Exposition of the Whole Bible

ferves, either the word ark is wanting, or the word covenant, and may be fupplied citherthus, ‘ the ark of the covenant, the ark (I fay) of the Lord of all the earth,” or thus, ‘* the ark of the cove- 9 nant, which is the covenant of the Lord of alkthe earth:* the true meaning is what Abarbinel gives, ©

«¢ the ark of the covenant of the Lord, who is the.

Lord of the whole earth;” the maker and pof- - feffor of the whole earth, the whole terraqueous ~ globe; and can do what he pleafes in the earth, or» in the water; and can controul the powers of nature, anddo what is beyond them, things miraculous and aftonifhing: paffeth before you into Fordan s not only unto it, but into it, into the ‘river itfelf;

and by the power of him whofe prefence was with ~ it, the waters of ¥ordan were to be divided, to give them a paflage through it as on dry land, and fo it came to pals. y.12. Now therefore take ye twelve men, 80c.} For what end and purpofe is not mentioned. darbinel is of opinion, that they were chofen and appointed, that every man might pitch upon and» take a place for histribe to encamp in, when they came on the other fide Yorden: whether this was JFofhbua’s view or no is not certain; however, the ufe he made of thefe, thus provided by divime direction, is related ch. iv. 2, 3, 4. and thefe were to be taken out of the tribes of Ifrael, out of every tribe amon, Levi not reckoned, having no part in the land; and fo we find that tribe left out in other ac-— counts, when there was a choice of twelve men out of the feveral tribes, Numb. xiii. 4. and xxxiv.

extremity they came at, ¥. 15. ye fhall fand fiill 19.

in ‘fordan; after the waters were parted; upon

x. 13. And it fhall come to pafs, as foon as the

their coming to and touching the brink of them,| oles of the fect of the priz/ts that bear the ark of the they proceeded, and went into the middle of the river, where they were ordered to ftop and fland ftill.

y¥. 9. And Fofoua faid unto the children of Irael, come bither, &c.] Vety probably to the door of the tabernacle: “and hear the words of ihe Lord your God; which he was about to deliver to them as from him, andin his name.

y¥.10. And Fofbua faid, &c.] To the people as follows: hereby ye fhall know that the living Ged is among you; who has life in and of himfelf, and is the author of life to all his creatures; and is fo called in, oppofition to the lifelef$ idols of the Gentiles: and it may be, as Abarbinel obferves, to fueseftto them, that though Mo/és was dead, the Lord lived, and lives for evermore; and by the folowing miracle of dividing the waters of Yordan, it would bea plain cafe that the Lord was yet among them, to protect and defend them, deliver and fave them: aad that he will without fail drive

Lord, &c.| Which they were bid to take up and: carry, ¥. 6. the Lord of all.the earth; this fhews that not the ark, but the Lord, is called the Lord of all the earth, ¥. 11. fee the note there: (al? reft in the waters of Fordan;, the meaning is, as foon as their feet fhould touch them, or they fhould &t their feet in them, when they came to the brink of them: that the waters of fordan foall be cut off from the waters that come down from akove; from above the place where the priefts came, and the childfen of S/rael after paffed over: and they fhall ftand upon an heap; or one heap; ftop and rife up high, as if piled up one upon another, and ftand unmoved. This had been made known to Fofbua by divine re= velation, and is what he hints at, ¥. 5. and now plainly fpeaks out, and foretels before it came to pafs; and which mutt ferve to magnify Jofbua, as in ¥. 7. and give him great credit and honour among the people. Pigs ¥.14. <Andit came to pafs when the people removed out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites, from their tents to pafs over Forden, &c.] Which and the Hivites and the Perizzites, and the Girgafbites, and the Amorites, and the Febufites, all the féven nations ate mentioned, even the Girga/bites, who are fometimes omitted, to affure them of the expulfion of them all, to make, way for their entire poffeffion of the land of Canaan, as had been promifed them, ye 11. Bebold the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth, &c.] Sortie both Fewifh and Chriftian interpreters, becaufe there is a diftinguifhing accenton the word covenant, read the words the ark of the covenant, evén the-Lord of all the earth; fo in fome copies of Our Lxglifh bible, as if the ark was called the Lord of all the earth, becaufe of his - prefence and dwelling there; but, as Kimchi ob-| they had pitched very near it, upon their removal from Shittim, and in which they had lodged the

night paft: and the priefts bearing the ark of the co- i,

venant before the people; at the diftance of two thoufand cubits. 6 a y. 15. And as they that bare the ark were come unto Fordan, &c.] Not to the bank, which was overflowed, but to the. extremity ‘of the wate overflowing: and the feet of the priefts that bar th ark were dipped in the brim of the water; which’ doubtlefs the firft they came to, and not the br or extremity of it on the other fide: for Fora cverfloweth all its banks all the time of barveft is, Of barley-harveft, as appears from the t year 5 for it was in the firft month, the mo fan, or Abid, which anfwers.to part of April, it uled to overflow, 1 Chron. xii, 15. and it was now the tenth day of that month, ch. iv. 19. onthe fixteenth of which, at the time of the paffover, the fheaf of the firft-fruits of barleyharveft was offered up, Lev. xxiii. 10, 11. undation continued all the time of harveft; Arifteas™ teftiies, that ‘* the river being filled, it overflows as the Nile in the time of harveft, waters much of the country;” it overflows its banks both on the one fide and on the other, the eaftern and weftern fhores. This overflow is fupfed to be occafioned either by the latter rains, which fell about this time; or rather by the fnow on mount Lebanon melting at this time of the year, when the fun has great ftrength in thofe parts, and which poured down in great quantities into this river, that took its rife fromthence. Fofephus * fpeaks of mount Lebanon, and of the fountains of Yordan together; and fays they have their rife from the mountain. and of the fnow of Lebanon fee er. xviii. 14. This river continued to overflow at this feafon in the times of David, 1 Chron, xii. 15, and in the times of 4ri/feas, who lived in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelpbus, king of Egypt, as before obferved; and foime late travellers’ obferve, ‘* it generally happens in the month Niéfan; that is, from the middle of March to the middle of April, the time of the firft-harveft;” but Mr, Maundre/ who was upon the fpot in1697, and at the proper time of its overflowing, perceived nothing of it, He fays, “‘ there is a fmall defcent, which you may fitly call the firft and outermoft bank of dan, as-far as which it may be fuppofed the river does, or at leaft did anciently overflow; prefent (whether it be becaufe the river has by its rapidity of current wor its channel deeper than. ir was formerly, or whether becaufe its waters are diverted fome other way) it feems to have forgot its ancient greatnefs; for we coulddifcern no fign or probability of fuch overflowings when we were there, which was the 30th of March, being the proper time for thefe inundations; nay, fo far was the river from overflowing, thatit ran at leaft two yards below the brink of the channel.”

tribe of Manaffeh, andthe fenfe is, not that 4dam was on the fide of Zaretan, or neat it, for itwas March.andjon the other fide of thé river; and according to the Talmudifts* was twelve miles from it; but the conftruction is with the word heap, which heap was o the fide of Zaretan it was there where the'waters were heaped up; it feems as if they reached the in- jon the one fide to 4dam, and on the other fide to and fo!Zaretan: and thofe that came down towards the fea of the plain, even the falt fea, failed, and were cut andjaf; thofe waters which were below where the priefts feet refted, ran down into the lake Afphal- ¢/tes, where Sodom and Gomorrah formerly ftood, the feaof the plain, or vale of Siddim, Gen. xiv. 3. fometimes called the dead fea, and here the falt fea, its water being exceeding falt; fo the abovementioned traveller ® teftifies on his own knowledge; ** the water of the lake (the lake A/phaltites, or dead fea, fays he) was very limpid, and falt to the higheft degree; and not only falt, but alfo extreme bitter and naufeous;” fo that thefe waters running down thither, and thofe above ftopped, made a dry channel for 16 or 18 miles: and the people paffed over right againft Jericho; which was the city Fobua hadin view to attack firft, and had fent {pies thither to get intelligence of it, and the difpofition of the people init; fee the note on ch. ii. 1.

¥. 17. And the priefts that bare the ark of the Lord ftood firm on dry ground in the midft of Fordan, 8cc.} Which for its breadth the above-mentioned tra- =,|veller fays * might be about 20. yards over, and its depth exceeded his height; but Dr. Shaw, a later traveller ftill, fays, ‘* the river Yordan is by far the moft confiderable river, excepting the Nile, For-jeither of the coaft of Syria, or of Barbary. I computed it to be about thirty yards broad, but but atjthe depth J could not meafure, except at the brink, where I found it to be three yards.” Now in the midtt of this river the priefts bearing the ark ftood firm on dry ground, the waters above being ftopt,. and thofe below cut off. This perhaps’ might give rile to the fables among the Heathens of the river Scamander being {welled for the deftruction of Achilles, and dried up by Vulcan, of which Homer ° makes mention; and of the river Juachus, dried up by Neptune, as the Grecians fable; how- However, atjever, if Heathens can credit thefe accounts, furely we Chrifians ought to believe this, attefted by diwhich made the vine revelation. And this may denote the prefence afflictions, who will not affer thofe waters to overflow them; and in death itfelf, when the fwellings of Fordan fhall not come near them to diftrefs them; and when the covenant of grace will appear firm and. fure, and be their great fupport; and when alfo the feet of the minifters of Crif ftand firm, and their faith fails not; very far from the which is of great ufe, and very encouraging to the {piritual Tfrael of God: and all the Ifraelites paffed over on dry ground; the waters being divided to a pace large enough for fuch a body of people to pafs over, and which continued until all the people were clean paffed over Yordan; perfeétly and compleatly, not one being left behind, or loft in the paffage through it; in the midftof which the priefts ood until all were pafled over, So the fpiritual U/rae/ of God muft all go over Fordan’s river, or muft all go through the valley of the fhadow of death; and they’ll all go over fafe to Canaan’s land, to the heawas on this fide, in the venly glory; their fouls go immediately to heaven at death, and their bodies will be raifed at the laft day, and be re-united to them, and partake of this time of the paffage of the children of J/rael through it, it was overflowing;

miracle the greater. of Chrift with his people in

¥.16. That. the waters which came down from| above, &c.] Above where the priefts feet refted, and which came down from mount Ledanon, and the fountains of ‘Yordan northward: feood and rofe up upon ax heap, they flopped their current, and as the water came down they rofe up on high, and made ene vaft heap of waters:

city of Adam, that is, befide Zaretan, the cetid,. or textual reading is, in Adam the city; we follow the marginal reading, from ddam: both readings, as| isufually, if not always the cafe, are tobe received; and the meaning is, that this heap of waters, tho’ the river was ata confiderable diftance from Adam; yet through the overfiow. of it, it reached to, and was in Adam; this city was in Perea, omthe other fide Fordan, that fide on which the Iraclites were before their paflage; and Zaretan, which is fuppofed to be the fame with, Zartanab, and Zarthan, x Kings iv. 12. and vii. 46.

happinefs with them 5 nor will any one of them be loft; they all clean pafs over, and arrive fafe; for Chri/t, the purchafe of his blood, partake of ba grace, and have the earneft of his Spirit.

they are the chofen of God, the care and charge of pee chapter relates an order, that 12 men they fhould take 12 {tones out of the midftof Fordan, and carry them tothe firft place they lodged as a memorial of their paflage over it, ¥. 1—8. and how Yo/bua fet up twelve other ftones in the river itfelf, y. 9. and how many of the tribes Reuben, Gad, and Manaffeh, went before the J raclites when they paffed over, ¥. 10—14. which being done, the priefts were ordered to come out of ‘Jordan, when the waters returned to their place, ¥. 15—18. The time when this miracle was wrought is obferved y. 19. and an account is given of ofhua’s pitching the twelve {tones taken out of Fordan in Gilgal, and the ufe they were to be of in future time, ¥. 20—24. _ [ting them up, and in this were to take the ftones, as next directed: and take you up every man of you a flone upon bis at oulder; by which it appears they were large ftones they were to take, not what they could carry in their hands, but what they were obliged to ofjtake upon their fhoulders: according unto the num- - ber of the tribes of the children of Ijrael, whohad ° that day pafled over Fordan, of which thefe ftones were to be a memorial.

