Joshua 8:33

33 And all Israel, ¹sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests ²who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, ³just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel.

Joshua 8:33 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 8:33

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; (See Gill on Deuteronomy 27:12) and (See Gill on Deuteronomy 27:13);

as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded before, that they
should bless the people of Israel,
as in ( Deuteronomy 27:12 ) .

Joshua 8:33 In-Context

31 just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the people of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, "an altar of uncut stones, upon which no man has wielded an iron tool." And they offered on it burnt offerings to the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings.

32 And there, in the presence of the people of Israel, he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written.

33 And all Israel, sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel.

34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessing and the curse, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law.

35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded that Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, and the women, and the little ones, and the sojourners who lived among them.

Cross References

• 1. Deuteronomy 31:12
• 2. Deuteronomy 31:9, 25
• 3. Deuteronomy 11:29; Deuteronomy 27:11-13