3 6 And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. 7 And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, 8 that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the waters of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan.

9. And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD 10 your God. And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Hivite, 11 and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Jebusite. Behold, the ark of 12 the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan. Now therefore 13 take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, for every tribe a man. And it shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off, even the 14 waters that come down from above; and they shall stand in one heap. And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, the priests that bare the ark of 15 the covenant being before the people; and when they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (for 16 Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest), that the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap, a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan: and those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were 17 wholly cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho. And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all 18 Israel passed over on dry ground, until all the nation were passed clean over Jordan. For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until everything was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hastened and passed over. And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them: about forty thousand ready armed for war passed over before the LORD unto battle, to the plains of Jericho.

4 1 And it came to pass, when all the nation were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD 2 spake unto Joshua, saying, Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, 3 and command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and carry them over with you, and lay them 4 down in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night. Then Joshua called the twelve 5 men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: and Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the 6 tribes of the children of Israel: that this may be a sign among you, that when your children 7 ask in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? then ye shall say unto them, Because the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial 8 unto the children of Israel for ever. And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; and they carried them over with them 9 unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the covenant stood: and they are there, unto this day. 15 And the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying, Command the priests that bare the ark of the 16 testimony, that they come up out of Jordan. Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, 17 come ye up out of Jordan. And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the LORD passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people. 18 And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up unto the dry ground, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and went over all its banks, as 19 aforetime. And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and 20 encamped in Gilgal, on the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones, which they took 21 out of Jordan, did Joshua set up in Gilgal. And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, 22 When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? 23 then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were 24 passed over: that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is

14 mighty; that they may fear the LORD your God forever. On that day the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.

Order of Events in Connection with the Passage of the Jordan: (1) At Joshua’s bidding, the priests take up the Ark, and go before the people unto the brink of Jordan. (2) Jehovah assures Joshua that He will magnify him in the sight of all Israel. (3) Joshua announces the purpose of the coming miracle, and definitely states the exact form in which it will occur. (4) The event itself is narrated, as taking place in the form indicated by Joshua. (5) The priests bear the Ark and set it down in the midst of Jordan. (6) The entire host of Israel pass over the dried bed of the river. (7) Twelve previously designated men take twelve stones from the midst of Jordan, and lay them down at their lodging place on the farther side. (8) Twelve witnessing stones are also set up in the midst of Jordan, where the Ark rested. (9) Then, by special command of Jehovah, the priests bear the Ark to the farther shore. (10) Instantly, the waters of Jordan returned to their place. (11) The twelve stones are set up in Gilgal as a monumental witness of the miraculous passage of the river Jordan. (12) Joshua bids the people to instruct their children in the meaning and design of this monument. (A transposition of verses 10-14 of ch. 4 is made in the interest of orderly statement, and a more intelligent apprehension.) B.

Between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, a distance of 66 miles, the Jordan valley, or, as it is here called, the “Ghor,” is from one to twelve miles wide; the valley is in some places exceedingly fertile, in others perfectly barren; it is bounded on the west by the mountain system of Palestine, and toward the sunrising by the edge of the great eastern plateau. The river descends with innumerable windings through a lower valley of its own, from 40 to 100 feet below the level of the Ghor, and along its margin there is a belt of tropical jungle, which is frequently alluded to in the Bible as the “excellency” or “pride” of Jordan. So tortuous is the course of the river, that though the two seas are only 66 miles apart, its actual length is about 200, and in this distance there is a fall of 666 feet. The Dead Sea, which receives the waters of the Jordan, is 1292 feet below the Mediterranean, and is about 46 miles long, its greatest width being ten and a half miles. On the east and west the lake is shut in by the barren hills which rise abruptly from its shores, but at its southern end there is a level plain—and then the ground rises to the ridge 787 feet above the sea—which separates the waters of the Dead Sea from those of the Red Sea. (See N. T., Vol. I., p. 656.) 3:15. We are told that Jordan “overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,” April and May; and in 1 Chron. 12:15, that Jordan had “overflown all his banks” in the first month—that is, in the month Nisan, which commenced with the new moon of March or April. The water in the Jordan is at its highest level in March, April, and May, after the cessation of the rainy season, but the physical features of the country are such that no sudden rise of the river would be likely to cause a large inundation, the Sea of Galilee acting as a regulator to the flow of water, and the terraced banks of Jordan preventing the spread of its waters over any large portion of the valley. A more correct rendering of the original would be that Jordan “is full up to all his banks” or runs with full banks, and this is true at the present day, the river rising to the level of its banks after the rains, and only overflowing them to a short distance in exceptional places. The great depressed valley of the Jordan formed a natural division of the country, dividing it sharply into two regions, and this separation was the more strongly marked by the difficulty of crossing the river at certain seasons of the year, and also of obtaining access to it, the only roads to the valley being rough paths down a few steep watercourses. Wilson.

