Joshua 8

30. THEN Joshua built an altar unto the LORD, the God of Israel, in mount Ebal, as Moses the 31 servant of the LORD commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of unhewn stones, upon which no man had lift up any iron : and they offered 32 thereon burnt offerings unto the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings. And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote, in the presence of the children of 33 Israel. And all Israel, and their elders and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger as the homeborn ; half of them in front of mount Gerizim, and half of them in front of mount Ebal ; as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded, that they 34 should bless the people of Israel first of all. And afterward he read all the words of the law, 35 the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the book of the law. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them.

NOTE.—For a clearer apprehension of this signal incident read pages 678-682, Vol. II. ; also N. T., Vol. I., pages 96-100. B.

From Ai the victorious army marched north- ward to the Vale of Shechem, in the very heart of Palestine. Here the people, divided into two sections, were ranged along the slopes of Ebal and Gerizim, which face one another, at about a third of a mile apart, the whole length of the valley. Here, in the clear, resonant air, the whole law of Moses was read, and its blessings and curses were invoked, by these answering choirs, according as the people should obey or disobey its precepts. With the exception of the giving of the law at Sinai forty years before, which only a part of that assembly had wit- nessed, this was the most majestic spectacle in the history of Israel. All the tribes as one na- tion here entered into a solemn covenant of al- legiance to the same constitution. In this vale, Abraham built the first altar to the true God that was erected in Canaan ; here Jacob pur- chased a field which contained a valuable well ; here the bones of Joseph were buried ; and here Jesus, sitting by Jacob’s well, proclaimed the superiority of the truth to the place and time in which it was uttered, and the spirituality of worship, above all names and forms, all places and people. J. P. T. (See map, p. 86.)

A glance at the map will enable us to realize the route. From Ai and Bethel the direct route northward leads by Shiloh to Shechem (Jn. 21 : 19). Not a foe molested Israel on their march right up the middle of the land, partly from the division of the land under so many petty chieftains, but chiefly because God had a favor unto them and to the work to which they had set their hands. The vale of Shechem is a pass which intersects the mountain-chain, that runs through Palestine from south to north. To the south it is bounded by the range of Gerizim, to the north by that of Ebal. A. E.—Mount Ebal is 3029 feet above the sea ; Gerizim, 2898. The contrast between Ebal and Gerizim is less real than is often supposed. The dip of the strats sinks to the north across the valley, and this causes a want of springs on the south side of Ebal, but its north side is almost as rich in them as the northern slope of Gerizim. Pal. Fund Report.

This spot, the site of the ancient Shechem, the City of Refuge, is unrivalled in Palestine for beauty and luxuriance. There are two moun- tains parallel to each other, almost meeting at their bases, but one mile and a half apart at their summits. They enclose a beautiful little valley between them, not more than one hun- dred yards wide at the narrowest part, and wid- ening out in both directions. The town of Nablús is situated at the narrowest part of the vale. The mountain on the north is Ebal, that on the south Gerizim, and the vale lies east and west. The summit of Mount Ebal is twelve hundred feet above the vale. The summit is rocky and bare, and there are no ruins on the mountain-top, except a curious square enclosure, with very thick rude walls. Just below the summit there is a break in the regular slope of the hill, and a small but steep valley comes up from the vale below almost to the summit, forming a vast natural amphitheatre, in height equal to that of the mountain. Immediately opposite to this the steep slope of Mount Gerizim is similarly broken by a valley forming a second natural amphitheatre of equal beauty and grandeur. In these two lateral valleys were assembled the twelve tribes of Israel under Joshua, six tribes on Gerizim, and six on Ebal. The Levites and the ark were in the strip of the vale, and the blessings and cursings were read before the whole congregation. Nothing is wanting in the natural beauty of the site to add to the solemnity and impressiveness of such a scene. Text Work.

