Joshua 3

Joshua got up early in the morning. He and all the people of Israel left Shittim and came to the Jordan River. They camped there before they crossed over.

1And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over.

NoteShittim (the name means "acacia trees") was Israel's camp on the plains of Moab, on the east side of the Jordan, roughly seven or eight miles from the river. The Jordan here is not a wide river, normally only about a hundred feet across, but it runs fast in a deep, tangled channel.

2Three days later, the officers walked through the camp.

2And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host;

Note"Officers" translates a Hebrew word for subordinate officials who kept records and passed orders down through the ranks, closer to clerks or marshals than to army commanders.

3They gave the people this order: "When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests from the tribe of Levi carrying it, then leave your places and follow behind it.

3And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.

NoteThe ark of the covenant was a gold-covered wooden chest, carried on poles, holding the stone tablets of the agreement (covenant) made between God and Israel at Sinai. A covenant is a formal, binding agreement between two parties, with obligations on each side. Only members of the tribe of Levi, from which the priests came, were permitted to carry it.

4But keep a space between you and the ark, about two thousand cubits. Do not come close to it. That way you will be able to see the road you have to take, since you have never gone this way before."

4Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.

NoteA cubit was about eighteen inches, roughly the length of a forearm, so two thousand cubits is about three thousand feet, a little over half a mile. The gap keeps the ark visible to everyone in a column of that size, and keeps the people from crowding it.

5Joshua said to the people, "Set yourselves apart and make yourselves clean, because tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you."

5And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.

Note"Sanctify yourselves" means to go through the rituals that made a person fit to come near holy things: washing the body, washing clothing, and abstaining from sex for a set period. It is a matter of ritual preparation, not of moral improvement.

6Joshua said to the priests, "Pick up the ark of the covenant and go across ahead of the people." So they picked up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.

6And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.

7The LORD said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to make you great in the eyes of all Israel. Then they will know that I am with you just as I was with Moses.

7And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.

Note"Magnify thee" is older English for raising someone's public standing, making him visibly great in others' eyes. It is about reputation and authority, not size.

8Give this order to the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: 'When you come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, stop and stand still in the river.'"

8And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan.

9Joshua said to the people of Israel, "Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God."

9And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God.

10Then Joshua said, "This is how you will know that the living God is among you, and that he will surely drive out ahead of you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

10And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

NoteThese seven names are the standard list of the peoples living in Canaan before Israel's arrival. The Canaanites were the general population of the land; the Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites were smaller groups or city-based populations within it. The Jebusites held Jerusalem.

11Look, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is going ahead of you into the Jordan.

11Behold, the ark of the covenant of the LORD of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.

12So now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe.

12Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.

NoteThe reason for choosing these twelve men is not given here; their task, carrying twelve stones out of the riverbed, is described in the next chapter.

13As soon as the priests carrying the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, set their feet in the water of the Jordan, the river will be cut off. The water flowing down from upstream will stop and stand in a heap."

13And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the LORD of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.

Note"Stand in a heap" translates a Hebrew word used of water piled up and held in place, the same word used of the sea in the song at the Red Sea crossing in Exodus 15. It pictures water banked up like a mound rather than merely stopping.

14So the people packed up their tents and set out to cross the Jordan, with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant ahead of them.

14And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people;

15The Jordan runs over its banks the whole time of the harvest. But when the men carrying the ark reached the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying it touched the edge of the water,

15And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)

NoteThe harvest meant here is the barley harvest, in spring (roughly March–April), which is exactly when snowmelt from Mount Hermon in the north swells the Jordan and pushes it over its banks. The crossing is described as happening at the river's worst season, not its easiest.

16the water flowing down from upstream stopped. It rose up in a heap a long way off, near the city of Adam, which is beside Zaretan. The water flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, drained away and was cut off. So the people crossed over, straight across from Jericho.

16That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.

NoteAdam is usually identified with a site about eighteen miles (thirty kilometres) upstream from the crossing point opposite Jericho; Zaretan was a nearby landmark. The "Sea of the Arabah" is the lake at the southern end of the Jordan rift valley, called the Salt Sea because of its extreme salinity, known today as the Dead Sea. So the water backed up far to the north, while everything downstream simply drained away.

17The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan. All Israel walked across on dry ground, until the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

17And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.

NoteIn the King James wording, "passed clean over" does not mean cleanly but completely, every last person was across.