Back of the proper channel of the river is a first terrace, two hundred yards, or in places much more, in width. This is liable to be overflowed, and is enriched by the deposit of the river. Back of this is a second shelf of land, from fifty to one hundred and fifty feet above the first. This is covered with a gray, salty soil, much cut up by the rain-flow, and is studded with clumps of bushy shrubbery. Back of this plain the land rises to a third terrace stretching to the foot of the mountains, which here are seven miles away on the west. On the east side of the river a similar plain stretches to the foot of the Moab hills. This plain is “The Plain of Jericho” or “The Plain of Jordan.” It is fourteen miles east and west by eight miles north and south. The Ghor is narrower farther to the north, in some places forming a plain not more than three miles in width. Though now for the most part a wilderness, irrigation would restore to it its ancient productiveness. The waters of the upper Jordan, now flowing into the Dead Sea, could be made to convert the Ghor into a garden. Dulles.

The river overflows during harvest. On the 1st of April, I found barley harvest about Jericho already ended, the river full to the brim; and saw evidence in abundance that it had overflowed its banks very recently. Harvest in the vale of the Lower Jordan comes on about the middle of March. This seems early, but the reason is obvious. The valley at Jericho is thirteen hundred feet below the level of the ocean, is sheltered from cold winds on all sides by mountains of great height, and is open to the warm southern breezes from the deeper basin of the Dead Sea. It has therefore the climate of the tropics, though in the latitude of Jerusalem. W. M. Thompson.

3 : 10. From what God was now about to do for them, he infers an assurance of what he would yet further do. This he mentions first, so much was his heart upon it, and so great a satisfaction did it give him. “Hereby ye shall know that the living God (the true God and God of power) is among you in this great undertaking; and therefore you shall, nay, he himself will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites.” So that the dividing of Jordan was intended to be to them a sure token of God’s presence with them, and a sure pledge of the conquest of Canaan. H.

12. This command of Joshua to the tribes was given in anticipation of the Divine direction (4 : 2), concerning the monumental stones to be taken from the midst of the river and set up on the farther side. It was a simple order to choose and appoint the representative men, that they might be in place and readiness for the work assigned. B.

16, 17. “Then the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up upon an heap very far and wide, near the town of Adama that is beside Zaretan: but those that came down toward the sea into the plain failed and were cut off. So the people crossed over, and the priests stood in the middle in the open place appointed them by God, upon dry ground (until all the people, passing them, had gone through Jordan).” The time chosen by God for the miracle was most suitable on account of the harvest; for the place where they were now to encamp gave them an early foretaste of the fruitfulness of the land. Broad fields, interspersed toward Jericho with groves of palm-trees, characterized the country. The Israelites had not seen such a fruitful land since they left Egypt. And thus at their very arrival crops stood ready for them on their stems. C. G. B.