There is a remarkable topographical feature, a recess on either side of the valley, forming a grand natural amphitheatre which was in all probability the scene of the ratification of the Law. In accordance with the command of Moses, the Israelites were, after their entrance into the Promised Land, to “put” the curse on Mount Ebal and the blessing on Mount Gerizim; this was to be accomplished by a ceremonial in which half the tribes stood on the one mount and half on the other; those on Gerizim responding to and affirming blessings, those on Ebal curses, as pronounced by the Levites, who remained with the ark in the centre of the interval. It is hardly too much to say of this natural amphitheatre that there is no other place in Palestine so suitable for the assembly of a large body of men within the limits to which the human voice could reach, and where at the same time each individual would be able to see what was going on. The recesses in the two mountains that form the amphitheatre are exactly opposite to each other, and the limestone strata running up to the very summits in a succession of ledges present the appearance of regular benches. A grander sight can scarcely be imagined than that which the reading of the Law must have presented: the ark borne by the Levites, on the gentle elevation that separates the waters that flow westward from those flowing toward the Jordan, and “all Israel and their elders, and officers, and their judges,” on this side and on that, “half of them over against Mount Gerizim and half of them over against Mount Ebal,” covering the bare hill-sides from head to foot. Few places afford such conveniences for the assembly of a large number of persons, or give, within the same area, so much standing ground; and the air of Palestine is so clear that the voice can be heard at distances which would seem impossible in England, and it is not unusual for men passing along the valley to keep up a conversation with others on the heights. Wilson.

But we were able to test the matter by experiment, as other travellers had done before us. Stationing two of our number in the centre of the valley and in the middle of a field of corn, one of our brethren ascended some distance up the sides of Ebal, while we clambered up among the rocks of Gerizim; it having been agreed that the one should repeat a few of the curses, and the other a few of the blessings, without mentioning which of them he would select. And though a drizzling rain was falling, and the wind blowing so hard that we could scarcely keep our Bibles open, we were not only heard distinctly by the brethren in the valley, but by each other from the respective mountains; so that, as we remember, we were able to name the first of the curses that our friend had spoken from Ebal, as if he had intended a sly reference to some of those Rationalists whose assertions we were now reducing to experiment—“Cursed be he that removeth his neighbor’s landmark.” How many other of the historical objections of unbelief would shrivel into ashes were they similarly put to the proof! A. Thompson.

Our party determined to make the experiment for ourselves, only reversing the order—letting the people stand in the valley; and two of us, representing the priests who recited the blessings and the curses, ascended, one Mount Gerizim, the other Mount Ebal, and from the mountains on either side we recited, one the blessings, and the other the curses to the audience below. To our great surprise, not only did the response come up, “Amen!” from the audience midway between us, but we heard each other across from mountain to mountain just as distinctly as if speaking to each other from the pulpit to the vestibule of a large church, and that without speaking in a much louder voice than is needful in large churches. One thing is certain, that the spot selected by Moses, who had never been in the country, for the performance of this ritual by a congregation of two or three millions, has a most singular adaptation to such a purpose. And on the theory of rationalism, that Moses wrote only as a wise man, it must be difficult to account for his ability to select, without ever having seen the country, such a spot for such a service. S. R.

32. Wrote there upon the stones.** From De. 27: 2-7, it appears that in addition to the altar they were required also to erect stone

pillars, and that the writing was to be done upon the pillars, for which purpose they were previously to be plastered over. Bush.—In this hot climate, where there is no frost to dissolve the cement, it will continue hard and unbroken for thousands of years, which is certainly long enough. The cement on Solomon’s pools remains in admirable preservation, though exposed to all the vicissitudes of the climate, and with no protection. The cement in the tombs about Sidon is still perfect, and the writing on them entire, though acted upon by the moist, damp air always found in caverns, for perhaps two thousand years. What Joshua did, therefore, when he erected these great stones at Mount Ebal, was merely to write in the soft cement with a stile, or more likely on the polished surface when dry, with red paint, as in ancient tombs. If properly sheltered, and not broken away by violence, they would have remained to this day. But everything that could be destroyed has been long since, and again and again overthrown, in the countless convulsions of this most rebellious neighborhood. Nor need we mourn over the loss. The printing press preserves this same law to us far more securely than could any monument of bronze or solid adamant. W. M. Thompson.—Here, if anywhere, it is a true saying, that against many assumptions of the recent criticism the very stones cry out. Nowhere in classical literature is there such an example of recklessness as that which relegates the whole history of the transaction at Gerizim and Ebal without more ado to the sphere of myths. The Egyptian monuments show that it was an ancient Egyptian custom first to plaster the stone walls of buildings, and also monumental stones that were to be painted with figures and hieroglyphics, with a plaster of lime and gypsum, into which the figures were then worked; thus it was possible in Egypt to engrave on the walls the most extended inscriptions. In this manner De. 27:4-8 must be understood, and in this manner it was accomplished by Joshua. O.

35. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded. Such was the solemn promulgation of the Mosaic Law at the very commencement of the settlement of the Jews in the land of their inheritance; and in every subsequent transaction of Joshua we find he acted according to the same law. “The book of the Law of God,” or “of Moses,” several times spoken of, is undoubtedly the same of which it is said that “when Moses had made an end of writing the words of the law in a book, until they were finished, he commanded the

Levites, saying, Take this book of the Law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be a witness against you” (De. 31:24); that book which he commanded to be “read before all Israel at the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release in the feast of tabernacles.” This surely was the same with that which the Jews have received from the present hour back to the Babylonish captivity; which must have preceded that event, because it is also received by the hostile Samaritans who were planted in Judea at the commencement of the captivity; which must have preceded the division of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, because it was acknowledged in both; which must have preceded the establishment of the kings, because it supposes no such form of government but rather condemns it: in a word, that “book of the Law” which every writer and every sect among the Jews have quoted and acknowledged, in every possible form of quotation and acknowledgment, from the present period back to the immediate successor of Moses himself, who solemnly attests its authenticity and divine original. Graves.

The erection of the altar, the offering thereon burnt offerings and peace offerings, the publication of the law in writing, form altogether a solemn renewal of the covenant on the entrance of the people into the promised land, and recall the ceremonies observed on the original grant of the covenant at Sinai. And Ebal, the mount of cursing, was the fitting spot on which to celebrate them. For the curses were the penalties under which the children of Israel bound themselves to keep the law. Suitably also was the same place selected as that in which were to be set up both the monumental stones containing the law, and the altar at which the covenant was to be renewed. Espin.

Recurring to the transaction itself, we have a grand theme for the imagination to paint. Think of six hundred thousand adult men, besides women and children, marshalled in equal divisions on two opposing mountains; the ark surrounded by the priests and Levites in the intermediate valley; the solemn rehearsal of the blessings and cursings in tones loud and clear, in the hearing of the gathered thousands; and then the thundering “Amen,” resounding from both mountain summits. What could have been more impressive! How must this scene have fixed the attention, especially of the young, and solemnly deepened the conviction, This law is our law: these blessings are to be our reward, and these curses our doom, according as we obey or disobey this law of our own holy Lord God! Whatever power of impression upon the human mind is possible through the senses—the eye, the ear, and the personal utterance of awe-inspiring words—is all present here in its intensest form. Truly here are scenes for every eye to see; sounds for every ear to hear; scope for the fullest utterance of every human voice. Here is everything to bring out a volume of common sympathy, rolling deep and strong, sustained throughout the entire transaction—the whole to be remembered through all future years as the great religious meeting of their lives. Cowles.

Never did human imagination conceive a scene so imposing, so solemn, so likely to impress the whole people with deep and enduring awe, as the final ratification of their polity as commanded by the dying lawgiver. In the territory, afterward assigned to the tribe of Ephraim, a central region, stand two remarkable mountains, separated by a deep and narrow ravine, in which the ancient Shechem stands. Here all Israel was assembled, six tribes on one height, six on the other. In the open day and in a theatre, as it were, created by the God of nature for the express purpose, after a sacrifice offered on an altar of stones, the people of Israel testified their free and deliberate acceptance of that constitution which their God had enacted. They accepted it with its inseparable conditions, maledictions the most awful, which they imprecated on their own heads in case they should apostatize from its statutes—blessings equally ample and perpetual, if they should adhere to its holy and salutary provisions. On Mount Ebal—as the Levites read the heads of the prohibitory statutes, and denounced the curse against the idolater, the oppressor, the adulterer, the unnatural son, the incestuous, the murderer—the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali, with one voice, which was echoed back from the opposite height, responded Amen, so be it. On Gerizim stood the tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin; as the blessings of the law were recited, to give the same unreserved assent. Milman.

View from Mount Gerizim. The prospect from Nebo surpasses it in extent, that from Gilead in grandeur of effect, but for distinctness and variety of detail Gerizim has no superior. Hermon rose before us in spotless purity far beyond and above Tabor, Gilboa, and the lesser hills of Galilee. On our right we could trace the trans-Jordanic range from the Sea of Galilee, Baasan, Ajlun, Gilead, down to Moab. On the left, the Mediterranean formed the horizon from Carmel perhaps to Gaza; while Joppa and Cæsarea could be distinctly recognized. The southern view was more limited, being shut in by the hills of Benjamin. At our feet to the right was spread the long plain of Mokhna, into which the vale of Shechem debouches, where Jacob pastured his flocks, and where there was ample space for the tents of Israel when gathered thither by Joshua. All Central Palestine could be taken in at a glance, and the lesson of geography could not be easily forgotten. Tristram.