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Joshua 3:8-17

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8 "You shall, moreover, command the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant, saying, 'When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.' "
9 Then Joshua said to the sons of Israel, "Come here, and hear the words of the LORD your God."
10 Joshua said, "By this you shall know that 1the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly 2dispossess from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite.
11 "Behold, the ark of the covenant of 3the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan.
12 "Now then, 4take for yourselves twelve * men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each * tribe.
13 "It shall come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and the waters which are flowing down from above * will 5stand in one heap."
14 So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying 6the ark of the covenant before the people,
15 and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the 7Jordan overflows * all its banks all the days of harvest ),
16 8the waters which were flowing down from above * stood and rose up in 9one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside * Zarethan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the 10Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho.
17 And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm 11on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until * all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.
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Joshua 3:8-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 3

Joshua removed from Shittim to Jordan, where he stayed three days, Jos 3:1,2; the people are directed to move when they saw the ark bore by the priests, and what distance they should keep from it, Jos 3:3,4; are bid to sanctify themselves against the morrow, when wonders would be wrought, Jos 3:5; and the priests are ordered to take up the ark, Jos 3:6; Joshua is encouraged by the Lord, and instructed to command the priests when they come to Jordan to stand still in it, Jos 3:7,8; and he declares to all the people, as a token that God would drive the Canaanites from before them, that as soon as the feet of the priests bearing the ark should rest in the waters of Jordan, they should be parted, and make way for them to pass through, Jos 3:9-13; which accordingly came to pass, so that all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, Jos 3:14-17.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 11

  • 1. Deuteronomy 5:26; 1 Thessalonians 1:9
  • 2. Exodus 33:2; Deuteronomy 7:1
  • 3. Job 41:11; Psalms 24:1; Zechariah 6:5
  • 4. Joshua 4:2
  • 5. Exodus 15:8
  • 6. Psalms 132:8; Acts 7:44
  • 7. 1 Chronicles 12:15; Jeremiah 12:5; Jeremiah 49:19
  • 8. Psalms 66:6; Psalms 74:15; Psalms 114:3, 5
  • 9. Joshua 3:13
  • 10. Deuteronomy 1:1
  • 11. Ex 14:21, 22, 29

Footnotes 4

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California.  All rights reserved.