Bible Commentaries
Joshua 6

Verse 1

Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.

Now Jericho was strictly shut up. — Claudens, et clausa erat: but there is no power or policy against the Lord. Proverbs 21:30 The "Captain of God’s hosts" was before the city, and therefore ευαλωτος η πολις , - as he told Phocas, - the town was soon taken.

Verse 2

And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, [and] the mighty men of valour.

And the Lord said. — The man Christ Jesus, Joshua 5:13 that man of war. Exodus 15:3 "Jehovah is his name": "Jehovah, mighty in battle," Psalms 24:8 whose "weakness is stronger than men." 1 Corinthians 1:25

Verse 3

And ye shall compass the city, all [ye] men of war, [and] go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.

And ye shall compass the city. — At a just distance, no doubt, that ye may be extra iactum. See 2 Samuel 11:20-21 .

Thus shalt thou do six days. — All which time God held them in request: and exercised their faith and patience.

Verse 4

And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.

Seven trumpets of rams’ horns. — God usually goeth a way by himself, and worketh his will by such means as the world judgeth absurd and ridiculous.

And the seventh day. — Which, probably, was the Sabbath day, wherein, "by the foolishness of preaching," God still overturneth the strongholds of Satan, 2 Corinthians 10:4 by the priests blowing with their trumpets.

Verse 5

And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long [blast] with the ram’s horn, [and] when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.

When they make a long blast. — Importing the triumph of their trust, the victory of faith: for it was by faith that these walls fell. Hebrews 11:30

And the wall of the city shall fall down flat. — Corruet subtus se, that is, absorbebitur a terra, saith Vatablus, it shall be swallowed up of the earth.

Verse 6

And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD.

And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests. — He yielded prompt and present obedience, ready and speedy, without shucking or hucking, without delays and consults; leaving us herein an excellent precedent.

Verse 7

And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the LORD.

And let him that is armed. — Those two tribes and a half especially. Joshua 1:14 ; Joshua 4:12-13

Verse 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 before the LORD, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them.

And the ark of the covenant. — Called also the ark of the testimony. Joshua 4:16 Exodus 25:16

Verse 9

And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark, [the priests] going on, and blowing with the trumpets.

And the rereward came after the ark. — Heb., The gathering host, that in their march through the wilderness was wont to arise at the fourth alarm, and their charge was to look that nothing was left behind. Numbers 10:25 See Trapp on " Psalms 27:10 "

Verse 10

And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall [any] word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.

Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise. — Turcae perpetuum silentium tenent, ut muti. Cuspin., De Caesarib. The Turks, though when they storm a place they make hideous outcries, yet in their camp they are marvellously mute; being no otherwise commanded than by the beckoning or nod of their commanders. Turk. Hist., 715. This was worthily wondered at by King Ferdinand’s ambassadors.

Verse 11

So the ark of the LORD compassed the city, going about [it] once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.

So the ark of the Lord compassed the city. — The inhabitants marvelling, doubtless, what they meant by their tracing and circuiting.

Verse 12

And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD.

And Joshua rose early in the morning. — A little sleep served his turn: -

“ Oυ χρη παννυχιον ευδειν βουληφορον ανδρα ” - Homer

Verse 13

And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD went 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.

And seven priests bearing seven trumpets. — Here were many sevens, as also in the Revelation. Many mysteries throughout the Scriptures are set forth by this number: the Hebrew word signifieth fulness.

Verse 14

And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days.

And the second day. — See Joshua 6:3 ; Joshua 6:11 .

Verse 15

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times.

They compassed the city seven times. — In sign, saith one, Diodorus. that the perseverance and continuance in faith and the actions thereof, at last obtaineth the victory: and that the nearer the end of the combat is, the more ought the faithful man to bestir him therein.

Verse 16

And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city.

Shout. — To show your faith, to encourage one another, and to terrify the enemy.

Verse 17

And the city shall be accursed, [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 she hid the messengers that we sent.

And the city shall be accursed. — Anathematised, proscribed, devoted to destruction, offered up to God as a holocaust, whose pleasure it was that this people should be thus hanged up in gibbets, as it were, for a terror to the rest, who might hereby see what to trust to if they stubbornly stood out. The whole land was filled with the filthiness of the people from one end to another; Ezra 9:11 and might not God begin to punish where he pleased

Verse 18

And ye, in any wise keep [yourselves] from the accursed thing, lest ye make [yourselves] accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.

Keep yourselves from the accursed thing. — This was a fair warning to that foul sinner Achan; but Dεινος και παντολμος της φιλοχρηματιας ερως , covetousness is deadly, daring, and desperate, saith Isidor Pelusiot. Lib. iii. epist. 24.

Verse 19

But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, [are] consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.

But all the silver and the gold. — Only their idols of silver and gold were to be utterly destroyed, Deuteronomy 7:25 Exodus 32:20 for detestation’s sake, and prevention of idolatry, that land desolating sin.

Verse 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 the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

So the people shouted. — See Joshua 6:16 .

The wall fell down flat. — See Joshua 6:5 . So shall all our corruptions; in subduing whereof, though the Lord require our daily eudeavours during the six days of this life, yet it will never be fully done till the very time of death, which will be the accomplishment of our mortification.

Verse 21

And they utterly 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.

And they utterly destroyed all. — So God had commanded them; Deuteronomy 20:16-17 and the iniquity of these Amorites was now full. Genesis 15:16 Let us look upon these writs of execution recorded in Scripture, and be warned.

Verse 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, as ye sware unto her.

As ye sware unto her. — Romanis promittere promptum est: promissis autem, quanquam iuramento firmatis, minime stare, said Mirchanes, the Persian general in Procopius. Lib. i., De Bell Persic. But Joshua was none such.

Verse 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 kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel.

And left them without the camp. — Lest it should be defiled by them, till they were proselyted. See Numbers 31:19 .

Verse 24

And they burnt the city with fire, and all that [was] therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.

And they burnt the city. — In obedience to God, though they had need enough to have done otherwise. But men must silence their reason and exalt their faith.

Verse 25

And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel [even] unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

Even unto this day. — When this story was written, she was a great lady in Israel, being married to Salmon.

Verse 26

And Joshua adjured [them] at that time, saying, Cursed [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.

Cursed be the man. — And yet there was found a man that durst rebuild it, 1 Kings 16:34 as if he would despitefully spit in the face of Heaven, wrestle a fall with the Almighty.

In his firstborn. — God’s hand was very heavy upon William the Conqueror in his issue, for his depopulations in New Forest. Speed, p. 445.