Jozua 3:15

15 En als zij, die de ark droegen, tot aan de Jordaan gekomen waren, en de voeten der priesteren, dragende de ark, ingedoopt waren in het uiterste van het water (de Jordaan nu was vol al de dagen des oogstes aan al haar oevers);

Jozua 3:15 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 3:15

And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan
Not to the bank, which was overflowed, but to the extremity of the water overflowing:

and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim
of the water;
which was doubtless the first they came to, and not the brim or extremity of it on the other side:

for Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest;
that is, of barley harvest, as appears from the time of year; for it was in the first month, the month Nisan, or Abib, which answers to part of March, and April, it used to overflow, ( 1 Chronicles 12:15 ) ; and it was now the tenth day of that month, ( Joshua 4:19 ) ; on the sixteenth of which, at the time of the passover, the sheaf of the firstfruits of barley harvest was offered up, ( Leviticus 23:10 Leviticus 23:11 ) ; the inundation continued all the time of harvest; and so Aristeas ^F23 testifies, that

``the river being filled, it overflows as the Nile in the time of harvest, and waters much of the country:''

it overflows its banks both on the one side and on the other, the eastern and western shores. This overflow is supposed to be occasioned either by the latter rains, which fell about this time; or rather by the snow on Mount Lebanon melting at this time of the year, when the sun has great strength in those parts, and which poured down in great quantities into this river, that took its rise from thence. Josephus

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 speaks of Mount Lebanon and of the fountains of Jordan together; and says they have their rise from the mountain; and of the snow of Lebanon see ( Jeremiah 18:14 ) . This river continued to overflow at this season in the times of David, ( 1 Chronicles 12:15 ) ; and in the times of Aristeas, who lived in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, as before observed; and some late travellers ^F25 observe,

``it generally happens in the month Nisan; that is, from the middle of March to the middle of April, the time of the first harvest;''

but Mr. Maundrell ^F26, who was upon the spot in 1697, and at the proper time of its overflowing, perceived nothing of it. He says,

``there is a small descent, which you may fitly call the, first and outermost bank of Jordan, as far as which it may be supposed the river does, or at least did anciently, overflow; but at present (whether it was because the river has by its rapidity of current worn its channel deeper than it was formerly, or whether because its waters are diverted some other way) it seems to have forgot its ancient greatness; for we could discern no sign or probability of such overflowings when we were there, which was the thirtieth of March, being the proper time for these inundations; nay, so far was the river from overflowing, that it ran at least two yards below the brink of the channel.''

However, at this time of the passage of the children of Israel through it, it was overflowing; which made the miracle the greater.

F23 Hist. de 72. Interpret. p. 41.
F24 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 22.
F25 Egmont and Heyman's Travels, vol. 1. p. 335, 336.
F26 Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 81, 82.

Jozua 3:15 In-Context

13 Want het zal geschieden, met dat de voetzolen der priesteren, die de ark van den HEERE, den Heere der ganse aarde, dragen, in het water van de Jordaan zullen rusten, zo zullen de wateren van de Jordaan afgesneden worden, te weten de wateren, die van boven afvlieten, en zij zullen op een hoop blijven staan.

14 En het geschiedde, toen het volk vertrok uit zijn tenten, om over de Jordaan te gaan, zo droegen de priesters de ark des verbonds voor het aangezicht des volks.

15 En als zij, die de ark droegen, tot aan de Jordaan gekomen waren, en de voeten der priesteren, dragende de ark, ingedoopt waren in het uiterste van het water (de Jordaan nu was vol al de dagen des oogstes aan al haar oevers);

16 Zo stonden de wateren, die van boven afkwamen; zij rezen op een hoop, zeer verre van de stad Adam af, die ter zijde van Sarthan ligt en die naar de zee des vlakken velds, te weten de Zoutzee, afliepen, vergingen, zij werden afgesneden. Toen trok het volk over, tegenover Jericho.

17 Maar de priesters, die de ark des verbonds des HEEREN droegen, stonden steevast op het droge, in het midden van de Jordaan; en gans Israel ging over op het droge, totdat al het volk geeindigd had door de Jordaan te trekken.