Joshua 3:5

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 3:5

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

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 3:5

Sanctify yourselves - What was implied in this command we are not informed; but it is likely that it was the same as that given by Moses, Exodus 19:10-14 . They were to wash themselves and their garments, and abstain from every thing that might indispose their minds from a profitable attention to the miracle about to be wrought in their behalf. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 3:5

Verse 5 5.And Joshua said, etc Some unwonted manifestation of divine power in bringing assistance behooved to be held forth, lest the backwardness arising from hesitancy might produce delay; and yet, in order that the Israelites might depend on the mere counsel of God, Joshua does not yet plainly point out the special nature of the miracle, unless, indeed, we choose to read what follows shortly after, as forming part of one context. Herein lies the true test of faith, to lean so on the counsel... 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 3:5

Sanctify yourselves. The Hithpahel, which is used here, is frequently used of ceremonial purification, as in Exodus 19:22 ; 1 Chronicles 15:12 , 1 Chronicles 15:14 ; 2 Chronicles 5:11 ; and especially 2 Samuel 11:4 . It is also connected with purification, but ironically, in Isaiah 66:17 . Tomorrow. These words were uttered while all was in preparation. We learn from Isaiah 66:7 , though it is not expressly stated, that the actual crossing took place the next day. We ought,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 3:5

Preparation for beholding displays of Divine power. With what longing eyes must the Israelites have looked upon the river which they were soon to cross. Hope had been deferred for years. The promised land, fertile and beautiful, seemed to disappear from their sight, as did the fruit and water from the eager hands and parched lips of Tantalus. Could it, then, be really true that on the morrow the boundary line would separate them from their inheritance no more? By the Jordan the Israelites... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 3:5

God's wonders. "Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. These words admirably express the conditions of all blessing for the people of God. Those conditions are at once Divine and human. The Divine is the essential; the human can only be realised through it. I. GOD WILL DO WONDERS . This is a true description of all God's works of deliverance, and primarily of His great miracle of pardon. For, of all the marvellous things which He does, the most... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Joshua 3:5

Joshua 3:5. And Joshua said He himself also, as well as the officers, by his direction, spake to the people the day before their passage; and as the matter was very important, he probably went himself from tribe to tribe, to give the orders here mentioned. Sanctify yourselves Not only wash your clothes, and shun all kinds of bodily impurities, (see Genesis 35:2; Exodus 19:10; Numbers 9:10,) but purify your minds and hearts, by repentance, and faith, and new obedience, without which the... 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

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