Joshua 5:1-7

The Israelites Are Circumcised

1 And it happened, when all the kings of the Amorites who [were] beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who [were] by the sea heard that Yahweh dried up the waters of the Jordan in front of the {Israelites} until they crossed [over], their hearts melted, and {there was no courage left in them} because of the presence of the {Israelites}.
2 At that time Yahweh said to Joshua, "Make for yourself knives of flint, and circumcise the {Israelites} a second time."
3 So Joshua made knives of flint, and he circumcised the {Israelites} at the hill of the foreskins.
4 This [is] the reason why Joshua circumcised all the people: all the males who went out from Egypt, all the warriors, died in the wilderness as they went out from Egypt {on the journey}.
5 For all the people who left were circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness {on the journey} [after] they left from Egypt were not circumcised.
6 For forty years the {Israelites} traveled in the wilderness until all the nation, the warriors that left Egypt, perished, because they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh. To them Yahweh swore that they would not see the land that he swore to their ancestors to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey.
7 And it was their children [whom] he raised in their place that Joshua circumcised, for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised {on the journey}.

Joshua 5:1-7 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 5

The Canaanites being dispirited on the passage of the children of Israel through Jordan, Jos 5:1; Joshua is ordered to circumcise such of the people of Israel that were uncircumcised, Jos 5:2-9; in order to their eating of the passover, which was now to be kept, Jos 5:10; and they being now provided with corn sufficient, the manna ceased, Jos 5:11,12; and there appeared to Joshua a divine Person, in an human form, to encourage and direct him what to do in the conquest of the land, and particularly Jericho, Jos 5:13-15.

Footnotes 13

  • [a]. Hebrew "Canaanite"
  • [b]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [c]. Literally "a spirit was no longer in them"
  • [d]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [e]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [f]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [g]. Hebrew "Gibeath-haaraloth"
  • [h]. Literally "on the road"
  • [i]. Literally "on the road"
  • [j]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [k]. Hebrew "Yahweh"
  • [l]. Or "fathers"
  • [m]. Literally "on the road"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.