Joshua 8:31

31 just as Moses the Lord's servant had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the book of the law of Moses: an altar of uncut stones on which no iron tool has been used.^[a] Then they offered burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed fellowship offerings on it.

Joshua 8:31 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 8:31

As Moses the servant of the Lord commanded the children of
Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses
( Deuteronomy 27:5 ) ;

an altar of whole stones, on which no man hath lift up [any] iron;
(See Gill on Exodus 20:25), (See Gill on Deuteronomy 27:5), and, (See Gill on Deuteronomy 27:6):

and they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the Lord, and sacrificed
peace offerings;
by way of thanksgiving for the good land they were introduced into, and this was what they were ordered to do by Moses, ( Deuteronomy 27:6 Deuteronomy 27:7 ) .

Joshua 8:31 In-Context

29 He hung [the body of] the king of Ai on a tree until evening, and at sunset Joshua commanded that they take his body down from the tree. They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and put a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day.

30 At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the Lord, the God of Israel,

31 just as Moses the Lord's servant had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the book of the law of Moses: an altar of uncut stones on which no iron tool has been used. Then they offered burnt offerings to the Lord and sacrificed fellowship offerings on it.

32 There on the stones, Joshua copied the law of Moses, which he had written in the presence of the Israelites.

33 All Israel, foreigner and citizen alike, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on either side of the ark of the Lord's covenant facing the Levitical priests who carried it. As Moses the Lord's servant had commanded earlier, half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half in front of Mount Ebal, to bless the people of Israel.

Footnotes

• [a]. Dt 27:5