The same power that divided the Red Sea before Moses, divides Jordan before Joshua; that they might see the hand of God as present with Joshua to bring them into Canaan, as it was with Moses to bring them out of Egypt. Bp. H. —As at the Red Sea, so at the river, the simple duty of Israel was to “go forward;” and the Lord, who had taken their fathers through the sea, took the children through the stream of Jordan. Wonders were now done by the sacred ark; and, as the feet of the priests, bearing that symbol of God’s throne, touched the river at its brink, the waters of Jordan were held back on the upper side, and those below running down to the Dead Sea, a broad passage was opened to the mighty host. All passed over dry-shod, while the priests, with the ark, stood still to the last moment in the bed of the river. D. F.

4 : 10. And the people hastened and passed over. They made the best use of the opportunity afforded them, and hastened across the river while thus laid bare for them. But there was no time for presumptuous delays. W. H. G. —They were indeed “Hebrews”—men from the other side—now, and would set themselves to the dangerous task before them with courage. Well begun is half done; and God would not divide the river for them to thrust them into a tiger’s den, where they would be torn to pieces. Retreat was impossible now. A new page in their history was turned. The desert was as unreachable as Egypt. The passage of the Jordan rounded off the epoch which the passage of the Red Sea introduced, and began a new era. A. M.

4 : 8. Took twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan. It appears that the Jordan continued perfectly dry for some time after the Israelites had passed over; that is, till the priests removed from the place where they stood. They took twelve stones—great stones, as the Hebrew word imports, and carried them to their lodging place, to Gilgal where they lodged that night. Bp. Patrick.

11. Through all the stir the ark was still. Over all the march it watched. So long as one Israelite was in the channel it remained, a silent presence, to ensure his safety. It let their rate of speed determine the length of its standing there. It waited for the slowest foot and the weariest laggard. God makes his very present help of the same length as our necessities, and lets us beat the time to which he conforms. Not till the last loiterer has struggled to the farther shore does he cease by his presence to keep us safe on the strange road which by his presence he has opened for us. A. M.

18. Then, when the whole multitude had passed over, the ark, which had hitherto stood motionless on the eastern bank, on the Levites’ shoulders, descends into the bed and mounts the other side of the ravine. As soon as it has reached a place of perfect security, and “the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up unto the dry land”—the miracle ceasing the instant the necessity for it ceased—the imprisoned waters set free from the restraining Hand, “returned unto their place.” E. V.

The waters of the river flowed down according to their usual course, and soon filled the channel again. This makes it yet more evident that the stop which had now been given to the river was not from any secret natural cause, but purely from the power of God’s presence and for the sake of his Israel; for when Israel’s turn was served and the token of his presence was removed, immediately the water went forward again. So that if it be asked, What ailed thee, O Jordan, that thou wast driven back? it must be answered, It was purely in obedience to the God of Israel and in kindness to the Israel of God: there is therefore none like unto the God of Jeshurun; happy also art thou, O Israel! who is like unto thee, O people? H.—The intervention of Omnipotence lasted until its purpose was completely accomplished. No tribe, no individual, was left behind. The waters were not released one moment too soon. And God’s providential care is equally minute and thoughtful, and so is the bestowment of his grace. W. H. G.

20. At the passage of the Jordan, one group of twelve stones was formed in the bed of the river (4 : 9), to serve as a landmark of the station of the priests who bore the ark while the members of all the tribes crossed over, and as an affidavit of the miraculous suspension of the river; while another group of twelve stones was formed on the Jordan plain, to serve as an everlasting remembrancer of the river-transit at flood-time by divine aid. Paine.—These stones were planted on the upper terrace of the plain of the Jordan, and became the centre of the first sanctuary of the Holy Land,—the first place pronounced “holy,” the “sacred place” of the Jordan valley, where the tabernacle remained till it was fixed at Shiloh. Gilgal long retained reminiscences of its ancient sanctity. Stanley.

Gilgal stood “in the east border of Jericho.” Its position can be laid down accurately, though but faint ruins mark its site. Its interest centres in its having been the first camping-ground of the hosts of Israel after crossing the Jordan. Here were set up the twelve stones taken from the bed of the river as a witness. Here the younger Israelites were circumcised, and here the first Passover was kept in the land. The site, a mile and a half from Er Riha, the modern Jericho, is marked by a number of artificial mounds called Tellayla’t Jiljuleh. Tristram.

