Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Joshua 3:1-6
Joshua may have moved the nation from Shittim to the Jordan’s edge at approximately the same time he sent the spies on their mission (cf. Joshua 3:1-2; Joshua 1:11; Joshua 2:22). However, the sequence of events was probably as it appears in the text. Chapter 1 Joshua 3:11 describes one three-day period during which the spies were in Jericho and the hills. A second, overlapping three-day period began on the next day (day four) with the people’s arrival at Shittim (Joshua 3:1), and concluded two... read more
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Joshua 3:3
3, 4. When ye see the ark . . ., and the priests the Levites bearing it—The usual position of the ark, when at rest, was in the center of the camp; and, during a march, in the middle of the procession. On this occasion it was to occupy the van, and be borne, not by the Kohathite Levites, but the priests, as on all solemn and extraordinary occasions (compare Numbers 4:15; Joshua 6:6; 1 Kings 8:3-6). then ye shall . . . go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it—These instructions... read more