Joshua 5:5

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joshua 5:1-9

A vast show, no doubt, the numerous camp of Israel made in the plains of Jericho, where now they had pitched their tents. Who can count the dust of Jacob? That which had long been the church in the wilderness has now come up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved, and looks forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners. How terrible she was in the eyes of her enemies we are here told, Josh. 5:1. How fair and clear she was made in the eyes... read more

John Gill

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

Now all the people that came out were circumcised ,.... All that came out of Egypt, and males, were circumcised, whether under or above twenty years of age; for though it is possible all were circumcised before they came out of Egypt, which favours the opinion of Dr. Lightfoot, that they might be circumcised during the three nights' darkness of the Egyptians, when they could take no advantage of it, as Levi and Simeon did of the Shechemites; and which seems more probable than that it should... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 5:1-9

The great renewal of the covenant. Matthew Henry very felicitously quotes here and combines the two passages (So Matthew 8:5 and Matthew 6:10 ), "Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved, who looks forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?" Terrible as an army in the eyes of her enemies (verse 1); fair as the moon, clear as the sun, when the reproach of Egypt is rolled away (verse 9). I. ISRAEL ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 5:5

Now all the people that came out were circumcised. The Hebrew of this passage (which runs literally thus—"Now circumcised had they been, all the people who were going forth") is sufficient to refute the idea that there was a great circumcision of the people under Moses, on account of the neglect of the rile in Egypt. For, before the exodus, Moses was not in a position to perform any general act of this kind, as the history plainly shows, while after it such a rite could not have taken place,... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Joshua 5:4-7

Of the whole nation those only were already circumcised at the time of the passage of the Jordan who had been under twenty years of age at the time of the complaining and consequent rejection at Kadesh (compare the marginal reference). These would have been circumcised before they left Egypt, and there would still survive of them more than a quarter of a million of thirty-eight years old and upward.The statements of these verses are of a general kind. The “forty years” of Joshua 5:6 is a round... read more

Joseph Benson

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

Joshua 5:5. The people born in the wilderness they had not circumcised What occasioned this omission is not said, nor is it easy to determine whether it arose from negligence, or from God’s dispensing, for a time, with his ordinance, on account of the unsettledness of their state, and their frequent removes while they were in the wilderness, it being necessary for children, after they were circumcised, and thereby made sore, to rest some time. This latter reason has generally been... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Joshua 5:2-15

Camp at Gilgal (5:2-15)Israel’s camp at Gilgal became the centre for the battle campaign that was to follow. But before the people could receive the land God promised them in the covenant, they had to renew their covenant relation with him.During the previous forty years, the people of Israel had brought shame upon themselves through consistently being disobedient and unbelieving. They had even neglected the first requirement of the covenant, which was the circumcision of all newborn male... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Joshua 5:2-5

"At that time, Jehovah said unto Joshua, Make thee knives of flint, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. And Joshua made him knives of flint, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: all the people that came forth out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came forth out of Egypt. For all the people that came out were circumcised; but... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Joshua 5:4-7

Ver. 4-7. And this is the cause, &c.— The reason is clearly expressed in the text. Excepting Joshua and Caleb, all the six hundred thousand fighting men, who came out of Egypt, had died during the forty years that the people had dwelt in the desarts of Arabia; and during this interval of time they had neglected to circumcise the male children which were born there. But whence this negligence? It was not out of contempt, since the Scripture nowhere reproaches the Israelites on that account.... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Joshua 5:1-12

2. Circumcision and celebration of the Passover 5:1-12"This [fifth] chapter records four experiences which God brought to Joshua and the people, each one centered about a token, or symbol . . . The Token of Circumcision: Restoration to covenant favor (Joshua 5:2-9) . . . The Token of Blood: Anticipation of deliverance (Joshua 5:10) . . . The Token of Fruit: Appropriation of the blessing (Joshua 5:11-12) . . . The Token of a Sword: Revelation of a holy war (Joshua 5:13-15)." [Note: Jensen, pp.... read more

Group of Brands