Joshua 3:7-17

7 And the Lord said to Joshua, Today I shall begin to enhance thee before all Israel (Today I shall begin to magnify thee before all Israel), (so) that they know, that as I was with Moses, so I am also with thee.
8 Forsooth command thou to the priests, that bear the ark of [the] bond of peace, and say thou to them, When ye have entered into a part of the water of (the) Jordan, stand ye therein. (And command thou to the priests, who carry the Ark of the Covenant, and say thou to them, When ye have entered into a part of the water of the Jordan River, stand ye there.)
9 And Joshua said to the sons of Israel, Nigh ye hither, and hear ye the word of your Lord God. (And Joshua said to the Israelites, Come ye here, and hear ye the word of the Lord your God.)
10 And again he said, In this ye shall know that the Lord God living is in the midst of you (And he said, By this ye shall know that the living God is in the midst of you); and he shall destroy in your sight (the) Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, and Perizzites, and Girgashites, and Jebusites, and Amorites.
11 Lo! the ark of the bond of peace of the Lord of all earth shall go before you through Jordan. (Lo! the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth shall go before you across the Jordan River.)
12 Make ye ready twelve men of the twelve lineages of Israel, by each lineage one man. (Make ye ready twelve men of the twelve tribes of Israel, one man out of each tribe.)
13 And when the priests, that bear the ark of [the] bond of peace of the Lord God of all earth (who carry the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord God of all the earth), have set the steps of their feet in the waters of (the) Jordan, the waters that be lower shall run down, and shall fail; soothly the waters that come from above shall stand together in one gathering, or (in) a certain place.
14 Therefore the people went out of their tabernacles for to pass over (the) Jordan; and the priests that bare the ark of [the] bond of peace went before the people. (And so the people went out of their tents to cross over the Jordan River; and the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant went before the people.)
15 And when the priests entered into (the) Jordan, and their feet were dipped in the part of [the] water; forsooth (the) Jordan had filled the brinks of his trough in the time of ripe corn (for the Jordan River was filled to the brim of its trough at that time of harvest);
16 the waters (that) went down (from above halted), and stood in one place, and waxed great at the likeness of an hill, and appeared far from the city that was called Adam, till to the place of Zaretan; soothly the waters that were lower went down into the sea of (the) wilderness, which is now called the dead sea, till the waters failed utterly. Forsooth the people went through (the) Jordan; (the waters, that went down from above, stood in one place, and grew great like a hill, going back as far away as the city called Adam, which is close to the city of Zaretan; and the waters that were lower, or below, went down into the Sea of the Wilderness, which is now called the Dead Sea, until there was no water. And then the people crossed over opposite Jericho;)
17 and the priests, that bare the ark of the bond of peace of the Lord, stood girded on the dry earth in the midst of (the) Jordan, and all the people passed [over] through the dry trough. (and the priests, who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, stood firmly on the dry earth in the midst of the Jordan River, until all the people had crossed over through the dry trough.)

Joshua 3:7-17 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.