_ ¥. 6. That this may be a fign among you, &c.| A commemorative one: that when your children a/f their fathers 2 timeto come, or to-morrow®; and {o in all time, or any time hereafter: /ayimg, what mean you by thefe flones? what is the reafon of fet-. place, and being juft of y. 1. And it came to pafs when all the people were clean paffed over Jordan, &c.] As related, ch, that the Lord Jpake unto Fofoua, faying; as fol- Yy. 7- Then ye foall anfwer them, &c.| By inill. 17. forming them of the defign and ufe of them: That the waters of Fordan were cut off before the ark of

lows. the covenant of the Lord when it paffed over Fordan;

y¥.2. Take you twelve men out of the people, &c.} Fofoua had before this ordered twelve men to be taken from among them, which feems to havejand been done of himfelf; and now he has adirection from God for it, and what to employ them in: out of every tribe a man, {o that what they did was in the name of the feveral tribes, and as reprefent- \the waters below from thofe that were above, which ftood up on an heap; fo that they were divided feparated from each other, and made dry land for a paffage of the children of J/rae/; and this was done before, and in the prefence of the ark of the covenant, to fhew that it was owing to the power of God, of whofe prefence the ark was a {fymbol:

ing them. the waters of Fordan were cut off; which is re-

¥.3. And command you them, faying, &c.] As follows: take you bence out of the midft of Fordan; fo that they were obliged to go back into the midft of Yordan, having already paffed over it, as appears from y. 1. out of the place where the priefts feet ftood firm; where being ftones they chofe to ftand them, and which were a firm ftanding for them; and which fecured them from the flime and mud at the bottom of the river the waters left behind; though it is not abfolutely neceffary to underftand it that they were to take, and did take, the ftones from under their feet, but thofe that lay about the place where they ftood: fwelve ftones; each man a ftone; and according to the Samaritan chronicle, every man infcribed his name on the ftone: and ye foall carry them over with you, from place they took them up, to the placethey fhould next ftop at: and leave them in the lodging place where you fhall lodge this night; which was in the place afterwards called Gilgal, ¥. 19, 20.

¥. 4. Then Fofoua called the twelve men whom be had prepared of the children of Ijrael, &c.] It may be for fome other purpofe, ch. iii. 12, but this was the deftination of them eventually, and as by divine direction: out of every tribe a man ashe peated for the confirmation of it, and that it might be taken notice of as a very marvellous event, and to be afcribed to the divine omnipotence and goodnefs: and thefefiones fball be for a, memorial unto the children of Ifrael for ever’; which whenever feen and — uponjobferved by them, would put them in mind of this wonderful appearance of God for them; and Fevom "{peaks of them as if feen by Paula in his time, whofe life and travels in thofe parts are writ- ~ ten by him.

y. 8. And the children of I/rael did fo as Fofbua commanded, &c.| That is, the twelve men taken * jout of the twelve tribes of J/rael, and who were the reprefentatives of them in this action: apd’ took up twelve ftones out of the midf of Fordan thelas the Lord fpake unto Fofhua, according to the ‘turk. der of the tribes of the children of Irael; they took the exact number, and out of the very place Fofbua ° was ordered to direct them todo: and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged; which, as ‘fofephus fays*, was 50 furlongs faith Jordan, which was above fix miles; fo far they carried thefe ftones on their fhoulders: and Idd ~ them down there; which afterwards were put in» proper order by Fo/bua, or at leaft by his direc- had before ordered, and was now direéted to. tion.;

¥. 5. And Fofhua faid unto them, &c.) The) y,9. twelve men: pa/s ye over before the ark of the Lord your God into the midft of Jordan; that is, they were to go back to Yordan again, which they had palied over, and go into the midft of it, where were the priefts bearing the ark; forit is not to be imagined, that the ark went along with them, or followed them, they going before it; but they went where that was, jult before it, from whence And Fofbua fet up twelve ftones in the mi of Jordan, eee ex. oe ° ihe | ' twagint and Vulgate Latin verfions, and fo sance which he fet one upon another, fo that me be feen above the water; or however the water c fordan being clear, they might eafily be difcerne by thofe who either paffed over the river, or. walked by the fide of it, where they were; and perhaps may be the very ftones Fobn the baptift pointedat © in Matt. iii. 9. fince it was at Bethabara he was baptizing, fuppofed to be the very place of the paffage of the children of J/rael over Fordan, and had its name from thence, Fob. i. 28. in the place where the feet of the priefts which bare the ark of the covenant ftood; and which was done in commemoration of it; the words will bear to be read under the flation of the feet of the priefts: hence Farchi fancies thefe were fet, that their feet might not fink in the mud at the bottom of the river; but this though here recorded, might be done by Fohua immediately after the priefts were come out of Fordan, or as they were coming up: hence fome think Fofoua was the laft that came up from it; but Abarbinel obferves, that the word fignifies in the room or flead of, asin Exod. xxi. 24. fo that thefe ftones were placed: in the room and ftead of the ftation of the priefts, in the midft of the river, and in memory of it: and they are there unto this day; to the time of the writing of this book, which is no objection to Fo/bua being the writer of it, though it is by fome made one; fince it might be wrote by him, as doubtlefs it was, when fuch an obfervation could not be impertinent; and if what has been before obferved is true, thefe ftones were in the fame place in the times of Yobm the Baptift, and that they were in the order in which they were firft fet; for that they were in the waters of Fordan, there could fcarce be any queftion of it. This was done to perpetuate the memory of this remarkable event: fo Alexander the great fet up twelve altars on the borders of India, by the river Oraxes, in commemoration of his exploits *.

¥. 10. For the priefts which bare the ark ftood in the midft of fordan, &c.] Though on dry ground, the waters being divided: wntil every thing was finifbed that theLord commanded Fofhua to fpeak unto the people, according to all that Mofes commanded Fofhua; that is, until all the people had pafied over Ferdan, as the Lord had ordered Fo/hua, to encourage them unto, and go over with them, ch. i. 2. and which Mofes, by divine dire&tion, had given Fofhua in charge to do; Deut. xxxi. 7. Kimchi interprets this of the fetting up of the ftones in Yordan, and the removal of the other to Gilgal, of which Mo/es faid nothing to Fe/oua; and though it may be true of the former, that the priefts ftood in Fordan till that was done, which is not certain, yet not of the latter; for it is plain, and it is moft reafonable to conclude, that the priefts were come up from the midft of Fordan before Jrael marched to Gilgal, or even began their march, fee ¥. 18, 20. and much lefs is this to be underftood of the {tones at Ebal, as others, and fo referred to Deut. xxvii. 2. which was not done until after 4 was taken, ch. viii. 42. And it is not reafonable to imagine, that the priefts fhould continue in Yordan to that time; Abarbinel thinks, it refers to the words in ch. i. 3. which had been fpoken by the Lord to Fo/bua, and had been éxpreffed by Mofes, Deut. xi. 24, 25. and which he fuppofes were now repeated by Fofhua, and the priefts continued in their ftation until he had made an end of rehearfing them; the laft claufe relating to Mojes is left out in the Septuagint verfion: and the people bafted and. paffed over; not ftood in fear of the waters of the river returning upon them; rather through an eager deit may be to relieve the priefts from their ftation as foon as might be.

¥. 11. And it came to pafs wher the people were clean paffed over, &c.] Every one of them, as in ch. ili, 17. and iv. 1. that the ark of the Lord paffed over, and the priefs in the prefence of the people; that is, the priefts bearing the ark came out of the midft of Jordan in the fight of all the people, who were on the banks of it, on the other fide, where they had been ftationed during the paffage of the people; though this motion of them was not until they received an order for it, of which there is an after-mention. The Septuagint verfion reads, and the ftones before them; ee ¥. 8.

v.12. And the children of Reuben, and the cbildren of Gad, and half the tribe of Manaffeh, &c.] Who were fettled on the other fide orden, in the countries taken from Sihon and Og: paffed over armed before the children of I/rael; the rett of the tribes: as Mofes /pake unto them; or ordered them, and as they promifed they would,’Nwmé. xxxii. 17, 2052.35 275 29, 92.

¥. 13. About 40,000 prepared for war, &c. ] Accoutred with proper armour to defend themfelves, and their brethren, and annoy their enemies: this is to be underftood of fuch a number of the above mentioned tribes; otherwife the number of all J/rae/ that went over Fordan, even armed or fighting men, befides women and children, were 500,000 or more. Now though the number of men fit for war, of thefe tribes, were 130,000, who were all, according to the original agreement, under obligation to go with their brethren over Fordan into Canaan’s land, and continue with them until it was fubdued, and they had reft in it; yet Fofhua took no more than about 40,000 of them, who we may fuppofe were feleét men, and fit for his purpofe; the reft were left to look after their flocks, their families, and their lands: she e paffed over before the Lord unto battles over Fordan, before the ark of the Lord, as that ftood in Fordan, bore by the priefts there, being ready to en-~ gage in battle whenever it was neceflary: and they went on with their brethren to the plains of Jericho, to a place afterwards called Gilga/; fee ¥. 19. The Septuagint verfion is, to the city Jericho.

y. 14. On that day the Lord magnified Fofhua in the fight of Ifrael, &c.] Made him great and honourable in their efteem, by doing what he foretold would be done, dividing the waters of Yordan, drying up the river to make a paffage for them thro’ it, as on dry land: and they feared him, as they feared Mofes, all the days of bis life, had a reverend efteem of him, and affection for him, and yielded obedience to him all his days; fee Exod. Xiv. 31.

Hot 5. And the Lord fpake unto Fofbua, &c. ] When all the people had pafied over Yordan: faying; as follows.

