The Pulpit Commentary — Joshua — Section 164

iv., 11ml 11e we ho.ve just seen in ver. 4, the astonishing success of the Israelites grr·w commund to ,Joehu11 ir. not fully given. A into a wonder in the hands of the nnrrntor. short ubstmct of it is given, a.nd it is to be But this involves the entire falsehood, not filled up iu detail from the subsequent nar- only of the command given to Joshua by rative. ,Jehovah, but of the seven days' perambnla- Ver. 10.-Ye eha.ll not shout. No sign of tion of .Jericho, nnd the remaining incidents triumph was to be raised; but the Israelites; of the siege, 11 theory not easily reconcilable their priests, 11nd the a.rk of their covenant with the minute accuracy of detail rlispla,yed were in solemn silence to encompaas the throughout the narrative. The seven days' ~ity de.y by d11y, until they were commanded circuit of ,Jericho must, therefore, either he to rruse the shout of victory. The people denied altogether, in spite of the numerous of Jericho knew only too well what this reli- evidences of genuinenei;is which meet u ..; in gious procession meant. As e. military ma- the narrative; or, if explained, the only ex- nreuvre (so Ce.lvin) it was worse than uselc,s, planation which is consistent with the fact it was ridiculous. It actually invited attack; is, that Joshua had received an intimation nay, it afforded, if the interpretation in the that he was not to expect to effect the re- note on ver. 8 be correct, an admirable duction of the city by natural means, hut opportunity for the slaughter of defenceless was to wait patiently for an interposition women und children by a sudden sally from from on high. the city. But the history of the Exodus was not unknown to the king and peopl~ of Ver. 13.-The rereward (see v. 0). Liter- Jericho. The inspired law-giver, with his ally, the gathering together and then the ho,ly miraculous powers, and his claim to direct of troops which collects the stragglers, the intercourse with the Most High, was a. per- rear.guard, a.s -in Nu.m. x. 25; Isa. 1ii. 12; sonage only too well known to them, and his !viii. 8. Calvin renders here by qui.s cnge- mission was only too sure a token of the bat agmen. But the LXX. and Vulgate Divine sanction which rested on their pro- render by o Xo,-:ro~ uxXo~ and ndgu., re- ceedings. His supernatural qualifications liquum. So Luther, der Hrrnfe. The had evidently descended to his successor, LXX., however, in ver. !) translates the and now it was terribly clear that this awful same word by ai,payoVvrEt;, i.e., 11 qui ex- silent march, with the army equipped for tremum agmen ducunt, et quasi caudam battle, but not attempting to engage. iu it, efficiunt" (Rosenmiiller). The word is not the seven priests with their seven trumpets, the same as that translated ,·ereirard in the visible symbol of the Presence of the 1 Sam. xxix. 2, the only other place 'l'l"here God of Israel, attended by the awe-struck our Yersion bas u rerewn.rd," where there multitude a.waiting the Divine pleasure, was can be no question of the rendering being but the prelude to some new interposition correct, since the literal meaning there is from on high, the mysterious foreshadowing the hindei·most. of some hitherto unheard-of CL\la.mity which Ver. 15.-A.nd it ea.me to pass on the should befall the devoted city. There seems seventh day. -n-uy did God command this in this narrative no choice between reject- long pause of suspense and expectation ? ing the whole as 11n absurd fable, or accept- Even to teach us that His ways are not as ing it a.s the reco1·d of a "notable miracle.'' our w_ays, and that we had far better leave The account is minute in its detail. The the issue in His hands, than by our impa- historian, if he be a.n historian, is distinctly tience to anticipate, and not unfreq nently impreeeed with the idea that he is relating frustrate, the course of His Providence.- a. miracle. The obvious courso for Joshua, Calvin. There is a time to act 11ncl a time if he were not relying on supernatural aid, to wait patiently. If we seek His guid- was either to assault or to blockade the city. ance by prayer, God will tell us when· to To perambulate it for days in the expecta- do either. And when it is our dutv not tion of some convulsion of nature such as, to do anything ourselves, but to wait for we are told, frequently h0,ppeued in that the deliverance which He never fails to • volcanic region, would have hei·n the ex- sencl in His own good time, let as be care- treme of childish folly, and quite contrary to ful to restrain ourselves, lest by our rash that common sense 11nd military skill with intermeddling with His designs, we bring which, as we have seen, Joshun undoubtedly disgrace and disaster upon ourselves aud was endowed. If he were possesscd,seven d11ys His cause. Had the Israelites disobeye,l beforehand, with a conviction thal an earth. His command, and instead of the solemn quake were imminent, such a. p,•rsuasion procession round Jericho, ventm·ed to 11tlnck Would be of itself mimculous. Pa11 lus' ide11 the city at once, it would have fare,! ,n,rse of 11 mine having been sprung is still less . with them than at Ai, or at the wilderness comp11tible with our u11rra.tive. Von Len- of Parnn (Nmn. xiv. 45). About the dawn- gerke, in his ' C11n1111I1,' supposes that the illg, So the Chethibh. The Keri substi- 100 THE BOOK OF JOSHUA. [cu. VI. 1-21.