—There was another Gilgal six miles north of Bethel, connected with the lives of Elijah and Elisha (2 K. 2 : 2). There were several other towns of the name of Gilgal, some of which are mentioned in De. 11 : 30, and in Josh. 12 : 23; 15 : 7. Crosby.

21. This memorial pile stood for ages to suggest to the youth of Canaan the inquiry, What mean these stones? and to afford to Hebrew fathers the opportunity of repeating and so perpetuating the ancient story. So let all the great works of God be held forever in the hearts of his people. It is wholesome to fathers to repeat the story, wholesome to children to hear it and place it deep in their memories, till they in their turn become fathers and tell it to their children. H. C.—24. The twofold lesson of this memorial was, “that all nations of the earth might know the hand of Jehovah that it is strong,” and “that they [Israel] might fear Jehovah your God always.” In regard to the first of these lessons, we mark the larger missionary hope set before Israel. The heathen nations were to learn the knowledge of Jehovah’s hand. This carries us far beyond the statement that the terror of Israel should fall upon them (Josh. 2 : 9). Thus at the very entrance of Israel into Canaan, and by that divine interposition which made it possible, was the future universal kingdom to be advanced, the foundation of which lies in the fact that Jehovah is “Lord of all the earth.” A. E.—The stones at Gilgal, though long ago scattered, emphasize, through the record of them, that initial truth which God would ever have us make the great foundation of religion; a truth which lights up a train of inquiry and revelation that shines more and more unto the perfect day of Christ,—that, however invisible God’s hand may commonly be, it is ever present, operating for the protection and reward of them that covenant to keep his law. Cable.

These gray stones preached at once the duty of remembering and the danger of forgetting the past mercies of God. The stones were set up because Israel remembered, but also lest Israel should forget. We often think of the Jews as monsters of ingratitude; but we should more truly learn the lesson of their history, if we regarded them as fair, average men, and asked ourselves whether our recollection of God’s goodness to us is much more vivid than theirs. Unless we make distinct and frequent efforts to recall, we shall certainly forget God’s goodness. The cultivation of thankful remembrance is a very large part of practical religion; and it is not by accident that the Psalmist puts it in the middle, between hope and obedience, when he says “that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments” (Ps. 78 : 7). The memorial stones further proclaimed the duty of parental instruction in God’s mercies. Notwithstanding all differences in means of obtaining knowledge, the old law remains in full force, that the parent is the natural and most powerful instructor in the ways of God. The Jewish father was not to send his child to some Levite or other to get his question answered, but was to answer it himself. The same principle which led to the erection of this simple monument reaches its highest and sacredest instance in the institution of the Lord’s Supper, in which Jesus condescends to avail himself of material symbols in order to secure a firmer place in treacherous memories. He might well have expected that such stupendous love could never be forgotten; but he knoweth our frame, and trusts some share in keeping his death vividly in the hearts of his people to the humble ministry of bread and wine. Strange that we should need to be reminded of the death which it is life to remember! Blessed that, needing it, we have the need so tenderly met, and that he does not disdain to accept loving memories which slumber till stirred by such poor reminders of his unspeakable love. A. M.

14. On that day Jehovah magnified Joshua.** As he had declared (Josh. 3 : 7) that he would do. The greatness resulting to Joshua from the event of that day was due to the evidence afforded that God was present with him in a conspicuous manner, and that he made him an instrument through whom to exert and to display his power. No higher honor can be put upon any man than to have it appear that God is with him and works through him and for him. W. H. G.—The miraculous passage of the Red Sea was God’s autographic signature to the commission of Moses. In the same way the miraculous passage of the Jordan was God’s autographic signature to the commission of Joshua. C. H. P.