¥.16. Command the ptriefts that bear the ark of the teftimony, &c.| In all places before in this hiftory, the ark is called the ark of the covenant, here the ark of the teftimony, which fignifies the fame thing, the law; which was both the covenant between God and the people, and a teftimony of his will unto them; the Septuagint verfion has both words: shat they come up out of Fordan, where they ftayed un- fire of fetting their feet on the land of Canagn, andjtil all the people pafled over, for the encou- ragement of them, and until they received this and out of it; the name of one of them, and he a order. principal one, was Peter or Cephas, which fignifies

¥. 17. Fofhua therefore commanded the priefts, &c. In obedience to the Lord, and fent them an order: faying 5 as follows: come ye up out of Fordan from the midft of the river to the bank of it, which was properly an afcent. abara, from whence thefe y. 18. And it came to pafs, when the priefts that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, were come up out of the midft of Jordan, &c.| According to the command of ‘fo/bua in the name of the Lord: and the foles of the priefts feet were lift up upon the dry land and fet upon it; on the bank of ‘Yordan, and.fhores of the land of Canaan: that the waters of Fordan returned unto their place, thofe that came from above, and had ftood on an heap, gradually came down into the channel, and thofe below that were cut off returned: avd flowed over all bis banks, as they did before 5 and ufually did at this time of the year, fee ch. iii, 1g. fo that there was no decreafe or lofs of the waters by their failing, and be- \a ftone; and all of them in a fpiritual fenfe were lively ftones, chofen and felected from others, and called by grace, and were very probably moft, if not all of them; baptized in this very place, Betbftones were taken; and were like them unpolifhed, as to external qualifications; not having an education, and being illiterate; but wonderfully fitted by Chrift for his fervice; and were not only pillars, as Fames, Cephas, and Fohn, but in fome fenfe foundation-ftones; as \they were the inftruments of laying Chrift minifterially, as the foundation of falvation; and of preach+ ing the fundamental truths of the gofpel, in which they were conftant and immoveable; and their mi+ niftry and writings, their gofpels and epiftles, are. {o many memorials of what Chrift, our antitypical 7abua, has done for us in paffing over Yordan’s river, or through death; finifhing thereby tranfgreffion and fin, obtaining peace, pardon, righ- ing cut off, teoufnefs and falvation, opening the way to the

¥.19. And the people came up out of Jordan, &c.} The channel of it to the fhore: on the tenth day of the firft month; the month Nifan or Abib,which from the time of J/rae/’s coming out of Egypt was appointed the firft month of the year, Exod. xii. 2. on the 15th of which month they came out of Egypt, having kept the paffover on the 14th at even; fo that their coming out of Egypt, to their entrance into Canaan, was juft 40 years, wanting five days. This tenth day was the day in which the paffover was taken from the flock, and kept till the fourteenth, on which day the children of Tfrael kept their firft paflover in Canaan, in the plains of ‘fericho, ch. v. 10. and encamped in Gilgal, in the eaft border of Fericho; it has its name here by anticipation, ‘for it was fo named after for a reafon given, ch.v. 9. It was, according to Fofephus ', ten furlongs, or a mile and a quarter from Fericho. ‘feromfays™, there was fhewn in his time a defart place two miles from Fericho, in wonderful efteem by men of that country, which he fuggefts was this place; as it was had in great veneration, both by the worfhippers of the true God, and by idolaters, for many ages.

¥. 20. And thofe twelve flones which they took out of Jordan, &c.] The twelve men who were fent there for that purpofe, and took them from thence, and brought them hither, ¥. 3, 5, 8. did Fofoua pitch in Gilgal; fet them in rows, or one upon. another, and mide a pillar of them, commemorative of their paflage over fordaz into the land of Canaan: according to Fofepbus", he made an altar of thefe ftones; and Ben Ger/om is of opinion, that they were placed in the fanctuary by the ark, though not in it; which yet was the fentiment of| Tertullian °, but very improbable; fince that ark was not capable of fuch a number of large ftones, and it muft be a very large ark, or chelt, if one could be fuppofed to be made on purpofe for them; but it is moft likely they were erected in form of a pillar or ftatue, in memory of this wonderful event, the paflage of I/rael over Fordan, fee ¥. they may be confidered as emblems of the twelve! apoftles of Chrift, and their miniftrations and writings; their number agrees, and fo does the of their appointment to go into al] the world, preach the gofpel, which was after the refurrection of Chrift, typified by the paflage of fo/hua over Fordan, heavenly Canaan, abolifhing death, and bringing life and immortality to light.

3. 21. And he fpake unto the children of Ifrael; /aying, &c.] At the fame time he fet up the ftones:: when your children Joall afk their fathers, &c. as in y¥, 6. fee the note there. > y. 22. Then ye fhall let your children know, 8c.¥ The meaning of the ereétion of thefe ftones, acquaint them with the whole hiftory, the meaning of which they are defigned to perpetuate: /aying, J/rael came over this fordan on dry land; and if they fhould afk, how that could poffibly be done, or if they did not, they were to inform them by what means it was brought about, as follows.

y.23. For the Lord your God dried up the waters thisiof Jordan from before you, until ye were paffed overs &c.] As this is fuppofed to be faid in future time, and to perfons who were not upon the fpot when this was done, and fo entirely ignorant hadjof the affair; it is not to be underftood of them perfonally, but of the fame people they were of, the people of //rael in former times, of their anceftors, and of them in them; the benefits of which they enjoyed by poffeffing the land of Canaan their fathers were at this time introduced into: as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which 4e dried up from before us, until we were gone over; for tho’ the generation of men, for the moft part, was dead that pafled thro’ the Red Sea; yet as Yo/bna himfelf, and Caleb and Eleazar, and it may be fome others that were not among the murmurers, were ftill living, for whom that miracle — was wrought, this way of {peaking is very~properly made ufe of; and efpecially when it is ob— erved, that there were many of the prefent generation then young, which paffed over, and even thofe unborn were in and reprefented by their anceftors, and who enjoyed the. advantages of that wonderful mercy; fo thefe two ftrange events are joined together, as inftances of divine power and goodnefs in Pf. cxiv. 3, 5., 7. y. 24. That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty, &c.] Even almighty, and can do that which is marvellous and time!furprifing, and above the power of nature to efand fect; things unfearchable and paft finding out, which ¢an’t be expreffed, or conceived how and by what means they are brought about; this the very

Ch.v.s.3, 2. JOSHUA heathens would own and acknowledge when they | fhould fee thefe ftones, and be told the meaning of them, or fhould hear of this amazing event: that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever 5 as the above-mentioned end was to be anfwered among the people of the earth by thefe ftones, this among the people of J/rael; who upon fight of them would call to mind the power and goodnefs of God, and engage them to fear, ferve and worfhip him; who by fuch aéts as thefe had abundantly fhewed himfelf to be the only true and living God, and the covenant-God of them his people Jrael; the Septuagint verfion is, ‘* that ye may worfhip the whichI** Lord your God in every work.”

: 179 would ferve to keep an awe of his majefty on their mind, a due reverence of him and his greatnefs,

Bases Canaanites being difpirited on the paffage of the children of J/rae/ through Fordan, y. 1. Fofoua is ordered to circumcife fuch of the people of J/rael that were uncircumcifed, y.2—g. in order to their eating of the paffover, which was now to be kept, y. 11. and they being now provided with corn fufficient, the manna ceafed, ¥. 11, 12. and theré appeared to Yé/hua a divine perfon, in an human form, to éncourage and direct hint what to do in the’conqteft of the land, and particularly Fer - other things particularly for that: make them fharp knives; not that Fo/hua was to make them himf-If, but to order them to be made; for a confiderable number would be wanted for the ufe to be made of them: the Targum calls them fharp razors; and Ben Gérfom fays, they were made of brafs, more likely. of iron or fteel, which perhaps he means; but the Hebrew text is, knives of rocks, ints or fiones; and fo Maimonides interprets the words, and as they,are rendered in various verfions*; with fuch an inftrument Zipporab circumcifed her fon; and like them were the /amia teffa with which the priefts of the mother of the gods were caftrated; and the /axum acutum of Ovid’; and fuch the Americans wed in flaying beafts, and the Egyptians‘ in the diffecting of their dead bodies; and which the Zalmudifts allow of as Jawful; and in the eaft, the ews to this day ule knives of ftone in circumcifion"; fee the note on Exod. iv. 25. and circumcife again the children of Virael the fecond time; not that circumcifion was to be repeated on them that had been circumcifed already, who had found out ways and means to draw over the forefkin again, as fome in after times did; or who had been imperfectly circumcifed according to the rite.enjoined by Abrabam, which fome Fewifh writers fay was not perfect; neither of which was the cafe. Kimchi, and fo Ben Melech, interpret the word, oftentimes, frequently, one time after another; as if the fenfe was, Fofbua was to circumcife them, or take care they were circumcifed, fome at one time, and fome at another, until the whole was finifhed, but this is not what is meant, it refers to a former general circumcifion; not to the circumcifion, as firft adminiftred in Abraham’s time, for there had been a multitude of inftances of it fince that time; but. to the circumcifion of the Z/raelites at, about, or quickly after their coming out of Egyp!; either before their eating of their firft paffover, the night they went out of Egypt, as Farchi“;, or rather fome time in the three days darknefs of the Egyptians, as Dr. Lightfoot * thinks; or elfe when they were about Sinai, juft before the celebration of the paffover there, Numb. ix. 1, 2. from which time it had been neglected; not becaufe unneceflary, whilft they were in the wildernefs, to diftinguifh them from others, which was not the principal, at leaft not the only ufe of it; nor becaufe forbidden the Ijraelites for their difobedience, murmurings and rebellion, it not being probable that God fhould

¥. 1. And it came to pafs when all the Rings of the Amorites, which were on the fide of Fordan weftward, &c.] On the fide the J/raelites were now on; and this is obferved, to diftinguifh them from the other kings of the Amorites beyond Yordan, on the eaftern fide, who were already conqueted by the L/raelites, Sibon and Og, who feem to be a colony that went over from the 4morites in Canaan, and poffefied themfelves of that part of the land of Moab. Thefe feem to be put for feveral others of the nations of the land not mentioned, who doubtlefs were as much difpirited as they; and they are the rather mentioned, becaufe they were a principal nation, and a very powerful and warlike one, fee Amos ii. 9. and all the kings of the Canaanites which were by the fea, the Mediterranean fea; the Septuagint verfion calls them the kings of Pheiicia; and that which was ftrictly and properly fo, lay on that coaft, in which were the cities of Tyre and Sidon, though the whole land of Canaan was fometimes fo called; unlefs this is to be underftood, either of the dead fea, or of the fea of Galilee; of which Canaanites, fee Numb. Xiil. 29. however, be they the one or the other, or both, as moft likely, when they beard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Fordan from before the children of Ifracl, until we were paffed over, that their beart melted, neither was there fpirit in them any more, becaufe of the children of Ifrael, they loft all their courage, and never recovered it any more; concluding it was all over with them, fince fuch wonderful things were done for them by the Lord: the word we fhews, that the writer of this hiftory was one that paffed over Jordan, and who can be fuppofed but Yo/bua himfelf? this circumftance, I think, ftrongly corroborates that opinion.

y¥.2. At that time the Lord faid unto Fofbua, &c.] “When the people had pafled over Fordan, and had pitched in Gil/ga/, and ‘Fo/hua had fet up the ftones there; and particularly when the dread of them had feized the inhabitants of Canaan, and deprived them of all their courage;

fit time for the execution of what is next ordered, and feems defigned in the providence of God. prohibit the obfervance of a command of his on that account; nor fo much through criminal negand fo was ajlect, at leaft contempt of it, as becaufe of their frequent journeying, and the inconvenience of peramong forming it, being always uncertain when they had pitched their tents, how long they fhould ftay, and when they fhould remove, fince this depended upon the taking up of the cloud; wherefore, un- Jefs they could have been fure of a continuance for a proper time, it was not fafe to adminifter it; and now it was enjoined,. partly becaufe they were about to celebrate the paflover, which required circumcifion in all that partook of it, Exod, xii. 43, 44. and partly becaufe they had now entered into the land of Canaan, which was given them in the covenant of circumcifion, Gen. xvii. 8, 9, 10. wherefore it became them now to obferve it, and as typical of fpiritual circumcifion, neceflary to the heavenly Canaan, as well as to diftinguifh them from the uncircumcifed Canaanites they were coming among; and they did not think themfelves under obligation to obferve it till they came to fettle in that land, as fome think, whe hereby accotint for their long neglect of it.

