The Book of Joshua
Joshua 6
Chapter VI · Vol. I, pp. 546–547
1 Jericho is shut up. 2 God instructeth Joshua how to besiege it. 12 The city is compassed. 17 It is accursed. 20 The walls fall down. 22 Rahab is saved. 26 The man that buildeth Jericho again is laid under a curse.
1 Now Jericho1 was straitly2 shut up abecause of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.
1 This verse is parenthetical; the narrative respecting the divine person who appeared to Joshua being resumed in the next, and continued to the end of ver.5.—I.
2 Heb. did shut up, and was shut up.
a ch.4.19; 2.7,9. Ps.27.1.
2 And the bLORD said unto Joshua, See, I chave given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.
b ch.5.13-15.
c Da.2.21,44. ch.2.11; 1.3; 8.2,8,18; 10.8.
3 And ye shall dcompass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.
d Nu.14.9. 2 Co.4.7; 10.4,5; 12.9. 1 Co.1.21-25.
4 And seven priests shall bear before the ark eseven trumpets of rams' horns;3 and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.
e 2 Ch.20.17. Ju.7.16,22. Zec.4.6. 1 Co.1.23,24,27. 2 Co.4.7; 10.4,5.
3 Or, jubilee trumpets. It is uncertain whether they were really rams' horns, or trumpets in the form of horns. They were those used on the jubilee, as if, in going forth to compass the city, it already became the people to rejoice triumphantly.—I.
5 And it shall come to pass, that fwhen they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, gall the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down4 flat,5 and the people shall ascend up, every man straight before him.
4 Heb. under it.
5 The margin reads, 'shall fall down under it,' which is evidently the true rendering. For as the people were to 'ascend up,' the city must have been situate, like most cities of the country, on an eminence; and, consequently, the walls would literally 'fall under it.'—C.
f Ex.19.19. 1 Co.1.23,24. 2 Co.10.4,5.
g ver.16,20. 1 Ki.18.43. Ju.7.22. 2 Ch.13.15.
6 And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, hTake up the ark of the covenant, and let seven6 priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD.
7 And he said unto ithe people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the LORD.
i ver.3; ch.1.14; 4.13.
8 And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests, bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns, passed on kbefore the LORD,7 and blew with the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them.
A.M. 2553. B.C. 1451.
k i.e. before the ark, ch. 4. 13; ver. 7. Nu.32.20.
7 They passed literally 'before the LORD;' because the mercy-seat, his throne of grace to sinners, was following, carried by the priests.—C.
9 And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward8 came after the ark, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.
8 Heb. gathering host.
10 And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any9 noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, luntil the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.
9 Heb. make your voice to be heard.
l 2 Sa.5.23,24. Ac.1.7. Lu.24.49.
11 So the ark of the LORD compassed1 the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.
1 The ark of the covenant, so called because it contained the two tables on which the covenant was inscribed, was the symbol of the divine presence. It is particularly stated, that it compassed the city; because it was he whose presence it declared, whose mighty power was at the utterance of a sound to cast down the walls; he who said to Joshua, 'I have given into thine hand Jericho.'—I.
12 And Joshua rose mearly2 in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD.
m ch.3.1. Ge.22.3. Ps.112.5; 119.60. Ec.9.10.
2 The mention of the early morning is not without its instructive meaning. All human work is chiefly effected by rising early. The mechanic rises to work early, the manufacturer, even though a child, rises early, the labourer is afield early, the student sits late and rises early; and the Christian, where health permits, to 'the work of faith and labour of love,' arises 'right early.'—C.
13 And seven priests, bearing seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD, wentn on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the LORD, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.
n ver.6. 1 Ch.15.26. 1 Ki.18.3,12. Ga.6.9. Mat.24.13.
14 And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days.
15 Ando it came to pass on the seventh day,3 that they rose early, about the dawning of the day,4 and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times.
o 1 Ki.20.29.
3 One of these days of marching must have been a Sabbath. But the people acted under no 'dispensing authority'—an authority that has really no existence—but under divine exposition of the law, which exempts from its operation all works of necessity and mercy, nor prohibited any religious work or procession, such as this marching really was.—C.
4 The special note of the dawning of the day, on the seventh time of compassing the city, indicates, as it were, a sleepless anxiety to finish God's work. Spiritually it tells us, 'He that seeks me early shall find me.' 'Be not weary in well-doing.' 'The night is far spent, the day is at hand.'—C.
16 And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, pShout; for the LORD hath given you the city.
p ver.5,20. Ju.7.20-22. 2 Ch.13.14,15; 20.22,23.
