.]
[Aijalon.]
nation <01471> [until.]
Upright <03477> [Jasher. or, the upright.]
sun ............................. sun <08121> [So the sun.]
Isaiah 28:21
Mount Perazim <06559 02022> [in mount Perazim.]
Valley <06010> [the valley.]
[Geba.]
peculiar ........ strange <02114 05237> [his strange.]
Isaiah 38:8
make .............. then <07725> [I will bring.]
steps .... stairs ........... steps <04609 08121> [the sun dial. Heb. the degrees by, or, with the sun.]
Or, as the Hebrew might be rendered, "the steps of Ahaz." The researches of curious travellers in Hindostan, observes Bp. Stock, have lately discovered in that country, three observatories of similar form, the most remarkable of which is to be seen within four miles of Delhi, the ancient capital of the Mogul empire. A rectangled triangle, whose hypotenuse is a staircase, (apparently parallel to the axis of the earth,) bisects a zone, or coping of a wall, which wall connects the two terminating towers at right and left. The coping itself is of a circular form, and accurately graduated, to mark, by the gnomon above, the sun's progress before and after noon.
