Verse 1-2
Joshua 6:1-2. Jericho was
straitly shut up — They had shut
up all their gates, and kept a
very strict guard at them, for
fear of the children of Israel.
And the Lord said unto Joshua —
There is great reason to
believe, and indeed most
commentators agree, that this
was spoken by the divine person
who is said in the preceding
chapter to have appeared to
Joshua in the form of a man, but
who styled himself captain of
the host of the Lord, and is
here called Jehovah, which shows
that he was not of the angelic
order. It is probable that the
king and people of Jericho had
refused the offers of peace
which God ordered to be first
sent to every city before they
besieged it, Deuteronomy 20:10;
and, trusting to their forces,
had taken up a desperate
resolution not to yield on any
terms.
Verse 3
Joshua 6:3. Round about the city
once — At a convenient distance,
out of the reach of their
arrows. Six days — Every day
once. This and the following
course might seem ridiculous and
absurd, and is therefore
prescribed by God, that they
might learn to take new measures
of things, and to expect
success, not from their own
valour, or skill, but merely
from God’s appointment and
blessing; and in general, not to
judge of any of God’s
institutions by mere carnal
reason, to which divers of their
ceremonies would seem no less
foolish than this action.
Verse 5
Joshua 6:5. The wall — Not all
of it; which was unnecessary,
and might have given the people
better opportunity of escaping;
but only a considerable part of
it, where the Israelites might
fitly enter: for Rahab’s house
was not overthrown, Joshua 6:22.
Flat — Hebrew, under it. It was
not battered down with engines,
which would have made part of it
fall out of its place, but it
fell of its own accord, and
therefore in the place it did
formerly stand in. God chose
this way to try the faith and
obedience of the people; whether
they would observe a precept
which, to human policy, seemed
foolish, and believe a promise
which seemed impossible to be
performed; whether they could
patiently bear the reproaches of
their enemies, and patiently
wait for the salvation of God.
Thus, by faith, not by force,
the walls of Jericho fell down.
Verse 6
Joshua 6:6. Of rams’ horns — Of
the basest matter and the
dullest sound, that the
excellence of the power might be
of God. The original words,
however, here and Joshua 6:4,
שׁופרות יובלום, shoperoth
jobelim, may be properly
rendered, trumpets of jubilee;
that is, such trumpets as were
to be blown in the year of
jubilee. And many prefer this
translation, alleging that, as
the horns of rams are not
hollow, trumpets cannot be made
of them, even when bored,
capable of giving any thing of a
strong sound. They would,
therefore, understand the words
here as signifying trumpets made
in the shape of rams’ horns. But
others have urged that there is
no difficulty in making such an
instrument of a ram’s horn as
may give a pretty strong sound:
“it being certain that the
inside of these horns is no ways
hard, and may easily be taken
out, excepting a space at the
point of about four or five
inches, part of which is sawed
off, in order to proportionate
the aperture to the mouth; after
which, the rest is easily
pierced. And we can assure our
readers,” say the authors of the
Universal History, “that we have
seen some of these trumpets,
thus made, used by the shepherds
in the southern parts of
Germany.”
Verses 7-10
Joshua 6:7-10. Let him that is
armed pass on — God would have
them armed, both for the defence
of themselves and the ark, in
case the enemies should make a
sally upon them, and for the
execution of the Lord’s
vengeance upon that city. The
rereward — Which, being opposed
to the armed men, may seem to
denote the unarmed people, who
were desirous to be spectators
of this wonderful work. Ye shall
not shout — Because shouting
before the time appointed would
be ineffectual, and so might
give them some discouragement,
and their enemies matter of
insulting.
Verse 16
Joshua 6:16. At the seventh time
Joshua said, Shout — To testify
your faith in God’s promise, and
thankfulness for this glorious
mercy; to encourage yourselves
and brethren, and to strike a
terror into your enemies. The
Lord hath given you the city —
It is given to you to be devoted
to God, as the first (and
perhaps the worst) of all the
cities of Canaan.
Verse 17
Joshua 6:17. The city shall be
accursed — to the Lord — That
is, devoted to destruction, by
the right which God has to
punish such as offend against
him. This he speaks by direction
from God, (see 1 Kings 16:34,)
whose will it was that every
thing in Jericho should be
utterly destroyed, as well
inanimate things by burning
them, &c, as men and cattle, by
the edge of the sword; excepting
only the things that were found
in the house of Rahab, and the
vessels of silver and gold,
brass and iron, which were to be
consecrated to the Lord, and put
into the treasury of the
tabernacle. God seems to have
caused the first spoils made in
the land of Canaan to be
dedicated to his use, 1st,
Because the first-fruits were
appropriated to him as his due;
2d, To signify that he was their
leader, and that these victories
were owing to him; 3d, Lest the
soldiers, being glutted with the
spoil of this rich city, should
grow sluggish in their work;
and, 4th, That on entering the
land of Canaan they might be
made thoroughly to understand
that they had no right to the
riches of that country but what
he gave them; and that he would
always keep to himself the power
of restraining that right as he
should see proper. In the mean
time the severity enjoined to be
exercised toward the persons of
the people of the city, in
putting them to the sword, was
undoubtedly worthy of his
infinite wisdom, as well as
suitable to his holiness and
justice: while it struck a
terror into the rest of their
enemies, it might determine them
to prevent, by accepting of
peace, or by flight, a
punishment which their enormous
and wilful crimes had otherwise
rendered unavoidable.