The tenth day of the first month was the eventful one—four days before their feast of the Passover, and among the first days of the barley harvest. When nightfall came over Israel they were in the long-promised land. They had crossed the Jordan. They were not only in Canaan, but were there with one more fresh testimony that their God was with them. Eventful days were before them; scenes of war and blood were in prospect; but the men of faith throughout all the camp of Israel sang their evening song with glad heart and rested on their arms feeling that it was enough for them that their God was there; had brought them into his own land of promise, and would carry the work of its conquest through in his own time and way. H. C.—The importance of this miracle can hardly be overestimated. The people were now about to enter on a fresh stage of their national existence, and that under a new leader. The assurance of the continued presence and protection of Jehovah, afforded by the drying up of Jordan, was exactly what was needed to encourage their fainting hearts, and secure for Joshua, accredited by so mighty a sign, the loyal allegiance of the people. This is the light in which this miracle is set before us in the words of God to Joshua. Another purpose to be answered by this exercise of the Divine power in behalf of Israel, was to deepen the feeling of discouragement already, as we have seen, existing in the minds of the Canaanites, and thus prepare for their easier and complete overthrow. That this was the effect of this miracle is next plainly stated by the sacred historian. E. V.

The Miraculous Character of the Crossing.

The passage of this rapid, though not wide, river at the most unfavorable season, was more manifestly miraculous, if possible, than that of the “Red Sea.” It seems, therefore, to have been providentially designed to silence cavils respecting the former; and it was done in the noonday, in the face of the sun, and in the presence of the neighboring inhabitants; and struck terror into the kings of the Amorites and Canaanites, westward of the river, whose “heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.” Hales.—It requires no argument to prove that this fact was miraculous: it was not accidental or it could not have been foreseen (verses 5, 10, 13); it was not natural, for the river was at its height (verse 15), and the waters that had been descending stood on an heap (verse 16); it was not the effect of art, for any artificial alteration of the channel the people must have known; and besides, the effect could not have been instantaneous. Graves.

This seems to us even a more signal miracle than the passage of the Red Sea; and it appears as if expressly framed not only to effect its own objects but to relieve the other from all naturalistic interpretations. In the course of the Red Sea passage we hear travellers and scholars talk learnedly about east winds and tides and shallows, so that the fact, as a demonstration of Divine power, is explained away or attenuated. But nothing of this is possible in the case of the passage of the Jordan. It was a miracle or it was nothing. There has not been and there cannot be any explanation of it on natural grounds. And if men are obliged to admit this—unless they would deny the authority of the narrative altogether—it becomes scarcely worth their while to tamper with the Red Sea miracle. Kit.—Given the importance of Israel as the depositaries of revelation, there is nothing unreasonable in a miracle which so powerfully contributed to their conquest of Canaan, and we have yet to learn that there is anything unreasonable in the belief that they were the depositaries of revelation. The fundamental postulate of the Old Testament is a supernatural revelation, and that opens the door for any miracle needful for its accomplishment. We should be very slow to pronounce on what is worthy of God; but any man who believes in a divine revelation given to the world through Israel, may well believe in such a miracle as this at such a moment of their history. A. M.

The Egypt-history, the wilderness-history, the Jordan-history, never become obsolete. The Books of Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, are almost as valid histories of our individual lives as of the life of the Hebrews at large. These chapters, and this third of Joshua, are like some of the Psalms of David in this respect, that though so old they still carry with easy grace the sentiments and experience of to-day with which the men of to-day lade them. It is one of the marvellous characteristics of these old Bible-narratives that they still furnish us better figures and phrases than any new ones we can invent for describing events and transitions in our own experience. C. H. P.

What will it avail us to have passed a wilderness, if the waves of Jordan should swallow us up? But the same hand that hath made the way hard hath made it sure: he that made the wilderness comfortable will make Jordan dry; he will master all difficulties for us; and those things which we most feared, will he make most sovereign and beneficial to us. O God, as we have trusted thee with the beginning, so will we with the finishing of our glory. Faithful art thou that hast promised, which wilt also do it. Bp. H.

THE COVENANT RENEWED, WITH CIRCUMCISION AND THE PASSOVER. THE ANGEL-JEHOVAH APPEARS TO JOSHUA.