CHAPTER V _The effect produced on the minds of the Canaanites by the late_ _miracle_, 1. _Joshua is commanded to circumcise the Israelites_, 2. _He obeys_, 3. _Who they were that were circumcised, and why it was now done_, 4-7. _They abide in the camp till they are whole_, 8. _The place is c... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 5:2. _MAKE THEE SHARP KNIVES_] חרבות צרים _charboth tsurim,_ _knives of rock, stone_, or _flint_. Before the use of iron was _common_, all the nations of the earth had their edge-tools made of _stones, flints_, c. In the lately discovered islands this is found to be a common case. Our... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 5:4. _THIS IS THE CAUSE WHY JOSHUA DID CIRCUMCISE_] The text here explains itself. Before the Israelites left Egypt all the males were circumcised; and some learned men think that all those who were born during their encampment at _Sinai_ were circumcised also, because there they celeb... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 5:8. _THEY ABODE - IN THE CAMP, TILL THEY WERE WHOLE._] This required several days; see the notes on Genesis 34:24-1. Sir J. Chardin informs us that when adults were circumcised they were obliged to keep their beds for about three weeks, or at least during that time they are not able t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 5:9. _THE REPROACH OF EGYPT_] Their being _uncircumcised_ made them like the uncircumcised Egyptians; and the Hebrews ever considered all those who were uncircumcised as being in a state of the grossest impurity. Being now _circumcised_, the reproach of uncircumcision was rolled away. T... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 5:10. _KEPT THE PASSOVER ON THE FOURTEENTH DAY OF THE MONTH_] If the ceremony of circumcision was performed on the eleventh day of the month, as many think; and if the sore was at the worst on the thirteenth, and the passover was celebrated on the fourteenth, the people being then quit... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 5:11. _THEY DID EAT OF THE OLD CORN OF THE LAND_] The Hebrew word עבור _abur_, which we translate _old corn_, occurs only in this place in such a sense, if that sense be legitimate. The noun, though of doubtful signification, is evidently derived from עבר _abar_, to _pass over_, to _go... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 5:12. _AND THE MANNA CEASED - AFTER THEY HAD EATEN OF THE OLD_ _CORN_] This miraculous supply continued with them as long as they needed it. While they were in the wilderness they required such a provision; nor could such a multitude, in such a place, be supported without a miracle. No... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 5:13. _WHEN JOSHUA WAS BY JERICHO_] The sixth chapter should have commenced here, as this is an entirely new relation; or these two chapters should have made but one, as the present division has most unnaturally divided the communication which Joshua had from the angel of the Lord, and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 5:14. _BUT AS CAPTAIN OF THE HOST OF THE LORD AM I NOW COME._] By this saying Joshua was both encouraged and instructed. As if he had said, "Fear not; Jehovah hath sent from heaven to save thee and thy people from the reproach of them that would swallow thee up. Israel is the Lord's hos... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 5:15. _LOOSE THY SHOE FROM OFF THY FOOT, C._] These were the same words which the angel, on Mount Sinai, spoke to Moses (see Exodus 3:5-2); and from this it seems likely that it was the same person that appeared in both places: in the _first_, to encourage Moses to deliver the oppressed... [ Continue Reading ]