Joshua 3:8

_AND THOU SHALT COMMAND THE PRIESTS THAT BEAR THE ARK OF THE COVENANT, SAYING, WHEN YE ARE COME TO THE BRINK OF THE WATER OF JORDAN, YE SHALL STAND STILL IN JORDAN._ NO JFB COMMENTARY ON THIS VERSE....

7-13 The waters of Jordan shall be cut off. This must be done in such a way as never was done, but in the dividing of the Red sea. That miracle is here repeated; God has the same power to finish the salvation of his people, as to begin it; the WORD of the Lord was as truly with Joshua as with Moses. God's appearances for his people ought to encourage faith and hope. God's work is perfect, he will keep his people. Jordan's flood cannot keep out Israel, Canaan's force cannot turn them out again....

Verse Joshua 3:8. _YE SHALL STAND STILL IN JORDAN._] The priests proceeded first with the ark, and entered into the bed of the river the course of which was immediately arrested, the waters collecting _above_ the place where the priests stood, while the stream fell off towards the Dead Sea; so that the whole channel below where the priests were standing became dry. The whole camp, therefore, passed over below where the priests were standing, keeping at the distance of two thousand cubits from the ark; this they would readily do, as the whole bed of the river was dry for many miles below the place where the priests entered....

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 THOU SHALT COMMAND THE PRIESTS THAT BEAR THE ARK OF THE LORD,.... Who were subject to Joshua, the chief governor of the nation, and general of the army, as well as the common people; and whose commands they were to obey, and especially when they appeared to be from the Lord: SAYING, WHEN YE COME TO THE BRINK OF THE WATER OF JORDAN; not of the bank of it, but of the water, which had now overflowed its bank; that is, the brink or extremity of it, which was nearest to them, and to which they first came; though it is a notion of some Jewish commentators t, and which some Christian interpreters u have given into, and both of considerable note, that this was the further extremity, or the brink on the other side of the river; but, according to this notion, they must pass the river to the other side before the waters were divided, which is not credible; and must return again into the midst...

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

_VER._ 8. _WHEN YE ARE COME TO THE BRINK,_ &C.— The Hebrew is, _so soon as ye are come to the_ extremity _of the water:_ by which we are certainly to understand the eastern limit of the river, whose waters were now out beyond the banks; just as if Joshua had said to the priests, "Without waiting till you are entered into the common bed of Jordan, as soon as your feet are wetted with its waters, stop, and there rest, till you see what the divine power will effect." Some able interpreters understand here, by the _extremity of the water,_ the western bank of the river; supposing, that the priests had order to cross the river immediately, without stopping till they came to the other side of the land: while others conjecture, that the priests remained upon the eastern bank of the Jordan till all the people were gone over. We prefer, however, the opinion of those, who say, that the priests, ha...

_God's Instructions to Joshua 3:1-8_ And Joshua rose early in the morning and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. 2 And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host; 3 And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. 4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore. 5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. 6 And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the p

THE PASSAGE OF JORDAN This is the initial miracle of Joshua's leadership. Its moral effect upon the Israelite host is suggested in Joshua 3:7 and Joshua 4:14 that wrought upon the Canaanites in Joshua 5:1 (which properly belongs to this section of the book)....