Joshua 6:7

7 They said to the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let the armed men pass on before the ark of the LORD.

Joshua 6:7 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 6:7

And he said unto the people, pass on, and compass the city,
&c.] 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 ) ( 4:12 ) .

Joshua 6:7 In-Context

5 It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the shofar, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall go up every man straight before him.

6 Yehoshua the son of Nun called the Kohanim, and said to them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven Kohanim bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD.

7 They said to the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let the armed men pass on before the ark of the LORD.

8 It was so, that when Yehoshua had spoken to the people, the seven Kohanim bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the LORD passed on, and blew the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them.

9 The armed men went before the Kohanim who blew the trumpets, and the rearward went after the ark, [the Kohanim] blowing the trumpets as they went.