Joshua 6:9

9 And the armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets; the rear guard came after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually.

Joshua 6:9 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 6:9

And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the
trumpets
Whom Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abarbinel, interpret of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh; that is, as many of them as Joshua took with him over Jordan; though rather all the armed men in the camp are meant; at least along with those mentioned went the standards of Judah and Ephraim:

and the rereward came after the ark;
because the tribe of Dan was the rereward in journeying, ( Numbers 2:31 ) ; hence the Targum paraphrases the words,

``and the tribe of the house of Dan went after the ark;''

and so both Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it: but rather the body of the people unarmed are designed; at least these were brought up by the standard of Dan; or otherwise no place in this procession is appointed for them, whose business it was to make the great shout on the seventh day with the rest:

[the priests] going on and blowing with the trumpets;
the word "priests" is not in the text, but is rightly supplied; for, as Kimchi and Abarbinel observe, this is not said of the rereward, but of the priests, for they only bore and blew the trumpets; and so the Targum reads,

``the priests going on''

Joshua 6:9 In-Context

7 To the people he said, "Go forward and march around the city; have the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord."
8 As Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the Lord went forward, blowing the trumpets, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord following them.
9 And the armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets; the rear guard came after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually.
10 To the people Joshua gave this command: "You shall not shout or let your voice be heard, nor shall you utter a word, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout."
11 So the ark of the Lord went around the city, circling it once; and they came into the camp, and spent the night in the camp.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.