ヨシュア記 3:4 JCB

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joshua 3:1-6

Rahab, in mentioning to the spies the drying up of the Red Sea (Josh. 2:10), the report of which terrified the Canaanites more than anything else, intimates that those on that side the water expected that Jordan, that great defence of their country, would in like manner give way to them. Whether the Israelites had any expectation of it does not appear. God often did things for them which they looked not for, Isa. 64:3. Now here we are told, I. That they came to Jordan and lodged there, Josh.... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 3:4

Yet there shall be a space between you and it ,.... The ark; the Keri or marginal reading is, "between you and them"; the priests that bear it: hence sprung a fiction among the Jews, that there were two arks, the ark of the Shechinah or divine Majesty, and the ark of Joseph, in which his bones were put, which went together F17 T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 13. 1. ; which Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abarbinel take notice of, but has no foundation in the text: about two thousand cubits by measure ; by... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 3:4

About two thousand cubits - This distance they were to keep, For the greater respect, because the presence of the ark was the symbol and pledge of the Divine presence. 2. That the ark, which was to be their pilot over these waters, might be the more conspicuous which it could not have been had the people crowded upon it. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 3:4

Verse 4 4.Yet there shall be a space, etc As the younger Levites, whose province it was to carry the ark, (Numbers 4:15) were strictly forbidden to touch it, or even to look at it, when uncovered, it is not wonderful that the common people were not allowed to approach within a considerable distance of it. The dignity of the ark, therefore, is declared, when the people are ordered to attest their veneration by leaving a long interval between themselves and it. And we know what happened to Uzzah,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 3:1-6

The command to cross Jordan. We have here a chapter replete with instruction, whether we take the words in their natural and literal or in their figurative and allegorical sense. The instruction is of a kind which it is difficult to gather up into one point of view, so various and many-sided is it. It will be best, therefore, to follow the events of the narrative seriatim, and endeavour to notice the various points which may be observed for instruction and exhortation, rather than to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 3:4

There shall be a space between you and it. Perhaps in order that they might keep it in view. This agrees best with the remainder of the verse, "that ye may know the way by which ye must go." Keil remarks that, had the Israelites pressed close on the heels of the priests who bore the ark, this would have defeated the very object with which the ark was carried before the people, namely, to point them out the way that they should go. But Cornelius Lapide among the earlier commentators and... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Joshua 3:4

The ark, which was since the making of the covenant the special shrine and seat of God’s presence, went before to show the people that God, through its medium, was their leader. They were to follow at a distance that they might the better observe and mark how the miracle was accomplished. This they would do to the greatest advantage while coming down the heights, the ark going on before them into the ravine. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Joshua 3:4

Joshua 3:4. There shall be a space between you and it Thus it was made to appear that the ark needed not to be guarded by the men of war, but was itself a guard to them. With what a noble defiance of the enemy did it leave all its friends far behind, save the unarmed priests that carried it, as perfectly sufficient for its own safety and theirs that followed it. Two thousand cubits A thousand yards, at which distance from it the Israelites seem to have been encamped in the wilderness. And... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Joshua 3:1-17

Crossing the Jordan River (3:1-5:1)Israel’s conquest of Jericho was more than just a military exercise. It had religious meaning. The Israelites were to cleanse themselves before God, because he was the one who would lead them against their enemies. His presence was symbolized in the ark of the covenant (GNB: covenant box), which the priests carried ahead of the procession in full view of the people (3:1-6).As God had worked through Moses, so he would work through Joshua. Just as the waters of... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Joshua 3:4

a space. This is very significant. Compare Exodus 19:12 , Exodus 13:22 .Leviticus 10:3 . cubits. See App-51 . About Joshua 1:5 miles. read more