¥. 3. And Fofoua made him foarp kuives, and cirtumcifed the children of Ifrael, &c.| Not that Fo bua circumcifed them himfelf; any more than he made the knives himfelf, but he ordered both to be done, and took care that they were done. And at the true reafon of it, at leaft to countenance the reafon there given, which was on account of their journey; that is, their ftay at any place being uncertain and precarious; fo the ews fay *, becaufe of the affliction or trouble of journeying, the I/raelites did not circumcife their children. This. is to be underftood of all males only born in the wildernefs, they only being the fubjects of circumcifion.

y¥. 6. For the children of Irael walked forty years in the wilderne/s, &c.] Wanting a few days, the round number is given; not forty-two, as the Septuagint verfion: till all the people that were men of

war, which came out of Egypt, were confumed, alk

that were above twenty years of age, excepting Fofoua and Caleb: becaufe they obeyed not the voice of the Lord; but murmured againft him, and againft his fervants, and particularly againft daron, being the high-prieft; and chiefly becaufe of the report of the fpies, and their murmurs then, which fo incenfed the Lord againft them, that he threatened them with an entire confumption of their carcafes, and which accordingly was fulfilled, to which the following claufe refers: unto whom the Lord as any that had {kill might make the knives, fo| were, that he would not fhew them the land, which the might any circumcife; circumeifion was not reftrained to any order of men, not to the priefts and Levites, but any might perform it; fo that though the number to be circumcifed was great, it might foon be finifhed: and this was done at the bill of the forefkins; as the place was afterward called from hence; thefe being heaped up one upon another, made a hill of them, as the Zews fay’, being covered with duft. This circumcifion performed by Fo/fbua, or his orders, was typical of the fpiritual circumcifion without hands, which thofe that believe in Jefus, the antitype of Fofbua, partake of,

¥. 4. And this is the canfe why Fofbua did circumeife, &c.] Or the reafon of the command given him to circumcife the children of J/rae/ at this time, namely, what follows: al/ the people that came out of Egypt that were males, even all the men of war; meaning fuch that were twenty years old, and upwards: died it the wilderne/s, by the way, after they y.7. And the children, whom he ratfed up in their fiead, them Fofhua circumeifed, &c. |] Who were born to them in the wildernefs, and fueceeded them, fome of which might be near forty years of age; as for thofe that were born before, of which there might be many now living, they had been”

circumcifed already, but others were not: for they were circumcifed, becaufe they had not circumcifed them by the wey, or whilft journeying the forty years in the wildernefs; which, as before obferved, feems to be the true reafon of the omiffion of circumcifion.

y¥. 8. And it came to pafs, when theybad done circumeifing all the people, &c.| Which feems as if it was done in one day, even on the fame day they pafled over Fordan, and came,to Gilga/; tho” bifhop Ufber * thinks it was the day following; and came out of Egypt, not direétly, but in a courfe of fo the Fews * fay it was on the eleventh of Nifan:

forty years, as they journeyed through the wildernefs; this is to be underitood with an exception of Fofhua, Caleb, Eleazar, &c. but then there was that they abode in their places. in the camp, till they were whole; till the wound made by circumcifion was healed; now as it was on the ioth day they a large number who were under twenty years of paffed over Yordan, and came to Gilga/, where they age, that came out of Egypt, and were now living. ¥. 5. Now all the people that came out were cireumcifed, &c.} All that came out of Egypt, and males were cireumcifed, whether under or above twenty years of age; for though it is poffible all were circumcifed before they came out of Egypt, which favours the opinion of Dr. Lightfoot, that they might be circumcifed during the three nights darkneis of the Egyptians, when they could take no advantage of it, as Levi'and Simeon did of the Shechemites; and which feems more probable than that it fhould be on the night they came out of Egypt, when many muft have been unfit for travelling, and feems preférable to that of their being circumcifed at mount Sinai, which was a year were circumcifed, there were three entire days between that and the 14th, when they kept the paf= over; during which time they kept within their tents in the camp, being unfit to move from thence, for on the third day of circumcifion they were ufually fore, Gen. xxxiv. 25. but being well on the fourth, were able to attend the paffover. As the providence of God greatty appeared in favour of J/rael, by caufing a dread to fall on their enemies, that they durft not fally out of the city and attack them; fo it fhowed great faith in Fo/bua, and the J/raelites, to adminifter circumcifion at this time, juft as they were landed in an enemies country; and when the waters of Yordan were returned, and there was no going back, andif they could, as after their coming out of Egypt: but all the people they were not in a condition to fight, fo not to flee.

that were born in the wilderne/s by the way, as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circum-

¥. 9. And the Lord faid unto Fofhua, &c.} Out of the tabernacle: this day bave I rolled away the cifed; the reafons of which neglect fee in the note on ¥. 2. The phrafe, dy the way, feems to point reproach of Egypt from off you, either the reproach of being reckoned of the fame religion with the —

Egyptians, they now having obferved the command city: of the morrow after the pajjover; which Kimof the Lord, and thereby declared themfelves to chi and Ben Gerfom fay was on the 15th of Nifan; be his fervants and worfhippers, which fenfe Ben the pafiover being on the 14th; but if the mor~ Gerfom mentions; of elle the reproach with which row after the paffover is the fame with the morrow the Eygyptiens. reproached them, that they were after the fabbath, Lev Xxili, IT, that was the 16th brought out from them into the wildernefs for evil, of Nifan; and fo Jarchi here fays, this is the day of to be deftroyed there, they now being fafe arrived; waving the fheaf, which was always done on the in the land of Canaan; which fenfe he feems to|16th: it is difficult to fay which day is meant; approve of; and fo Abarbinel: or rather by it is if it was the 16th, then it may refer to what they meant the reproach of being bondmen, and flaves, eat on that day, after the fheaf was Offered »; if as they were in Egypé, having now entered upon it was the 15th, it feems neceffary to underftand their inheritance, they as free men, the fons of it of the old corn; and fuch they muft have to Abraham, Ifaac and Facob, were heirs. unto; and make their unleavened cakes of, both for the paffperhaps it was this fenfe of the phrafe led Jofephus ‘over on the 14th, and the chagigah, or featt of to give a wrong interpretation of the word Gi/ga/, unleavened bread, which began the 15th, as it folwhich he fays figniSes Uberty; and adds, ‘ for lows: unleavened bread, and parched corn in thé having paffed the river, they knew they were free Jelf-fame day unleavened bread, for the ufes befrom the Egyptians, and from troubles in the wil- fore mentioned, they were obliged to, and parched dernefs;” though the more commonly received corn for their pleafure; but new corn, as the Sepfenfe is, that this reproach is to be underitood of ‘uagint render it, was exprefsly forbidden before uncircumcifion, which was the reproach of the the waving of the fheaf, Lev. xxiii. 14. and there+ Egyptians, they at this time not ufing circumcifion fore old corn feems to be meant; this was juft they afterwards did, when fome of the nations forty years to a day from their coming out of thereabout ufed it, who defcended from Abraham, as the Midianites, I/bmaettes, dravians and Edomites: wherefore the name of the place is called Gils gal unto this day; which fignifies rolling *; fo that when it is met with before, it is fo called by anti-

Legypt. ¥. 12. And the manna ceafed on the morrow after

they had eaten of the old corn of the land, &c. ]

There being now no further need of it; miracles are not wrought or continued when unneceffary; for the ceafing of the manna fhews, that it was y.10. And the children of Ifrael encamped in Gil-jnot a common but an extraordinary provifion. gal, &c.) Not after ‘their circumcifion, but be- The ceafing of the manna, which was a type of fore, and where they continued encamped during|Chrift, may fignify the ceffation of gofpel-ordi- that,’ and until the paffover had been kept by them; this was little more than a mile from Fericbo, fee the note on ch. iv. 19. and kept the pajfover on the fourteenth day of the month at even; exactly as it was ordered to be obferved, and was obferved when firft kept, Exod. xii. 6. in the plains of Jericho, a proper place both for their encampment, and the celebration of the paffover, and where very likely they met with lambs enough for their purpofe, which belonged to the inhabitants of Fericbo, or however being now got into the good land, they needed not, and were under no temptation of fparing their own; hiftorians agree, as Strabo *, Jofephus', and: others, that Fericho was feated in a plain.

y. 13. And they did eat the old corn of the land, &c.] Thatof the laft year, as fome verfions *, which agree with ours; 4n which they feem to follow the fewi/h writers, who, as particularly Kimchi, Gerfom, and Ben Melech, interpret it of the old corn, for this reafon, becaule they might not eat of the new until the wave-fheaf was offered up, Lev. xxiii. 10,11, 14. of which old corn they fuppofe the unleavened cakes were mate, and was alio parched corn, though that word the Septuagint verfion tranflates ew 5 and indeed were it not tor the above law, there does not feem- to be any reafon for rendering it old corn, only corn of the land, as the Septuagint does; and there is fome. difficulty how they fhould get at the old corn, which it may be fuppofed was laid up in the granaries, when Yeriche was clofe fhut up, and none nances, in which Chrift is held forth as food for his people. Thefe are to continue till all the fpiritual J/rael of God have paffed over the river Jordan, or death, even until the end of the world, and then to cealfe, Mast. xxviii. 19, 20. 1 Cor. xi. 26. Rev. xxi, 22, 23. the eating of the old corn may fignify the glories of the future ftate, the joys and happinefs of the heavenly Canaan, prepared for thofe that love the Lord from the foundation of the world; it may denote thofe ancient things the faints will feed and live upon to all eternity; the eternal love of the three divine perfons, electing grace, the antient fettlements of grace, the everlafting covenant of grace, and the bleffings of it; the glorious mediator of it, that was fet up from everlafting, and the grace given to them in him before the world began: xeither had. the children of Lrael manna any more; having no more need of it, as the faints in heaven will ftand in no more need of gofpel-ordinances: but they did eat of the ruit of the land of Canaan that year, the increafe of the land, not only of the fields, but of the vineyards and olive yards, which they had neither fown nor planted; fee Deut. vi. 10, 11. which may denote the plenty and variety of the joys of heaven, and glories of the future ftate; the various truits which grow on Chrift, the tree of life, brought forth every month, or continually; all which will be enjoyed through the free grace of God, without the works or merits of men.