17 And the city shall be qaccursed,5 even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because rshe hid the messengers that we sent.
q Or, devoted, Le.27.28,29. De.7.26; 2.34. Je.46.10. Mi.4.13. Is.34.6. Eze.39.17.
5 This Hebrew word cherem signifies 'ban;' and it is generally employed to denote either persons or things irredeemably devoted to Jehovah. In carrying out the ban persons and animals were either killed, or set apart for ever for the purposes of the sanctuary.—P.
18 And ye, sin any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye tmake yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.
19 But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are uconsecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.
20 So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that xthe wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
A.M. 2553. B.C. 1451.
x ver.5. He.11.30. 2 Co.4.7; 10.4,5. 1 Co.1.23,24. Re.8.7-9,12.
21 And they yutterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.6
y De.7.2,3,16; 20.16,17; 2.34. 1 Ki.20.42. Re.18.21.
6 The execution of the adults was on account of their criminality, Le. xviii., a sentence which, if God be a divine moral governor, he must have a right to inflict, as even human governors must likewise have. Nor can the sentence upon the young be impugned, unless the death of children, from any cause, can be proved to be inconsistent with providence.—C.
22 But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, zas ye sware unto her.
23 And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her 7kindred, and left them awithout the camp of Israel.8
7 Heb. families.
a De.21.10,&c. Nu.5.2,3; 31.19. 1 Co.5.12. Ep.2.12.
8 The promise was only to save them alive, not to amalgamate them into Israel they are therefore left without the camp, waiting for Joshua's decision. In this they were the emblems of all redeemed believers, left for a time out of heaven, waiting for the time of the Lord.—C.
24 And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only bthe silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.
b ver.19. Mi.4.13.
25 And Joshua csaved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this 9day; because she hid the messengers which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
c Ju.1.24,25. He.11.31. Ja.2.25. ch.2.14. Mat.1.5.
9 This is an important note of time. It shows that the book was written by a contemporary, and not very long after the events transpired. Rahab evidently became a proselyte, for she was married to Salmon, of the tribe of Judah, and thus became the ancestress of a long line of princes, culminating in the MESSIAH himself.—P
26 And Joshua dadjured them at that time, saying, eCursed be the man before the LORD that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.
d Nu.5.19,21. 1 Sa.14.27. 1 Ki.22.16. Mat.26.63.
e 1 Ki.16.34. Mal.1.4.
Notes
[Ver. 26. Cursed be the man before the Lord that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho. A new city called Jericho appears to have been built at no great distance from the site of the old, Ju. 1. 16; 3. 13. But this curse of Joshua prevented the rebuilding of the original Jericho till the time of Ahab, about 530 years after the anathema was pronounced. Hiel of Bethel, at that time, dared to rebuild it; but, according to the threatening, his eldest son was taken away when the foundations were laid, and when he set up the gates he was left childless, 1 Ki. 16. 34. C.——The reason of this remarkable curse is not stated. We can scarcely suppose that it is a mere arbitrary anathema. The licentiousness of Sodom probably clung to the whole valley, owing perhaps in some degree to the relaxing nature of the climate. Rîha, the only modern representative of Jericho, is a poor filthy hamlet. The houses are built of rough stones, and covered with straw and brushwood. It is a remarkable fact that the people are noted as being the most indolent and licentious in Palestine. P.]
Reflections.—God takes a peculiar pleasure in honouring his ministers and ordinances; in trying the faith and patience of his people at their setting forth in their spiritual warfare; and in showing them that their success is not by human might or power, but by his Spirit. There is need, therefore, of patient perseverance in using the means of grace, though we see not their immediate good effect: for if we follow God's ark, we shall speed at last, and see his salvation, and he can accomplish the most remarkable events by the weakest of instruments. By the bearing of Jesus' name, and proclaiming his gospel before sinful men, particularly on his Sabbaths, what destruction is made of strongholds of inward corruptions and high imaginations, deep-rooted customs and laws of iniquity; of heathen and Popish errors, idolatries, and superstitions, supported by all the principalities and powers of hell and earth! What in us is natural he purifies for his service; and what is sinful he devotes to irreparable ruin. Nor must we murmur at the severity wherewith God executes his judgments: he is just and righteous in all his works. They that will harden their heart against him must, when too late, find their ruin inevitable. But certain and extensive is that salvation which is marked with the blood of the Son of God! In virtue hereof, such as were once infamous in wickedness become as noted in gifts and grace. Such as in this time of his grace submit to his terms of peace he will in no wise cast out; and their relations shall share of manifold mercies on their account. But dreadful and inevitable is the ruin of such as attempt to rear up what God in anger hath cast down.