Joshua 3:15

_AND AS THEY THAT BARE THE ARK WERE COME UNTO JORDAN, AND THE FEET OF THE PRIESTS THAT BARE THE ARK WERE DIPPED IN THE BRIM OF THE WATER, (FOR JORDAN OVERFLOWETH ALL HIS BANKS ALL THE TIME OF HARVEST,)_ No JFB commentary on this verse....

15._And as they that bare the ark, _etc The valor of the priests in proceeding boldly beyond the bed into the water itself, was deserving of no mean praise, since they might have been afraid of being instantly drowned. For what could they expect on putting in their feet, but immediately to find a deep pool in which they would be engulfed? In not being afraid on reaching the stream, and in continuing to move firmly forward to the appointed place, they gave a specimen of rare alacrity, founded on confidence. To the general danger was added the special one, that the Jordan had then overflowed its banks, as it is wont to do at the commencement of every summer. As the plain was covered, it was impossible to observe the line of the banks or the ford, and the slime spread far and wide, increased their fear and anxiety. (44) God was pleased that his people, and especially the priests, should con...

14-17 Jordan overflowed all its banks. This magnified the power of God, and his kindness to Israel. Although those who oppose the salvation of God's people have all advantages, yet God can and will conquer. This passage over Jordan, as an entrance to Canaan, after their long, weary wanderings in the wilderness, shadowed out the believer's passage through death to heaven, after he has finished his wanderings in this sinful world. Jesus, typified by the ark, hath gone before, and he crossed the river when it most flooded the country around. Let us treasure up experiences of His faithful and tender care, that they may help our faith and hope in the last conflict....

Verse Joshua 3:15. _AND THE FEET OF THE PRIESTS - WERE DIPPED IN THE BRIM OF_ _THE WATER_] Thus we find that every thing occurred exactly in the way in which Joshua had foretold it. This must have greatly increased his credit among the people. _FOR JORDAN OVERFLOWETH ALL HIS BANKS, C._] It has often been remarked that there was no need of a miracle in crossing Jordan, as it is but an inconsiderable stream, easily fordable, being but about twenty yards in breadth. But the circumstance marked here by the sacred historian proves that there was a time in the year, viz., in the _harvest_, that this said river _overflowed its banks_ and this is confirmed by another place in Scripture, 1 Chronicles 12:15. As the miracle reported here took plac

JORDAN OVERFLOWETH ALL HIS BANKS - Rather “is full up to all his banks,” i. e. “brim-full.” This remark strikingly illustrates the suddenness and completeness, not less than the greatness, of the marvel. The Jordan River flows at the bottom of a deep valley, which descends to the water’s edge on either side in two, occasionally in three, terraces. Within the lowest of these the stream, ordinarily less than 100 feet wide in this lower part of its course, is confined. The margin is overgrown with a jungle of tamarisks and willows, which in the spring is reached by the rising waters (compare the figure in Jeremiah 49:19; Jeremiah 50:44); and the river, occasionally at least, fills the ravine which forms its proper bed to the brim. Its highest rise takes place about the tim

EXPOSITION THE PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN— JOSHUA 3:7 THIS DAY WILL I BEGIN TO MAGNIFY THEE. "_Neque enim ante mysterium baptismi exal-tatur Jesus, sed exaltatio ejus, et exaltatio in conspectu pepuli, inde sunlit exordium_" (Orig; Hem. 4 on Joshua. Cf. Matthew 3:17; Luke 3:22). JOSHUA 3:8 AND THOU SHALT COMMAND THE PRIESTS. We have not here the whole command. That is to be found in Joshua 3:

AND AS THEY THAT BARE THE ARK WERE COME UNTO JORDAN,.... Not to the bank, which was overflowed, but to the extremity of the water overflowing: AND THE FEET OF THE PRIESTS THAT BARE THE ARK WERE DIPPED IN THE BRIM OF THE WATER; which was doubtless the first they came to, and not the brim or extremity of it on the other side: FOR JORDAN OVERFLOWETH ALL ITS BANKS ALL THE TIME OF HARVEST; that is, of barley harvest, as appears from the time of year; for it was in the first month, the month Nisan, or Abib, which answers to part of March, and April, it used to overflow, 1 Chronicles 12:15; and it was now the tenth day of that month, Joshua 4:19; on the sixteenth of which, at the time of the passover, the sheaf of the firstfruits of barley harvest was offered up,...

3. THE PASSAGE OF JORDAN CHAPTER 3 _ 1. The Ark of Jehovah going before (Joshua 3:1)_ 2. Jehovah's words to Joshua (Joshua 3:7) 3. Joshua's words to the people (Joshua 3:9) 4. The passage accomplished (Joshua 3:14) The River Jordan divided the people from the promised land. To be in the land Jordan had to be crossed. Jordan, overflowing all its banks at that time (verse 15), rolled its dark waters between them and their God-given possession. Only the power of God could bring them through those dark waters. It was a miracle which took place, when a way was opened and “the waters which came down from above stood

JOSHUA 3:1 TO JOSHUA 5:1. THE CROSSING OF JORDAN. Here we begin to meet with more serious difficulties. The old tradition was that after the Israelites had crossed the Jordan, they commemorated the event by the erection of twelve stones. But this simple narrative existed in two recensions, which differed as to the destination of these memorial stones. According to one account, they were to be placed in the midst of the river; according to the other, they were to be set up on the W. side of the Jordan in the place where the army encamped for the night. Deuteronomic additions have been made to these narratives, _i.e._ additions of a religious colouring as in Joshua 3:7, And Yahweh said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in t

FOR. Note the parenthesis. OVERFLOWETH. So to the present day. BANKS. Hebrew found only four times in O.T.; here, Jos 4:18. 1 Chronicles 12:15.Isaiah 8:7. All but the last, of the Jordan. HARVEST. barley harvest. Compare note on Joshua 2:6....