Joshua 3 Study Notes

3:10 This Hebrew phrase translated living God appears elsewhere only three times in the OT (Ps 42:2; 84:2; Hs 1:10). In Hos 1:10 it is used in the context of the fulfillment of God’s promises of an innumerable people who belong to him. In Ps 42:2 and 84:2 it describes the deepest yearnings of the psalmist, who longed for the presence of God and intimacy with him. The concern for the presence of God and his fulfillment of his promises for his people are both present here. The Canaanites, Hethites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites describe the pre-Israelite inhabitants of the land. Canaanites is a general term referring to those living in the land of Canaan, although it may also describe the indigenous peoples of the land.

Tamam, related to tamiym (blameless), means be complete (Lm 4:22), completed, concluded, used up, consumed, or destroyed. Something passes, ends, comes to an end, fails, vanishes, reaches its full measure, or is gone or over. People meet their end, die (off), or perish (Jr 24:10). People finish doing something, perfect plans, and settle disputes. Tamam signifies destroy (Jr 27:8) and be blameless (Ps 19:13). Causative verbs denote perfect, total up, put a stop to, or purge (Ezk 22:15). Reflexives indicate prove oneself blameless (Ps 18:25). Tom (23x) implies clear, pure, excellent, honorable, or without special aim (1Kg 22:34). It represents integrity (Ps 7:8) or entirety. Tam (15x), involving (perfect) integrity, means blameless, innocent, virtuous, honest, or perfect. It connotes quiet (Gn 25:27) and joined together (Ex 26:24). Tummah (5x) means integrity (Jb 2:9). Metom (4x) is soundness (Ps 38:3) or health, implying entire or uninjured.

3:11 The ark’s passage, using the key words cross over (1:2), demonstrates God’s leadership of his people, his presence with them, and his fulfillment of his promises. The Lord of the whole earth uses a phrase identical to that charged against the spies in 2:3 (“the entire land”). While God is indeed Lord of all the earth, the expression in chaps. 2-3 focuses on “the whole land” of Canaan.

3:12 The twelve men introduce a third group in addition to the people who will follow the ark and the priests who will carry it. The purpose of these men is explained in 4:2-3.

3:13 The mass of the water is the same term as that used of the waters of the Red Sea in Ex 15:8 and Ps 78:13. God would act for his people when they crossed the Jordan River—just as he did with the previous generation at the exodus.

3:14-15 At spring flood, after the winter rains and during the barley harvest, the Jordan River could reach a width in excess of a hundred feet and a depth of ten feet. The priests as the leaders of the people were the first to step down into the water. Doing so was a risky activity with the river at flood stage. Carrying the ark could easily have caused them to be swept away by the current unless the promised miracle took place.

3:16-17 The town of Adam is modern Tell ed-Damiye, about seventeen miles north of Jericho. Zarethan may be either three or eleven miles north of Adam, depending on which site it is identified with (Tell Umm Hamid or Tell es-Sa’idiyeh). Taking into account the distance from Adam to the Dead Sea, this means that approximately twenty-nine percent of the Jordan Valley was affected (Richard Hess, Joshua). Wordplay ties together the actions of the priests and people with God’s miracle of the waters. Thus the same verb (Hb ‘amad) describes how the waters stood still and how the priests stood firmly. The priests stood on dry ground while the people crossed on dry ground. The water was completely cut off (Hb tammu) until all Israel had finished (Hb tammu) crossing the river.