¥.13. And it came to pafs when Fofoua was by Jericho, &c.) Orin Fericho'; not in the city it- went in or out; unlefs chey met with itin fome offielf, but in the border of it, as Kimchi and Ben the villages near at hand, or it was brought them Melech; or on the fide of it, as Farchi; on one by the traders in corn, of whom they bought it, or| fide of which he was reconnoitring by himfelf, veryfound it in fome out-houfes and barns without the probably, feeking for a proper place where to ake - $ his firft attack; or if he could find out fofise avegeneral, and fo decidé the war; in which, had nue to the city, whereby he could enter more eafily; or it may be he was meditating a fcheme how to fubdue the city; and it is very likely praying to God that he would direct him, and fucceed him. Ben Gerfom interprets it, his thoughts were in Feticho; and both he, and Abarbinel, fuppofe, that what follows was in a vifion of prophecy, that it feemed to him that he was. in Yericho, and faw a perfon, as after defcribed, and was only a dream, or night-vifion; but no doubt, whether this was in the day or in the night, which is not certain, it was areal fight that ‘fo/bua had, or one really appeared to him as a man, as after related: that he lifted up bis eyes, and looked; his eyes before looked downwards, as the eyes of a perfon in deep ftudy and meditation ufually do: and behold, there flood a man over-againft him, not a mere man, nor a created angel in an human form, but a divine perfon in fuch a form, even the Son of God, who frequently appeared in this manner to the patriarchs; as is clear from the worfhip paid unto him by Yofbua, by his calling him Lord, and owning himfelf to be his fervant; and by the ground on which he ftood, being holy through his prefence, as well as by his title, the captain of the Lord’s hoft. archi fays this is Michael, which if underftood of Michael the increated angel, the head of all principality and power, is right, who is always meant by Michael, whenever he is {poken of in this been the cafe, Yofbua was ready to join iffue with him, y. 14. And he faid, nay, &c.] Not for or on the fide of their adverfaries was he come, as Fo bua fufpected at the firft fight of him; the Septuagint verfion is, be faid unto bim, taking sx for 5; as it fometimes is: dut as captain of the hoft of the Lord am I now come; of the hoft of the Lord both in heaven and in earths angels and men, and particularly of the people of //rae/, called the armies ‘ and hoft of the Lord, Evod. vii. 4. and xii. 41.

fo that tho” Fo/bua was general, Chrift was generalifimo; and fo ‘Yo/bua underftood him, and therefore fhewed a readinefs to do whatfoever he fhould command him; the fpiritual -ael of God, the church, is in a militant ftate, and has many enemies to combat with, fin, fatan, the world, and falfe teachers; Chrift is their leader and commander, the captain of their falvation, and has all neceffary qualifications of wifdom, courage and might for fuch an office; fee J/ lv. 4. and xi. 2, 3. Heb. ii. to. Rev. xix. 11, 14: and Fofbua fell on bis face to the earth, in reverence of this divine and illuftrious perfon, whom he perceived to be what he was: and did worfhip; gave him religious worthip and adoration, which had he been a created angel he would not have given to him, nor would fuch g: and faid unto him, what faith my Lord unto bis

{cripture; and fo this is interpreted by the ancient /ervant? that is, what commands had he to lay

Fews * of the angel the redeemer: with bis fword drawn in his band, who fometimes is faid to have a two-edged one come out of his mouth, and fometimes one girt on his thigh, and here with one} drawn out of the feabbard, to juftify the war with the Canaanites, and to encourage ‘fo/hua to proceed in it. His fword has been drawn againft his enemies, and thofe of his people from the begin- upon him, and he was ready to execute them? he was heartily willing to be fubject to him as the chief general of the L/raelitifh torces, and to confider himfelf, and behave as an officer under him, and to obey all orders that fhould be given him. ¥. 15. dnd the captain of the Lord’s boft faid unto Fofoua, &c.| Asa trial and proof of his obedience to him: Joofe thy foe from off thy foot;

ning, ever fince the fall of man, when enmity commenced between’ him and the feed of the ferpent; it appeared drawn when here on earth combating with all our {piritual enemies, and will never be put up until all enemies are put under his feet: which is to be underftood literally, as when the like was commanded Mo/es at Horeb, Exod. iii. Se though fome interpret it figuratively, as Abarbinel, ‘* remove from thee fuch thoughts that thou fhalt ** take this city by ftrength:” for the place where- and Fofbua went with bim, which fhewed great courage, prefence of mind and magnanimity: and faid unto him, art thou for us, or for our adverfaries? by his appearing in this warlike pofture, he concluded it was to take on one fide or the other, either on the fide of Jj/rael, or of the Canaanites; and he feemed to fufpect that it was on the fide of the latter, and that he was one that was come to defy the armies of J/rac/, as Goliab afterwards did, on thou flandeft is holy; becaufe of the prefence of this perfon, and as long as he was there, though afterwards was as another place; the ews) commentator, laft mentioned, thinks, this intimates that the city, and all in it (and all round about it) fhould be cherem, devoted, and fo be holy to the Lord: and Fofhua did fo; loofed his fhoe from his foot, in obedience to the captain of the Lord’s:

hoft, thereby giving proof of his readinefs, willing- and to engage in a fingle combat with Yo/bua their nefs and alacrity to ferve under him.

1 this chapter Fe/bua is affured, though Fericho was clofely fhut up, it fhould be delivered) into ~his hands, y. 1, 2. and he is directed, with the army, to go round the city fix days together, feven priefts bearing the ark of the Lord, with feven trumpets founding; and on the feventh day to go round it feven times in like manner, when its walls fhould fall, ¥. 3,4, 5. which order Jofbua communicated to the priefts, and to the people, and which was put into execution by them, with fome other inftruétions he gave them, ¥. 6—16. particularly that the city, and all in it, fhould be devoted to the Lord, and none fpared, but Raaé and her family, ¥. 17—1g. the fuccefs was according to the affurance given by the Lord, ¥ 20. when all in the city were deftroyed ‘ands was burnt with fire, and the gold, Giver fe and iron brought into the houfe of the Lord and Rabad and her father’s-houfhold were faved alles)? y¥. 21—25. and the chapter is clofed with an ad juration of Fe/bua, curfing the man that fhould build the city; and with this obfervation, that the © fame of Fofbua upon this was fpread abro:. out the country, ¥. 26, 27. P; ad through::

y. 1. Now Jericho was firaitly fout up becaufe of went into Arabia, I heard them.call a fath Fovel;

the children of Ifrael, &c.| Or it fhut up, or was feutting, and was fout up*; that is, the king and the inhabitants fhut it up within; the Targum fays with iron doors, and bars of brafs, and it was blocked up without by the children of J/rae/: none went out and none came in, none of their forces went out to make a fally on the J/raelites, or to feék to make peace with them; nor any of their neighbours went in to them, to carry them any provifion, or to affift them, or to be fheltered by them, not being able to do it becaufe of the camp of J/rael. ' ¥..2. And the Lord faid unto Fofoua, &c.] The fame divine perfon called in the preceding chapter the captain of the Lord’s hoft, now with him, and who gave him the following orders, inftructions, and affurances: fee, I have given into thy hand Fericho, and the king thereof; which might be concluded from the fear that was fallen upon the inhabitants of the city and their king, and from their, fhutting themfelves up fo clofely, not daring to come out againft J/rae/,; and efpecially from this declaration and promife of the Lord; and which fhould be done in fuch a manner, as that it would clearly appear to be of the Lord, and not men: and the mighty men of valour; the military men, the foldiers, or army that were under the command of the king of Fericho; or, as Kimchi reads it, though mighty men, yet they fhould not be able to defend the city, or hinder its falling into their hands; for what were they to the mighty God of Jirael? y. 3. And ye fhall compafs the city all ye men of war, &c.\ ‘Fofbua their chief commander under the Lord, and al] that were able to make war, even all above twenty years of age; thefe were to compafs the city, not in the form of a fiege, but by a proceffion around it: and go round about the city once; or onetime, for the firft once ina day, and no more; thus fhalt thou do fix days, one after another; that is, go round it, once every day for fuch atime. This order was given according to the Jews ” the twenty-fecond of Ni/aa, after the feaft of unleavened bread was over. ¥..4.. And feven priefts fhall bear before the ark feven trumpets of rams horns, &c.] The ark was to be taken up and carried by priefts round the city. Ben Gerfom obferves, that this was to direct the Jf raelites to keep and do according to all that was written in it; that is, in the law, which was contained in it; but no doubt the defign of it was to fhew, that the fubduing of Fericho, and. the miracle that would be wrought, were owing to the power and prefence of God, of which the ark was afymbol: and before it were to go feven other. priefts, with trumpets in their hands’ which, according to our verfion, were made of ram’s horns: in the original it is Jodelim or Fudilee trumpets. Some think it means only fuch as they were to ufe in the year of jubilee 5 fo Abardinel and others, as Mafius and Noldius *; that they had their name ’ from Jubal, the firft inventor of mufical, inftru- and the trumpet itfelf is called Fode/, becaufe made of a ram’s horn *: pa/s the city feven times; in the fame manner as on the other days: and the priefts fhall blow with thé eskated which they were to do, and did every ay.

and the feventh day ye foall com-

¥. 5. And it fhall come to pafs, that when they make a long blatt with the ram’s born, &c.) Continue blowing, and protraéting, and drawing out the found along time; which they did only on the feventh day; on the other days it was but a fhort blaft they made at atime; fo that this being different, it would be a good fign and token to the people to do what they are next directed to: and when ye hear the found of the trumpet; drawn out toa great length: all the people hall fbout with a great foout; at once, as when an onfet is made in battle, ora victory is obtained: and the wall of the city foail fall down flat; or under itfelf*; which Jarchi interprets in its place; that is, where it ftood, and be f{wallowed up in it; fo the Targum, ‘* and it fhall be fwallowed up under it;” yet fo that fomewhat of it fhould be feen, as an atteftation and proof of:the miracle, as Kimchi; who fays, ‘* it means that it fhould be fwallowed up in its place under the earth, and a little of ‘it appear above ground for a memorial of the miracle:” and the people fhall afcend up every man ftraight before him, juft asthey were in the order of proceffion; for the wall being fallen every-where, they would have no occafion to make up to one certain place, as when a breach is only made in one place, and the befiegers are obliged to go fo many a breaft to enter atic; but in this cafe they might go ftraight up from whence they were, andenter the city without any obftruction and difficulty.

y. 6. And Fofhua the fon of Nun called the priefts, &c.] Not the Levites and Kobathites, whofe bufine{S it was in common to bear the ark, but upor this occafion the priefts; notall of them, but as many as were fufficient for the purpofe: and faid unto them, take up the ark of the covenant; by putting the ftaves into the rings of it, and fo carry it, Exod. xxv. 14. fee Numb. vii. 9. and let feven priefts bear feven trumpets of rams horns before the ark of the Lord; fee the note on y. 4.

