n~ay ~dicate the way, ~t can do no more. God is a living Guide ; He has written d1rect10ns and He a1~ls m the pei:formance of them. "No good thing shall foil of all that )ie has pronnsed concerurng us." "Seek first the kingdom of God nnd all other tlnngs shall be, added nut? y_ou." Blessed is the man whose "deli~ht is in the l11w of the Lord,' so that" m 1t he doth meditate day and night, He shall be like a tree . . . . shall prosper'' (Psa. i. 21 8).-A,
EXPOSITION. CIIAPTER I. 10-15. the miraculous supply of manne. we.s soon JoSH'CA 1S COMMAND TO THE PEOPLE. - to cease_ (cf. eh. v. 12). Within three days. Ver. 10. - Then Joshua commanded the Much difficulty be.s been created here by the officers of the people. The S hoterim e. term !act that .e.~other three days are mentioned deri-oed from the same root as an Are.hie word m che.p. 111. 2 as elapsinr,; after the return of signifying "to write." Different ideas he.ve the spies, which he.s been supposed to have been entertained of their duties. Keil, Jahn taken place between this command e.nd the (I-frbrric Commonweul.th), e.nd others believe period then menti_oned. Three more de.ys th1tt they were genealogists; but it seems more were_ spent (eh. 11. 22) by the spies in probable the.t their original duties were to eludmg the pursuit of the men of Jericho- keep processes e.nd minutes, and that, like our one de.y in going thither, and one more in Indian " writers " and the ")\faster of the returni~g to Moses. Consequently eight Rolls" e.t home, they exercised some kind days, if not more (see eh. iii. 7), must of judicial functions, with which, moreo,er, have elapsed between this proclamation and acti.e duties were sometimes combined. The the actual crossing of the Jordan. But when idea the.t_ tbe.v were genealogists is contrary, we remember that the Hebrew language as Gesemus shows, to the context in many posses~es no pluperfect tense, tbe.t there are places. Thus in Exod. v. 6-19, they seem many mstances, such as (very probably) Gen. to ha,e had to see the.t the specified tale of XII. 1, e.!'ld more certainly Gen. iii. 1, vi. 6, xx. bricks we.s delivered up; and we know from 18, xxv1. 18, 32, where the Hebrew ·narrative the recently deciphered Egyptian inscrip- he.s clearly departed from the chronological tions that very accurate registers of such or,:i.er, ar l the.t the chronology is obscured by matters were kept. In Deut. i. 16 (cf. Deut. tb1s chasm in the Hebrew linguistic system, xn. 18 ; J osb. viii. 33 ; xxiii. 2 ; xxiv. 1, we may suppose that the narrative in the &c.) they appear to have exercised judicial second chapter is parenthetical, and relates functions in connection w-ith the "princes" to events which occurred before the occasion (not " captains,'' as in oUI version, which now spoken of. This is the view taken by would lead to the idea that they were mili- Josephus e.nd the Rabbis, e.nd our trnnsla- tary officers). In Num. xi. 16 they are tors have adopted it in the margin-a pro- connected with the elders. In l Chron. xxvi. ceeding which, as their preface shows, may 29 they seem again to barn exercised judicial frequently be held to imply that in their functions, whereas in 2 Chron. xxvi. 11 their opinion it is the preferable interpretation. duty appears to have been to keep the muster It is energetically impugned by Keil, who rolls. In Prov. n. 7 we find them once more maintains that there are insuperable diffi- with active duties as in the text. The LXX. culties in the way of this e.rre.ngement. He equivalent, ypap.µaT,i,r, is rendered in Acts does not, however, make out e. very powerful xix. 35 by " town-clerk," an officer with case age.inst the simple explanation of Cor- active e.s well as merely secretarial duties. nelius iL Lapide, tbe.t the spies left the camp Here they seem to have acted as officers of on the 3rd Nisau, returned on the 6th thnt the commissariat, civil and military func- Joshua gave bis order on the 7th, and that on tions being naturally largely interchange- the 10th (eh. iv. 19) the crossing was effected. able in the then condition of the Isre.elitish Stripped of all verbiage, Keil's argument ap- people, just as they were in the early days pears to amount simply to this, tbe.t it was of our Indian empire. not likely that the account of the narrative Ver. 11.-Prepare you victuals. Literally, wculd be thus interrupted by an account of 9a,1ie, the term being applied to meat ob- a transaction out of its proper chronological taintd L:v hunting. Thus it is applied by order. It me.y be added the.tit seems donhtlnl Isa.at: to Esau's venison in Gen. xxvii. Here whether we must not render the word iO~ it mtans food of any kind, but especially in ver. 12, by the pluperfect, for it see~; animal food. It is therefore obvious the.t very probable t.he.t the word of command to en, r. 10-15.] THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. 17