Joshua 3:13

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.

Joshua 3:13 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 3:13

And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet
of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord
Which they were bid to take up and carry, ( Joshua 3:6 ) ;

the Lord of all the earth;
this shows that not the ark, but the Lord, is called "the Lord of all the earth", (See Gill on Joshua 3:11):

shall rest in the waters of Jordan;
the meaning is, as soon as their feet should touch them, or they should set their feet in them, when they came to the brink of them:

[that] the waters of Jordan shall be cut off [from] the waters that
come down from above;
from above the place where the priests came, and the children of Israel after passed over:

and they shall stand upon an heap;
or one heap; stop and rise up high, as if piled up one upon another, and stand unmoved. This had been made known to Joshua by divine revelation, and is what he hints at, ( Joshua 3:5 ) ; and now plainly speaks out, and foretells before it came to pass; and which must serve to magnify Joshua, as in ( Joshua 3:7 ) ; and give him great credit and honour among the people.

Joshua 3:13 In-Context

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