¥. 7. And he faid unto the people, pafs on, and compa/s the city, &c.| The women and children, the young men under twenty years of age, the unarmed part of the camp, as diftinguifhed from the armed men: and let him that is armed pafs on before the ark of the Lord, to guard the ark, protect the pricfts, and defend the people, fhould any fally be made by the enemy upon them. Thefe feem to defign all the males that were above twenty years of age able to bear arms, and fit for war; though {ome reftrain it to the 40,000 of the tribes of Rex - ben, Gad, and Manaffeb, ch. i. 14. and iv. 13, y. 8. And it came to pafs when Fofbua had fpoken tothe people, &c.| Both armed and unarmed; had finifhed the orders and direéctions he gave them before mentioned: that the feven priefis bearing the ments, Gen. iv. 2. for rams horns are objected to becaufe they are folid, and not hollow; as if they could not be bored and made hollow, and fic for fuch a purpofe. The Targum, Farchi, and Kimchi,| interpret the word by rams horns, as we do’; and obferve what R. Akiba faid, **-when (fays he) I feven trumpets of ram’s horns paffed on before the Zord; in his fight, and by his direction, and at his command given by Fo/bua, and before the ark, the ymbol of his prefence: and blew with the trumpets; afhort blaft as they went along; this they did on every of the fix days: and the ark of the co- verant of the Lord followed them being borne by

¥. 12. And Fofbua rofe early in the morning, e. ' priefts, y. 6. Of the fecond day; to take care of, direct, an

¥.9. And the armed men went before the priefs that blew with the trumpets, &c.| Whom Farchi, Kimchi, and Abarbinel, interpret of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Manajeb; that is, as many of them as Yo/fbua took with him over Fordan, tho’ rather all the armed men in the camp are meant; at leaft along with thofe mentioned went the ftandards of Fudab and Ephraim: and the rereward came after the ark, becaufe the tribe of Dan was the rereward in journeying, Numb. ii. 91. hence the Targum paraphrafes the words, ‘* and the tribe of the houle of Dea went after the ark,” and fo both Yerchi and Kimchi interpret it: but rather the body of the people unarmed are defigned; at leaft thefe were brought up by the. ftandard of Dan; or otherwile no place in this proceffion is appointed for them whofe bufinefs it was to make the fhout on the feventh day with the reft: the priefts going on and blowing with the trumpets; priefis is not in the text, but is rightly fupplied 5 for as Kimchi and Abarbinel obferve, this is faid of the rereward, but of the priefts, for they only bore and blew the trumpets; and fo the Targum reads, ‘ the priefts going on, 8c.”

y. 11. So the ark of the Lord compaffed the city, &c.] Being bore by the priefts, who carried it round the city; it may as well be rendered and interpreted as it is by Kimchi, “ he, i. e. Fo/bua, caufed the ark of the Lord to compafs the city;” that is, he gave orders to the priefts to take it up, and go round with it onthe firft day: going about it once; on that day, and no more; keeping at fuch a diftance, as to be out of the reach of {tones or arrows cat from the walls of the city: and they came i to the camp, and lodged in the camp, the night following; not only the priefts that bare the ark, but thofe that blew with the trumpets, and all the armed men, and the people. their habitation, but be prepare every thing for another proceffion'on that day; fo adctive and diligent was he to do the will - and work of God, exactly and punctually: and the priefs took up the ark of the Lords and carried it about asthey had done the day before.

¥.13. And feven pricfts bearing feven trumpets of 7ams horns before the ark of the Lord, &c.| See the note on ¥. 4. went on continually; or, going they went *; kept on going, making no ftopat all, until they had compafied the city: and blew with the ¢rumpets, as they went along: and the armed meu went before them, but the rerewatd came after the ark of the Lord, which the Targum paraphrafes as on y¥.9. the priefts going on, and blowing with the trumpets, {ee the note on y. 9. ae y.14. And the fecond day they compaffed the city great!ouce, &c.] Went round it one time only, as on the firft: and returned into the camp; which was at the word Gilgal, ch. v. 10. fo they did fix days; four more after thefe two fucceflively, and proceeded in not,the fame order and manner as on thofe two days.

¥. 15. And it came to pafs on the feventh day, 8c.] Which archi {ays was the fabbath-day, and which is a common notion of the Jews*; but whether it was or not, it is certain that one of thefe feven days muft be a fabbath, in which the feveral things ordered were done, and the proceffion made. Kimchi obferves, that their Radbdins fay this was the fabbath-day; and headds, what is pretty remarkuntillable, ‘* though they flew and burnt on the fabotherwile, hadjbath day, he that commanded the fabbath, commanded to prophane the fabbath in the fubduing of Yericho;” with which compare what our Lord jays Matt. xii. 3—8. that they rofe early about the dawning of the day; having feven times the work todo they did on the other fix days: and compaffed. the city after the fame manner feven times; after the fame manner as they had done the fix preceding days: belouly on that day they compaffed the city feven times; whereas on the other days they only went round it once, which diftinguifhed this day from thereft.

y.10. And Fofhua had commanded the people, &c.] When he gave them their orders to pafs ony and compafs the city, ¥. 7. faying, ye fhall not foout; that is; on any of the fix days as they went tound the city, only onthe feventh; for this being a fign of victory, it was not to be made the day when it fhould be obtained;

they fhouted, and nothing followed on it, it would have expofed them to the contempt of the inhabitants of Fericho, and would have put them in fpirit, and hardened them: mor make any noife with your voice; as laughing, finging, &c. This profound filence was to be obferved, to add to the gravity and folemnity of the proceffion; and on account of the furprizing miracle that was to wrought, and particularly becaufe of the ark, the fymbol of the divine prefence borne before them; and when God in his providence was aboutto fpeak in fo awful a manner, and to do fuch a furprizing|&c. work, it was very fit and decent that they fhould be filent before him; fee Had. ii. 20. Zech, ii. 13. neitber frall any word proceed out of your mouth; no converfation or difcourfe were to be had with| each other as they paffed along; for this is only to be reftrained to the proceffion; when they returned, and in their camp they might talk and difcourfe as at other times: until the day I bid you fhout, then foall ye fhout, for as yet it feems Yo/hua had not told them how many days they fhould furround the city in this manner, and on what day the fhout fhould be made by them. ¥.17.

y. 16. And it came to pafs at. the feventh time, Of their going round the city on the feventh day: and at the feventh time, when rhe priefts blew with the trumpets; as they did every time they compafied the city: Fofbua faid unto the people, bout; both thofe that were armed, and thofe that were not; they were to make one grand and general fhout at once, as when victory is obtained, or is fure, and fo it follows: for the Lord bath given you the city, intimating that it would be preiently delivered into their hands, and in fuch. manner, that it would plainly fhew it was of the Lord, and no other.;

And the city foall be accurfed, &c.] Or, be ° a Cherem, devoted to the Lord, as it follows: even it and all that are therein to the Lord; the city and the inhabitants.of it fhould be devoted to deftruction, and the riches and fpoil of it dedicated to facred ufes, and not become the property of the J/raelites; for as this was the firft city in the land of Canaan that was conquered, it was fit the firftfruits of the conqueft fhould be the Lord’s, as an acknowledgment of his gift of the land unto them, and that. the conqueft of it was owing to him. 4 though it might be fome mortification to the Jraeites, and a trial of their faith and ob lad that the firft and fo fine a city fhould not -éssiags utterly deftroyed, and not to be built more; and all the riches of it either where they were, and went in right over-againft confumed, or converted to other ufes, and not their them, into every quarter and part of the city, and own. This Yo/bua thought fit to declare to the J/- raelites, before the taking of the city, that they might know what they had to do.. The Jewifo doctors generally fuppofe that Ye/bua ordered this of himfelf, of his own accord and will; but Kim- feized on it, and poffeffed it at once. Various things may be obferved concerning this furprizing event; as that it was fupernatural, and cannot be afcribed to fecond caufes, there being nothing in the proceffion round the city, the blowing of the chi is of opinion, that the Lord gave him this or- “der, which is moft probable, yea, certain from och. vii. 11. only Rabab the harlot fall live, foe and trumpets, or fhout of the people, that could occafion the wall to fall; and that no defences or fortifications are any thing againft God, when it is his ellibat are with ber in the boufe; the and her father’s family, as fhe requefted, and the fpies promifed; here the Targum calls her as elfewhere, Rabab the innkeeper or victualler; and fo in y. 22, 25. becaufe foe hid the meffengers that we fent; and fo preferved them from being taken by the meffengers of the king of ericbo, who were fent in ‘puriuit of them. ‘Thefe though fent only by ofoua, without the knowledge of the people, yet it being on their account, and for their good, and by him as their head and governor, is afcribed to will a city fhould be taken, with whom nothing is impoffible; and that fometimes unlikely means are appointed and ufed by him for doing great things, that the power may appear to be his by which they are done; and that faith fticks at nothing, when it has the word and promife of God to encourage and fupport it; and that God does every thing in his own time and way. The falling of the walls of Fericho may be confidered as an emblem of the fall of Babylon; thefe two cities agree, asin their greatnefs, fo in their wickednefs, them alfo. This fact of Rabab’s is obferved by him asa reafon for fparing her, and thofe that were with her, when all the reft would be put to the fword; and is mentioned as an inftance of her faith, and of the evidence of it, Hed. xi. 30. Fames Kev. xvii. 4. and xviii. 2. and as Jericho ftood in the way of J/rae/’s inheriting the land, being a frontier and barrier town; fo myftical Babylon ftands in the way of the kingdom of Chri, and its fpread in the world, and particularly of the converfion of y. 18. And you in any wife keep yourlelves from the accurjc? thing, &c.| From laying hold on, creting and enjoying as their own, what was devoted to another ufe: lef ye make yourfelves accurfed, or a Cherem, alfo devoted to deftruction: take of the accurfed thing; any part of it, be it what it will, gold or any other metal, or raiment, and the like: and make the camp of Ifrael a curfe, and trouble it; for being done fecretly, and not known who did it, the whole body of the people would be chargeable with it, and finffér on account of it, unlefs difcovered and punifhed, and as more fully appears by an after inftance.

awent up into the city, every man frraight before him, and they took the city, they went up to it from the - plain, where they were, and entered it without any difficulty, the wall being fallen, and that every where; fo that they went direétly from the place fall of Jericho was very fudden, and when not ex~ fe-jpected by the inhabitants of it; and fo will be the fall of Badylon, Rev. xviii. 7, 8,9. and as Fericho fell at the found of ram’s horns, the deftruction of when ye Antichr yt, or myftical Babylon, will be through the preaching of the gofpel, Rev. xiv. 6,7, 8, 9. and as the one was by the founding of feven priefts, at the feventh time of founding, on the feventh day; fo the ruin of Antichrift will be at the feventh angel’s founding the feventh trumpet, and pouring out the feventh vial, Rev. x. 7. and xi. 15. and xvi. 17, 19. and as at the deftruction of the one, {fo of the other, but few faved from the common cavefféls-of lamity, Rev. XVili. 45 5. and both never to be raifed Or|up and built again, Rev. xviii.21, And it may be confidered alfo as an emblem of the fubjection of the Gentile world to Chrift; which, like Jericho, or the moon, as fome obferve the name fignifies, i3 very changeable; and as that city, and the inhabitants of it, an enemy to God, and his people, and yet made fubject by the miniftry of his word; as they fhall particularly it will be, when the kingdoms of this world fhall become his: or rather it may be an it,,emblem of the fubjection of particular fouls to C4r7/?, and the means thereof; who are like the walled city of Yericho in their unregenerate ftate, bat- their hearts hard, ftubborn, and inflexible, and enare felf-confident, vainly puft up in blew their flefhly minds, and fhut up in unbelief, and kept and guarded by Sataz, the {trong man armed; but all thefe ftrong-holds of fin and Satan are brought down and demolifhed in converfion; and |that by means of the found of the gofpel, which is as defpicable with men, as the found of the rams horns were to the inhabitants of Fericho; butis a jubilee and joyful found, a found of love, grace, mercy, and falvation; and being accompanied with the Spirit and grace of God, is the power of God /o that the people unto falvation; and mighty through him for the removing the hardnefs of men’s hearts, and bringing them into fubjection and obedience to Chrift.

