Joshua 6:7

_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 he said unto the people. This is according to the Qeri' or margin. But the text has х_ WAY'OMªRUW _ (H559)], and they said - i:e., the Shoterim (see the note at Joshua 1:10)....

6-16 Wherever the ark went, the people attended it. God's ministers, by the trumpet of the everlasting gospel, which proclaims liberty and victory, must encourage the followers of Christ in their spiritual warfare. As promised deliverances must be expected in God's way, so they must be expected in his time. At last the people were to shout: they did so, and the walls fell. This was a shout of faith; they believed the walls of Jericho would fall. It was a shout of prayer; they cry to Heaven for help, and help came....

HE SAID - The reading in the Hebrew text is “they said.” Joshua no doubt issued his orders through the “officers of the people” (compare Joshua 1:10). HIM THAT IS ARMED - i. e. the warriors generally, not a division only. “The rereward” Joshua 6:9 was merely a detachment, and not a substantial portiere of the host; and was told off, perhaps, from the tribe of Dan (compare the marginal reference) to close the procession and guard the ark from behind. Thus the order would be (1) the warriors, (2) the seven priests blowing the cornets, (3) the ark, (4) the rear-guard....

EXPOSITION THE VICTORY.— JOSHUA 6:1 This verse (see above) is parenthetical. It explains why the captain of the Lord's host appeared unto Joshua. The inhabitants of Jericho, though in a state of the utmost alarm, were nevertheless fully on their guard against the children of Israel. The commencement of hostilities imposed a great responsibility on Joshua. Success at the outset was, humanly speaking, indispensable. We may see what defeat involved for him by his distress in consequence of the check at Ai. The alternative was victory or annihilation, for the Israelites had no homes or fortresses to which they could retire. Joshua was therefore encouraged by a visible proof that he was under the protection of the Most High, to be yet farther assured by the marvels that were to follow. The use of the Pual participle with its

AND HE SAID UNTO THE PEOPLE, PASS ON, AND COMPASS THE CITY,.... The women and children, the young men under twenty years of age, the unarmed part of the camp, as distinguished from the armed men: AND LET HIM THAT IS ARMED PASS ON BEFORE THE ARK OF THE LORD; to guard the ark, protect the priests, and defend the people, should any sally be made by the enemy upon them. These seem to design all the males that were above twenty years of age able to bear arms, and fit for war; though some restrain it to the forty thousand of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, Joshua 1:14....

6. THE FALL OF JERICHO CHAPTER 6 _ 1. The divine instruction (Joshua 6:1)_ 2. The instructions followed (Joshua 6:6) 3. The fall of Jericho (Joshua 6:20) 4. Rahab remembered (Joshua 6:22) 5. The curse upon Jericho (Joshua 6:26) We do not enlarge upon the history of the chapter, which needs no comment. The fall of Jericho by the power of God, as described in this chapter, has also been ridiculed by infidels. Others have tried to explain the occurrence in a natural way. It has been said that the marching Israelites, b

JOSHUA 5:13 TO JOSHUA 6:27. THE CAPTURE OF JERICHO. The narrative begins at Joshua 5:13; Joshua 6:1 is an insertion (observe that RV places it in brackets), so that Joshua 6:2 should immediately follow Joshua 5:15. The captain of Yahweh's host is therefore Yahweh Himself. In the rest of the chapter we have a composite narrative, so skilfully compiled that at first sight there is not much fault to find. Closer inspection, however, shows that there are two signals for the fall of the walls (_a)_

HE. In Hebrew text written "they", but read "he". In some codices, with five early printed editions, both written and read "he"....

Capture and Destruction of Jericho 6. _And Joshua_ In obedience to the commands thus received Joshua implicitly carries out the instructions given him and issues the needful orders to the host....

_VER._ 7-9. _AND HE SAID UNTO THE PEOPLE, PASS ON_— We apprehend, that it was not only the soldiers who formed this procession, but that all the people joined in it; that the armed men went before the ark; and that after it came the rest of the people, making as it were the _rear-ward._ It is certain, however, that Onkelos, and the Rabbis Solomon, Jarchi, and Kimchi, understand by the _rear-ward,_ the single tribe of Dan, which was thus appointed, Numbers 10:25.; and they suppose, that before the ark went armed only the troops of the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and of the half tribe of Manasseh. But we keep to our version, which follows the LXX and Vulgate. The Hebrew word ףּמאס _measeph,_ which we translate _rear-ward,_ signifies, literally, _gathered up; i.e._ that company which closed the march, and collected together all that belonged to the procession. W