Joshua 8:33

_AND ALL ISRAEL, AND THEIR ELDERS, AND OFFICERS, AND THEIR JUDGES, STOOD ON THIS SIDE THE ARK AND ON THAT SIDE BEFORE THE PRIESTS THE LEVITES, WHICH BARE THE ARK OF THE COVENANT OF THE LORD, AS WELL THE STRANGER, AS HE THAT WAS BORN AMONG THEM; HALF OF THEM OVER AGAINST MOUNT GERIZIM, AND HALF OF THEM OVER AGAINST MOUNT EBAL; AS MOSES THE SERVANT OF THE LORD HAD COMMANDED BEFORE, THAT THEY SHOULD BLESS THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL._ All Israel ... stood on this side the ark and on that side. One-half of Israel was ranged on Gerizim, and the other half on Ebal-along the sides and base of each. BEFORE THE PRIESTS THE LEVITES - in full view of them. The valley enclosed by these two mountains is about three miles long, and from 250 to 300 paces wide, (see the note at Deuteronomy 27:1.) The articulations of the human voice are, from the purity of the atmosphere, hea

33._And all Israel, and their elders, _etc The third instance of obedience was the placing all the tribes on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal to stand in six rows each over against each other. For they were so arranged that six stood on Mount Ebal, and an equal number on the opposite Mount Gerizim. The intervening space was occupied by the Levites with the ark of the covenant, that the Lord might be surrounded on all sides by his own people. It is said that Joshua stood that he might first bless the people, as it was the purpose of God to allure the people to himself by sweetness and winning condescension. For although Moses, to rebuke the obstinacy of the people, makes mention of curses only, it is certain that these were in a manner accidental, because the genuine method was to employ blessings as a means of gaining over to obedience those who might otherwise have proved refractory. But wh...

30-35 As soon as Joshua got to the mountains Ebal and Gerizim, without delay, and without caring for the unsettled state of Israel, or their enemies, he confirmed the covenant of the Lord with his people, as appointed, Joshua 8:11; Joshua 8:27. We must not think to defer covenanting with God till we are settled in the world; nor must any business put us from minding and pursuing the one thing needful. The way to prosper is to begin with God, Matthew 6:33. They built an altar, and offered sacrifice to God, in token of their dedicating themselves to God, as living sacrifices to his honour, in and by a Mediator. By Christ's sacrifice of himself for us, we have peace with God. It is a great mercy to any people to have the law of God in writi...

Verse Joshua 8:33. _HALF OF THEM OVER AGAINST MOUNT GERIZIM_] See the arrangement of the whole of this business in the note and observations on Deuteronomy 27:26. And see also the notes on Deuteronomy 28:1....

The account of this solemnity is very brief. An acquaintance with Deuteronomy 27 is evidently presupposed; and the three several acts of which the solemnity consisted are only so far distinctly named as is necessary to show that the commands of Moses there given were fully carried out by Joshua. It is difficult to escape the conviction that these verses are here out of their proper and original place. The connection between Joshua 8:29, and Joshua 9:1, is natural and obvious; and in Joshua 9:3, the fraud of the Gibeonites is represented as growing out of the alarm caused by the fall of Jericho and

EXPOSITION THE COPY OF THE LAW.— JOSHUA 8:30 THEN JOSHUA BUILT AN ALTAR UNTO THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL IN MOUNT EBAL. This passage has been pronounced to be an interpolation by Meyer, De Wette, Maurer, Rosenmuller, Knobel, and others. The LXX. does not introduce it here, but after Joshua 9:2. For other authorities see below. It is very easy to see why its genuineness has been disputed. The Book of Joshua has many marks of having been written not so very long after the events described in it. But it has been a favourite opinion with the school which disputes the authenticity of the books of the Bible, that Deuteronomy was a late revision by Ezra of the law of M

AND ALL ISRAEL, AND THEIR ELDERS, AND OFFICERS, AND THEIR JUDGES, STOOD ON THIS SIDE THE ARK, AND ON THAT SIDE,.... Some on Ebal, and some on Gerizim: BEFORE THE PRIESTS AND THE LEVITES, WHICH BARE THE ARK OF THE COVENANT OF THE LORD; it being brought out of the tabernacle on this occasion, and bottle by the priests and Levites: AS WELL THE STRANGER, AS HE THAT WAS BORN AMONG THEM; that is, as well the proselytes as the native Israelites, both appeared and were in the same situation: HALF OF THEM OVER AGAINST MOUNT GERIZIM; that is, half of the tribes, and these were Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin: AND HALF OF THEM OVER AGAINST MOUNT EBAL; which were the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali; Deuteronomy 27:12 and...

8. THE OVERTHROW OF AI CHAPTER 8 _ 1. The advance commanded (Joshua 8:1)_ 2. The strategy of Joshua (Joshua 8:3) 3. Ai's defeat (Joshua 8:14) 4. Joshua's obedience (Joshua 8:30) Sin confessed, judged and put away restored communion with the Lord. If any burden remained upon the mind of Joshua, it was removed by the repeated words of comfort and cheer. “Fear not, neither be thou dismayed.” The failure is no longer mentioned, but instead, comfort and assurance is given and victory promised. He deals in the same gracious way with us, whenever we have failed and humbled ourselves before Him in self-judgment. H

ALTAR ERECTED ON EBAL, THE LAW INSCRIBED AND READ. This comes in a strange place. The middle of Canaan has not yet been conquered, so that such a proceeding was impossible if our narrative is complete. On this account most scholars take it that Joshua 8:30 is the end of an account which narrated the conquest of the middle of the country, and that for some reason or other the editor omitted it. The passage is Deuteronomic, and the objection that it violates the law of the single sanctuary rests on a misconception. According to the Deuteronomic view, the single sanctuary was to be set up when Yahweh hath given you rest from your enemies round about. This refers to the reign of Solomon: until then a multiplicity of altars was regarded as legitimate, as is seen from the fact that Samuel is not considered to have done wrong by sacrificing at various places, while the kings and people who did...

AND OFFICERS. Some codices, with Aramaean and Syriac, read "and their officers". BEFORE. at the first....