Joshua 3:9-17

9 And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God. ”

10 And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that ¹the living God is among you and that he will without fail ²drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of ³the Lord of all the earth^{[a] 4}is passing over before you into the Jordan.

12 Now therefore ⁵take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, ⁶from each tribe a man.

13 And ⁷when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, ⁸the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall ⁹stand in one heap. ”

14 So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing ¹⁰the ark of the covenant before the people,

15 and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and ¹¹the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now ¹²the Jordan overflows all its banks ¹³throughout the time of harvest),

16 the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside ¹⁴Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of ¹⁵the Arabah, ¹⁶the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho.

17 Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, ¹⁷and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.

Joshua 3:9-17 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.

Cross References

• 1. 3:10 Deut. 5:26; 1 Sam. 17:26
• 2. 3:10 Ex. 33:2; Deut. 7:1; Ps. 44:2; [Ex. 13:5]
• 3. 3:11 Mic. 4:13; Zech. 4:14; 6:5
• 4. 3:11 [Deut. 9:3]
• 5. 3:12 ch. 4:2, 4
• 6. 3:12 [Num. 13:2]
• 7. 3:13 ver. 15, 16
• 8. 3:13 [See ver. 11 above]
• 9. 3:13 Ps. 114:3; [Ex. 15:8; Ps. 78:13]
• 10. 3:14 Acts 7:44, 45
• 11. 3:15 ver. 13
• 12. 3:15 1 Chr. 12:15; Jer. 12:5; 49:19; 50:44
• 13. 3:15 [ch. 4:18; 5:10, 12]
• 14. 3:16 1 Kgs. 4:12; 7:46
• 15. 3:16 See Deut. 1:1
• 16. 3:16 Gen. 14:3; Num. 34:3
• 17. 3:17 ch. 4:22; [Ex. 14:29]

Footnotes

• [a] 3:11 Hebrew 'the ark of the covenant, the Lord of all the earth'