¥. 19. But all the filver and gold, and brafs and iron, ave confecrated to the Lord, &c. rather, for all the filver, &c. as the particle here ufed fometimes fignifies, and is fo rendered’: thefe feveral metals, and whatfoever were made of them, were fet apart for the Lord, and dedicated to facred ules, and might not be converted to any other, unlefs what were upon their idols, which were to be burnt with fire, Deut. vii. 25. ‘Come into the treafury of the Lord; be brought into the tabernacle, as Kimchi and Abarbinel interpret into fome apartment there deftined for fuch fervice, and which is clear from y. 24. the fame where the offering of the officers was brought after the tle with Midian, Numb. xxxi. 54. mity to God; y¥. 20. So the people fhouted when the priefts with the trumpets, &c.] As Fofoua had charged them, ¥. 16. and it came to pafs when the people heard the found of the trumpet, and the people fhouted with a great foout, that is, gave aloud fhout, on hearing the long blaft of the trumpets blown by the priefts the feventh time,. as they were no doubt dire&ted by Fo/bua, agreeable to the order given to him; fee ¥. 5, 16. that the wall fell down flat; the wall of the city of Fericho, as the Lord faid it fhould, y. 5. fee the note there:

¥. 21. And they utterly defiroyed all that a in the city, &c.] All the inhabitants of it, by the direction of Fafbua, and according to the a a the Lord, Deut. vii. 1, 2, being guilty of capital lies, and become numerous, and fo be an emblem crimes, which deferved death, as idolatry, inceft, &c. doth men and women, young and old, neither fex, nor age were fpared: and ox, and foeep, and afs, with the edge of the fword; in which creatures chiefly lay the fubftance of the eaftern people; fee Fob i. 3. meen df ¥.22. But Fofbua bad faid unto the two men that had {pied out the country, &c.] Whom he had fent on that errand, ch. ii. 1. and what follows he had faid unto them before the people entered into the city, and perhaps before the walls of it fell; and indeed from ¥. 16, 17, it appears to have been faid at the time he gave the people orders to fhout: go into the barlot’s houfe; he does not mention her name, But they full well knew who he meant: and bring ont thence the woman, and allthat fhe hath; not fo much her fubftance, as her father’sshoufhold, flxe had got together there, that they might be faved, as had been promifed her: as ye /ware unto ber, fo that this order was partly on account of her kindnefs to them, ¥. 17. and partly on account of the oath which they*had taken, and which 7ofoua would have inviolably kept.; ¥. 23. And the young men that were {pies went in, and brought out Rabab, &c.] Not only went into the city, but into Rabad’s houfe, which they knew again by the fcarlet thread hung out at the window of it. But here a difficulty occurs, how they could be faid to go into her houfe, when it was built on thetown-wall, ch. ii. 15. and that was now fallen down flat. Adarbinel thinks that when the {pies went round the city, they faw the fcarlet thread in the window of her houfe, and fet their eyes on the houfe, or wiftly obferved it; and marked it in fuch manner, that after the fall of the wall they went tothe place of her houfe, and brought her out, though her houfe was broken down, and no wall ftanding: but then they could not be faid properly to go into her houfe, and bring her out. Kimchi.is of opinion, that not all the wall of the city fell, but what was over-againft the camp of //rael and that the houfe of Kabab was on the wall on the other fide: but it feems by the account of it as if the whole wall’ fell; and the apoftle fays, the walls of ‘Jericho fell down, Hed. xi. 30. allof them; and fo the /eptuagint verfion of ¥.20. “* and the whole wall, or all the wall fell round about:” And I fee not why it may not be thought that the whole wall fell, excepting that fmall part of it on which Rabab’s houfe ftood; and that ftanding alone would make the miracle the greater, and fhow the divine approbation of faving Rabab and her family: befides, if the wall funk down in its place all around into the earth, as the ‘ews under. ftand the phrafe; fee the note on y. 5. the houfe of the number of Gensile finners faved ‘by Chrift: a the antitype of Jofbua: and left them without the — camp of Irael; until they became profelytes, and — embraced the religion of J/rael, as Kimchi remarks, However, being Gentiles, fome external rites and ceremonies were to be performed upon them, as well as a declaration at leaft of their renouncing idolatry, was required of them, before they could

Ibe admitted into the camp of Jjrae/; and which was required even of a proielyte of the gate, or of © one that was only a fojourner among them.:

¥.24. And they burnt the city with fire, and all that. was therein, &c.] As Babylon the great, of which this city was anembjem, as has been obferved on ¥. 20. will be burnt with fire alfo, Rev. xviii. 8. onlythe filver and the gold, and the veffels of brafs and iron, they put into the treafury of the houfe of the Lord, fee the note on ¥. 19.

¥. 25. And Fofhua faved Rabab the harlot alive, &c.] From perifhing by the fword, as the reft of the inhabitants did. Kimchi fays, fome interpret it of his giving her food, and an inheritance by which fhe might live; and o/ephus ‘ intimates the fame: he fays, he gave her fields, and had her in great honour and efteem; and it is the notion of fome Fewi/h writers, that he took her to wife, and thatthis is meant by faying her alive; which fenfe Kimchi difapproves of, as being foreign 5 befides, it was not Fo/bua, but Salmon, a prince in J/rael, that married her, Matt.i. 5. and ber father’s boufehold, and all foe had;. that is, he faved alive all her relations, and it may be her cattle, if fhe had any; and thofe of her kindred alfo, as their theep, oxen, and affes, when thofe of others were killed, y. 21. Some alfo underftand this of intermarriages of principal perfons in J/ael with fome of her father’s family; but it only fignifies that their lives were fpared, when the whole city was deftroyed with the edge of the fword: and fhe dwelleth in Tfrael even unto this day; which may be meant. either perfonally of Rabab, who. was living and’ dwelt in the land of Canaan, when this hiftory was written; and ferves to ftrengthen the opinion, that Fofbua was the writer of it, and to explainthe mean- * ing of the phrafe uxto this day, elfewhere ufed in ‘ this book; and to remove any objection from it againft his being the author of it; or elfe of her dwelling there in. her pofterity, and fo the might dwell in ic unto the times of the Mefiah, who fprang. from her, Matt, i. 5. becaufe foe bid the meffengers which fofbua fent to [py out Jericho; this was the reafon of her and her father’s family being faved alive; fee the note on y. 17.

¥.26. And Fofhua adjured them at that time, 8zc.} When the city was burnt and fpoiled; not that he might continue on it firm and unmoved, goingjadjured the people individually, or one by one, down with it to the furface of the earth, where it may be fuppofed the top of the wall was; and fo which was not very practicable, but in a general way: faying, curfed be the man before the Lord; let — they might go in and take her out, and preferve her from being deftroyed with the reft of the inhabitants; and not only her, but her father and ber mother, and her brethren, and all that foe had; other relations that were with her, particularly ‘her fitters, which are in her requeft, ch. ii. 13. with all that appertained to her brethren and fifters, which is there expreffed alfo: and they brought out all her kindred; before mentioned, or if there were any| other of her relations fhe had taken into her for fafety;.or all ber families*, for her father’s houfhold might be branched out into divers famihim be curfed by him with the curfes written in the book of the law; and let him be driven from him, from his prefence, as Cain was: that rifeth = alljup, and buildeth this city Fericho, that rifes up in futuretime, and rebuilds it; for it can’t be thought: that after fuch an adjuration, any one would ftart up quickly, and rebuild it: be fhall lay the founda= > tion thereof in bis firft-born, and in bis youngef fe ball be fet up the gates of it; that is, whilft heis houfe laying, or as foon as he has laid the foundation cf = the city, his eldeft fon fhould die; andas he went _ on with the building, other fons of his, ifhe had eT TDwo 52 omnes familias ejus, Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine verfion,

FOSHUA 187 more than two fhould be taken away by death likewife, and by the time he has finithed it, fignified by fetting up the gates of it, both for ornament and fecurity, his youngeft and laft fon die alfo; fo that his whole pofterity fhould be taken away, as a curfe of God upon him for rebuilding the city s which was fulfilled in Hie! the Bethelite, the rebuilder of this city in the times of 4bab, 5 or 600 years after this adjuration was made, when eicher it was forgotten or however little regarded: iaimonides obferves®, that this was made that the miracle might remain in perpetual memory, for Whoever fhould fee the wall {unk in the earth, would be plain and clear to him that this was not the form of a building demolifhed, but that it fell by a miracles and yet this city became a very flourifhing one in after-times, we foon hear of the fchool of the prophets in it, 2 Kings ii. 5. here, Strabo * fays, was a royal palace, where, as Yofephus' re- Sanhedrim fat, and a great. number of the ftationary priefts dwelt, even half a {tation, twelve thoufand of them, all which is obferved by doctor fhould Lightfoot *; our Lord himfelf honoured it with his prefence, Luke xix. 1.

y¥.27. So the Lord was with Jofbua, &c.] Coun- {elling and directing him what to do, profpering and fucceeding him in all that he engaged; the Targum is, “* the Word of the Lord was for the ** help of Fofbua;” the effential Word, Chrift the fon of God, called the captain of the Lord’s hoft, ch. v. 14, 15. and who continued with him {peakitling to him and giving him orders, ch. vi. 2. and his \fame was noifed throughout all the country; for his wifdom and courage, for the wonderful things done for him and by him, and the great fuccefs that attended him, through the power and prefence of God with him; which ftruck terror into the inhabitants of the land, and made his conqueit of it the more lates, Herod died,and who fpeaks of an Amphitheatre realy.