Verse 18
Joshua 6:18. Keep yourselves
from the accursed thing — It
should rather be rendered, the
devoted thing, meaning the
spoils devoted to the Lord.
These they were not to touch, on
pain of being themselves devoted
to death. Lest ye make
yourselves accursed — Lest you
draw upon yourselves the
immediate curse of God, and so
bring yourselves under the same
sentence of destruction as the
inhabitants and things of
Jericho are under. And make the
camp of Israel a curse — By
provoking God to punish them for
your sin, in which they may be
one way or other involved; for
the whole camp having sins of
their own, God might take what
occasion he saw fit to inflict
this punishment.
Verse 19
Joshua 6:19. Vessels of brass
and iron — Except that of which
images were made, which were
utterly to be destroyed. Unto
the Lord — Being first made to
pass through the fire, Numbers
31:22-23. Treasury of the Lord —
To be employed wholly for the
uses of the tabernacle, not to
be applied to the use of any
private person or priest.
Verse 21
Joshua 6:21. Young and old —
Being commanded to do so by the
sovereign Lord of every man’s
life; and being informed by God
before that the Canaanites were
abominably wicked, and deserved
the severest punishments. As for
the infants, they were at the
disposal of their Creator; and
it was a great favour to them to
take them away in their infancy,
rather than reserve them to
those dreadful calamities to
which those who survived them
were exposed.
Verses 22-25
Joshua 6:22-25. The harlot’s
house — Which, together with the
wall upon which it leaned, was
left standing, by a special
favour of God to her. Left them
without the camp of Israel —
Till they were cleansed from the
impurities of their Gentile
state, and instructed in the
Jewish religion, and solemnly
admitted into that church, for
which Rahab’s good counsel and
example had doubtless prepared
them. Joshua saved Rahab alive —
For that general command to root
out the Canaanites seems to have
had some exceptions, in case any
of them had sincerely and
seasonably cast off their
idolatry and wickedness,
submitted to the Israelites, and
become members of the church of
God. She dwelleth in Israel unto
this day — This shows that the
book of Joshua was written while
Rahab was alive.
Verse 26
Joshua 6:26. Joshua adjured them
at that time — Hebrew, ישׁבע,
jashbang, he made them to swear.
As soon as the city was
destroyed, it seems, he convened
the heads of the tribes, to
signify to them that it was the
will of God this idolatrous city
should never be rebuilt, and
then engaged them to take an
oath that they would leave it in
ruins. And they doubtless bound
the people in like manner not to
rebuild it, on pain of the
divine malediction. Cursed be
the man before the Lord — That
is, from God’s presence, and by
his sentence, as Joshua is said
(Joshua 18:8; Joshua 18:10) to
cast lots before the Lord,
expecting the decision from God.
He intimates that he does not
utter this of himself, or in
consequence of any particular
dislike of that place; but from
Jehovah, and by divine
inspiration. God would have the
ruins of this city remain as a
standing monument of his justice
against this wicked and
idolatrous people, and of his
almighty power in destroying so
great and strong a city by such
contemptible means. Thus
Maimonides, the Jewish rabbi:
“Joshua pronounced a curse
against those who should build
up Jericho, that the remembrance
of the miracle which God had
wrought by destroying it might
never be effaced; for all who
looked on these ruins, thus sunk
into the earth,” (he thought the
walls were swallowed up rather
than overthrown,) “clearly saw
them to be the ruins of a city
destroyed by a miracle, and not
by the hand of men.” Cursed be
the man that buildeth this city
— That is, that shall attempt to
build it. So this curse was
restrained to the builder, but
no way belonged to those who
should inhabit it after it was
built, as is evident from 2
Kings 2:18; Luke 19:5. In his
youngest son — That is, he shall
lose all his children in the
work, the first at the
beginning, others in the
progress of it, and the youngest
in the close, when the gates
were wont to be set up. This was
exactly fulfilled, as we read,
(1 Kings 16:34,) Hiel the
Bethelite built Jericho: he laid
the foundation thereof in Abiram
his firstborn, who died in the
beginning of the work, and set
up the gates thereof in his
youngest son Segub, who died
when it was finished, and the
gates were setting up.
Verse 27
Joshua 6:27. So the Lord was
with Joshua — The Chaldee
interprets it, The Word of the
Lord was with him, even Christ,
the eternal Word, the same that
was with Moses. Nothing makes a
man more truly great than to
have evidences that God is with
him. |