Joshua 5

Chap. V. Ver. 1—15. Israel are again circumcised, and eat the passover.—The effect which we have anticipated, as to the alarm and terror which this miraculous passage through Jordan would occasion to the Canaanites, we see took place; “their hearts melted,” that is, with fear and terror, uorediea ath as they heard of it. A pause in the military narrative, however, occurs here, while the children of Israel celebrate their two great sacraments, circumcision and the passover. There is no circumstance, in their view of which the Asiatics and Europeans are more divided, than that of circumcision, which certainly suggests ideas very repugnant to European notions of delicacy, while the contrary raises in the mind of a Mussulman contempt, and even abhorrence; and a man uncircumcised, is with them no better than a dog.

The rite itself was certainly divine, and indispensable to all the seed of Abraham: but if so, how came it to be neglected in the wilderness? Much must be attributed to the perverseness of that generation; but this alone seems insufficient to account for it. Some have supposed it to have been dispensed with there, as not necessary to distinguish them from other nations; but that was not the only reason of the institution—it was a seal of God’s covenant with Abraham. As, however, the fact only is recorded, and not the cause of it, we must be content to leave this among many other matters not revealed, and with which, therefore, we have no concern. There was probably a general performance of this rite previous to the first passover; and the like is here ordered previous to the first passover celebrated in the land of Canaan.

By this means “‘the reproach of Egypt,’” uncircumcision, was rolled away, and the place of its performance was called Gilgal. On the morrow after the passover, they began to eat of the old corn of the land, made into unleavened cakes; and also, on the self-same day, of new corn parched, which must have been barley, as no other grain was yet ripe. No sooner were

Notes on the verses

Chap. V, Ver. 1. Until we.—Above thirty MSS., six editions, both Talmuds, and all the ancient versions, read “‘Until they.’”—De Rossi.
Ver. 2. Sharp knives.—Margin, “Knives of flint.” Such knives were once in general use among the ancients, and there is a tradition that no others might be used for this purpose, (Exodus 4:25). The Egyptians also, according to Herodotus, used such only for embalming. Ludolf mentions a tribe of Ethiopians which to his time used no other than knives of stone for circumcision; and perhaps the use of an iron tool in any sacred work was not permitted. See (Exodus 20:25). (Deuteronomy 27:5). [Before the use of iron was common, our ancestors had their arrows and spearheads made of flint; which are frequently turned up by the plough.]
—Bagster.
Ver. 6. Give us.—Several MSS. and ancient versions read, “*Give them,” to correspond with “‘they,” in ver. 1.—De Rossi.
Ver. 10. Day of the month.—Many MSS. and some editions read, “of the first month,” which, indeed, is generally understood; but, on account of the recent performance of circumcision, Harmer thinks the passover might have been kept in the second month, which in some cases was allowable.
Ver. 14. Nay.—Many MSS. read, by the variation of a letter, “to him,” i.e. the angel said to Joshua.
Ver. 15. Joshua did so.—{There is scarcely a more unfortunate division of chapters than this; through which very circumstance, many persons have been puzzled to know what was intended by this extraordinary appearance of the angel to Joshua, because they supposed that the whole business ends with the chapter; whereas it is continued in the succeeding one, the first verse of which is a mere parenthesis, simply relating to the state of Jericho at the time when Joshua was favoured with this encouraging vision; by which he was shown that their — came from God alone; and that it was not by human might or power, but by the Lord of hosts they were to obtain the victory.}—B.