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Matthew Henry

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 3:1

And Joshua rose early in the morning ,.... The morning after the spies had returned and made their report; which, as Kimchi rightly observes, was the ninth of Nisan; for on the morrow, which was the tenth, the people passed over Jordan, see Joshua 3:5 . Moses, according to the Jewish writers, died on the seventh of Adar or February; the thirty days of his mourning ended the seventh of Nisan or March; two days before they were ended the spies were sent, who returned on the eighth day of the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 3:2

And it came to pass after three days ,.... At the end of the three days they were bid to prepare food for their expedition, and to go over Jordan, Joshua 1:11 , that the officers went through the host ; the camp of Israel; very probably the same as in Joshua 1:10 ; this was, no doubt, by the order of Joshua, and who was directed to it by the Lord. read more

John Gill

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

And they commanded the people ,.... In the name of Joshua, by whom they were sent: saying, when ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it : the Targum reads, the priests and Levites; so the Septuagint: it was the business of the Levites, particularly the Kohathites, to bear the ark in journeying, but here the priests, who also were Levites, were to carry it: it is remarked in the Talmud F16 T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 33. 2. , that there... 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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 3:5

And Joshua said unto the people ,.... On the third day; and the thirtieth day of the mourning for Moses, Jarchi says, was the first of the three days, and that being the seventh day of the month, this must be the ninth, as it is most clear the morrow was the tenth: sanctify yourselves ; in a ceremonial sense, by washing their bodies and their clothes, and abstaining from their wives; and in a moral sense, by acts of religion and devotion, by prayer and meditation, and the exercise of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 3:6

And Joshua spoke unto the priests ,.... On the morrow, that is, on the tenth day of the month, the day on which they went over Jordan: saying, take up the ark of the covenant ; in which the law was put, which was the covenant between God and the people, from whence the ark had this name; and in which it was typical of Christ, in whom both the law, the covenant of works, was fulfilled, and with whom the covenant of grace was made; who is the Mediator; surety, and messenger of it, and in... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 3:1

Joshua rose early - Archbishop Usher supposes that this was upon Wednesday, the 28th of April, A. M. 2553, the fortieth year after the exodus from Egypt. From Shittim, where they had lately been encamped, to Jordan, was about sixty stadia, according to Josephus; that is, about eight English miles. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 3:2

After three days - These three days are probably to be thus understood: As soon as Joshua took the command of the army, he sent the spies to ascertain the state of Jericho; as we have seen Joshua 1:12 . They returned at the end of three days, or rather on the third day, and made their report. It was at this time, immediately on the return of the spies, that he made the proclamation mentioned here; in consequence of which the people immediately struck their tents, and marched forward to... 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

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