and Hippodrome in it; in this city fometimes the|

OR the trefpafs of chan the children of J/- rae! were {mitten and put to flight by the ot di, ¥. 1— 5. which gave him and the elders of the people great concern, both for J/rael and for the name of the Lord, which was exprefied by Fofhua in prayer to God, ¥. 6—g. when the Lord informed him of the reafon of it, and gave directions for finding out the guilty perfon, and for the punifhment of him, y¥..10—15. which dithat in his times very few ruins of it appeared, menjonly the place was fhewn where it ftood: which is defide Bethaven, a name by which Betel in aftertimes was called, Hof. iv. 15. but here it is manifeftly a diftin& place from it; juft hard by or near to this place,.as Farebi and Kimchi interhimjpret it, was the city of Ai: Bethaven feems to have been the fuburbs of it, or however was very near-unto it: on the caft fide of Bethel, near to rections Fo/bua followed, and the perfon was found out, who being urged to a confeffion made one, ys. 16—21. upon which he and all he had, with the things he had taken were burnt with fire, y.

y. 1. But the children of Ifrael committed a trefpafs in the accurfed thing, &c.] Or concerning it, with refpect to it, by taking part of what was devoted to another ufe and. forbidden theirs: this was done, not by the whole body of the people, only by one of them; but it not being difcovered who it was, it was imputed to the whole, on whom it lay to find out the guilty perfon and punith him, or elle the whole muft fuffer for it: this chapter which Abrabam built an altar, as did Facod alfo, and which in former times was called Luz, Gen. xil. 8. and xxxv. 1, 3, 6, 7. and was well known in later ages by the name of Bethel; it was reckoned about a mile from “7: the fituation of this city is fo particularly defcribed to diftinguith it from another city of this name, 47 of the Amorites, Fer. xlix. 3. and is here called that Ai, that well known Ai, as Kimchi obferves: and fpake unto them; at the time he fent them, when he gave them their orders to go thither: faying, go up and view the country; the mountainous part of it; for they were now in a plain, where Jericho was feated; and obferve-what place was moft proper to attack next, and which the beft way of coming at it: and the begins with a du, and draws a vail over the fame and glory of Fafoua, obferved in the laft verle the preceding chapter: for Achan the fon of Carmi, the fon of Labdi, the fon of Lerab, of the tribe of Fudab, took of the accurfed thing, of what was devoted to the Lord and to facred ufes; this he had taken to himfelf out of the {poil of the city of Fericho, for his own. ufe, contrary to the command| of God: his defcent is particularly defcribed, that it might be known of what family and tribe was; and it is traced up to Zerah who wasa fon of Fudab, Gen. xxxviil. 30.

¥. 2. And Fofoua fent men from Fericho to Ai, &c.] Which was the next city, of importance,Jagainft though not fo large as Yericho, and was, as the Fews fay ', three miles diftant from it; barbinel fays™, four miles, and fo Bunting"; Ferom ° fays, men went up and viewed Ai; what a fort of a city ofjic was, how large, and what its fortifications, and what avenues were to it: by this it appears that Ai was built: upon an hill, or at leaft was higher than Fericho and ‘its plains; and with this agrees what a traveller fays ® of it, it is a village full of large ruins, (in this he differs from Ferom) and from hence are feen the valley of Jericho, the dead fea, Gil/gal, and mount Quarantania, and many helother places towards the eatt.

y. 3. And they returned unto Fofhua, and faid and the anger of thelunto him, let not all the people go up, &c.] After they had reconnoitred the place, they came back to their general, and gave it as their opinion, that there was no need for the whole army to go up the city: dus let about two or three thoufand men go up and {mite di, fuch a number they judged were fufficient to take it: and make not all the people to labour thither; carrying their tents, pom

Lord was kindled againft the children of Ifrael, becaufe of the fin of chan.

lowing verle: and they fled before the men of Ai;

their armour, and going up hill: for they ate but fo when Achilles bewailed the death of Patrocluss few the inhabitants of 4i, men and women ma- jhe is reprefented by Homer* taking with both his king but 12,000; ch, viii. 25, hands the black earth, and pouring it on his head 5

¥. 4. So there went up thither of tbe people about fo Arifiippus among the Athenians is faid ‘ to fprin-

3,000 men, &ec.] Fofbua detached from the army kle dufton his head in token of mourning on the largeft number propofed, that there might be a certain account. ftrength enough to take the places and thofe he fent under proper officers to 4i, who went up to the very gate of the city, as appears from the

¥. 7. And Fofoua faid, alas, O Lord God, &c.} What a miferable and diftrefied condition are we fol- jin? have pity and compaffion on us; who could - have thought it, that this would have been our cafe? wherefore haft thou at all brought this people over ‘Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to defiroy us; who are mentioned either for the whole people of the land of Canaan; or rather, becaufe the people of J/rael were now in that part of the country which they inhabited: thefe words difcover much weaknefs, diffidence, and di- {truft, and bear fome likenefs to the murmurs of the children of J/rae/ in the wildernefs; but not proceeding from that malignity of fpirit theirs did, but from a concern for the good of the people and the glory of God, they are not refented by him: would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other fide fordan, in which he feems to caft the blame, not upon the Lord but upon himfelf and the people, who were not content to dwell on the other fide, but were defirous_of a largér and better country; and now ruin feemed to be the confequent of that covetous difpofition and difcontented mind. Uh

¥. 8. O Lord, what fhall I fay; 8cc.]” For the comfort.and encouragement of the people of D/rael, in vindication of thy power, and faithfulnefs, and again{t the charge of weaknefs in thyfelf, unfaithfulnefs to thy promifes, and unkindnefs to thy people, brought by our enemies: when SDrael bath turned their backs before their enemies? or after they place they fmote them when they fled: wherefore the hearts of the people melted and became as water; that is, the whole body of the people, when this little army returned defeated, their fpirits them, their courage was loft, their nerves were loofed, and they became languid, faint, and feeble; not that their lofs was fo great, but that they perceived God had forfaken them, and what the iffue of this would be, they dreaded, this defeat;

it was fome time in the afternoon: this was done before the ark of the Lord, the fymbol of the vine prefence, not in the moft holy place, where have done it; what is to be faid now, this being the cafe? he fpeaks as a man confounded, and at the utmoft lofs how to account for the power, the failed|providence, and promifes of God.

¥. 9. For the Canaanites, &c.| Thofe that dwell on the eaft and on the weft of the land, fee ch. xi. 3. who were one of the feven nations: and a// the inhabitants of the land foall bear of it; of not only the Amorites, among whom.

¥. 6. And Fofbua rent bis clothes, &c.] As was ufual in thofe antient times, on hearing bad news; and as expreflive of grief and trouble'; fee Gen. XXXVil. 29, 34. Fob i. 20. and fell to the earth upon bis face before the ark of the Lord, until the even-tide; in a pofture of adoration and prayer, in which he continued till even; how long that was cannot be faid, fince the time is not mentioned when the army returned from 47;

they now were, and the Canaanites before mentioned, but the Histites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, and the Febufites: and fhall environ us round; come with all their forces from all parts of the land, and {arround us, fo that there will be no efcaping for us: and cut off our name from the earth, utterly deftroy us, that we fhall be no more a nation and people, and the name of an J/raelite no more very probably be heard of, fee Pf. Ixxxiii. 4. and what wilt thou. do unto thy great name? this, though mentioned’ di-jlaft, was uppermoft in the heart of Yo/bua, and’ was referved by him as his ftrongeft argument with for upon their appearing at the gate of their city, they came out with all their forces againft them, and as foon as they did, the children of J/rae durft not face them, but without engaging with them fled at once: God having forfaken them, their courage failed, the dread of their enemies falling on

_ y. 5. And the men of Ai fnote of them about 36 men, &c.| In the purfuit of them, which were but few, but a fufficient rebuke of providence; their lofs was but fmall, but their fhame and difgrace great: for they chafed them from before the gate; the gate of the city of i: even unto Shebavim; not that there was a place of this name _before, but it was fo called from hence, becaufe there they were broken, as Kimchi obferves; and the Targum and Farchi’ render it, ** until they were bro- ‘* ken,” their lines broken, not being able to ‘etreat in order, but were {cattered, and fled to their camp as they could: Gufetius 1 thinks it was the name of a place, but not fo called for the above reafon, but becaufe there lay broken pieces of the rock fcattered about: avd fmote them in the going down; the hill from di; Morad rendered going down, may be taken for the proper name of a place, and which Kimchi fays, was a place before 4, in which there was a declivity and defcent, and in that that ufually was, and into which ¥osua might not enter, but in the tabernacle of the great court, over again{t where the ark was: he and the elders of I rael; either the elders of the people in the feveral tribes, or rather, the feventy elders, which were the Sanhedrim or council, and which attended Fofoua and affifted him as fuch: and put duft upon their heads 5 another rite or ceremony ufed in times of mourning and diftrefs, and that very antiently, fore Fohua’s time and after, fee Fob ii. 12. 1 Sam, God, to appear for them and fave them;. his” own glory, the glory of his perfeétions, if -\dom, goodnefs, power, truth, and faithfulnefs, was” fo much concerned in their falvation, == y¥. 10. And the Lord faid unto Fofoua, get th up, &c.] From the ground where he lay proftrat with his face to it: this he faid, not as © his fupplication to him, but rather as encouraging be jand ftrengthening him; though chiefly he faid this in order to inftru@& him, and that he might pre-— dejected; or for this thing, asthe Targum, for this defeat of the army; fome thing elfe is. to be done befides prayer and fupplication.

¥. 11. Draei bath finned, &c.} For though one only had committed the fin, others might have known of it and connived at it; however, there was fin committed among them, and it muft be difcovered, the guilt charged, and punifhment inflicted: and they bave alfo tranfgrefed my covenant which I commanded them, not the law given on mount Sizai, called the covenant, though in general that was now broken, inafmuch as they then promifed to hear and obey all that the Lord fhould fay unto them, Exod. xxiv. 7. but it particularly means the command given, ch. v. 18. that they fhould take nothing of that which was devoted to the Lord, and thereby make the camp of J/rae/ a curfe, and trouble it; and which fhews that chat was not a command given by Fofhua of himfelf, but what (he had from the Lord: for they bave even taken of the accurfed thing 5 fomewhat of that which was devoted to facred ules: and have alfo ftolen, taken it away, not openly but by ftealth, as being confcious they ought not to have done what they did, and fo finned both againft God and their own confciences: and diffembled alfo;, or lied" 5 pretended they had not taken any of the accurfed thing, when they had; and it is probable that the people in general, the feveral tribes, families, and houfes were examined by proper officers, whether they had taken any of the fpoil or no, to themfelves, and they all denied they had, and he that had taken it among the reft; and perhaps was particularly afked the queftion,which he anfwered in the negative: and they have put it even amongft their own fiuff; their houfhold ftuff, mixed them with their own goods that they might not be known; or put them iz their own veffels”, for their own ufe and fervice.

y. 12. Therefore the children of Ifrael cowd not

Stand before their enemies, &c.| Being forfaken of

God for the fin committed among them: but turned their backs before their enemies; had not courage to face them, but fled as foon as they appeared: becaufe they were accurfed, of God for the accurfed thing that had been taken, as was threatened would be their cafe, fhould they take any of it, ch. v. 18. neither will I be with you any more, until ye take away the accurfed thing from among you; that is, until they had put to death the perfon who had taken of the accurfed thing, and made himfelf thereby accurfed; and even all the camp of J/rael, ’till this was done, the Lord would not be with them to protect and defend them, and give them fuccefs againft their enemies.