Joshua 6

Jericho was shut up tight because of the people of Israel. No one went out of the city, and no one came in.

1Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.

Note"Straitly" is not "straightly": it is the old adverb from "strait," meaning narrowly or tightly, as in a strait (a narrow channel). Jericho was a walled town near the Jordan crossing, and with an army camped outside, its gates were barred and all traffic in and out had stopped.

2The LORD said to Joshua, "Look, I have handed Jericho over to you, along with its king and its strong fighting men.

2And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.

Note"Mighty men of valour" is a stock Hebrew phrase for able-bodied fighting men of standing in the community, not a special corps, but the city's capable warriors. "I have given into thine hand" is the ordinary idiom for handing something over into someone's power; the past tense states the outcome as already settled.

3March around the city with all your fighting men. Go around the city one time. Do this for six days.

3And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.

Note"Compass the city" in the King James means to go around it, to encircle it. It has nothing to do with the instrument; the word comes from the same root as "encompass."

4Have seven priests carry seven trumpets made from rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times while the priests blow the horns.

4And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams’ horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.

NoteThe ark was a wooden chest overlaid with gold, carried on poles by priests, which held the stone tablets of the law and served as the visible sign of God's presence with Israel. The "trumpets of rams' horns" are shofars, hollowed animal horns that produce a few loud, carrying notes. They were signaling instruments used in war and at festivals, not melodic instruments.

5When they blow one long blast on the ram's horn, and you hear the sound of it, all the people must give a loud shout. Then the city wall will fall down flat, and the people will go up into the city, each man going straight ahead."

5And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.

NoteThe "long blast" is a single sustained note, distinct from the short blasts that had sounded on the march; it was the agreed signal. "Every man straight before him" means each man was to climb in from wherever he happened to be standing in the circle around the city, without regrouping or manoeuvring to a gate.

6So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, "Pick up the ark of the covenant, and have seven priests carry seven rams' horn trumpets in front of the ark of the LORD."

6And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD.

NoteA covenant is a binding agreement between two parties, with sworn obligations on each side; the phrase "ark of the covenant" means the chest that held the tablets on which the terms of God's agreement with Israel were written.

7And he said to the people, "Move out and march around the city. The armed men are to go ahead of the ark of the LORD."

7And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the LORD.

8After Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven rams' horn trumpets moved out before the LORD and blew the horns, and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed behind them.

8And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns passed on before the LORD, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them.

9The armed men marched ahead of the priests who were blowing the horns, and the rear guard came along behind the ark, while the priests kept marching and blowing the horns.

9And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.

NoteThe "rereward" (rear guard) is the body of troops marching last. The Hebrew word means roughly "the ones who gather up", the group bringing up the rear of a column.

10Joshua had given the people this order: "Do not shout. Do not let your voice be heard. Do not let a single word come out of your mouth until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout."

10And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.

11So the ark of the LORD was carried around the city, going around it one time. Then the people came back into the camp and stayed there for the night.

11So the ark of the LORD compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.

12Joshua got up early the next morning, and the priests picked up the ark of the LORD.

12And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD.

13The seven priests carrying the seven rams' horn trumpets in front of the ark of the LORD kept marching steadily and blowing the horns. The armed men went ahead of them, the rear guard came behind the ark of the LORD, and the priests kept blowing.

13And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the LORD, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.

14On the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.

14And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days.

15On the seventh day they got up early, at daybreak, and marched around the city the same way seven times. That day was the only day they went around the city seven times.

15And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times.

16The seventh time around, when the priests blew the horns, Joshua said to the people, "Shout! The LORD has given you the city!

16And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city.

17The city and everything in it is set apart to the LORD to be destroyed. Only Rahab the prostitute will live, along with everyone in her house, because she hid the messengers we sent.

17And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.

Note"Accursed" here translates the Hebrew term *herem*: something handed over to God permanently and withdrawn from all human use, in the case of a captured city by destroying it rather than taking it as plunder. The word does not mean cursing in the sense of swearing at something. "The messengers that we sent" are the two spies Rahab sheltered and hid on her roof in chapter 2. The word rendered "harlot" is the ordinary Hebrew word for a prostitute; some ancient interpreters took it to mean an innkeeper, but the plain sense of the word is the former.

18But keep away from the things set apart for destruction. If you take any of them, you will bring that destruction on yourselves, and you will make the camp of Israel something to be destroyed and bring disaster on it.

18And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.

NoteThe verse turns on one Hebrew root used three ways: the plunder is under *herem*, anyone who takes it comes under *herem* himself, and the whole camp then becomes *herem*. The King James "accursed thing... make yourselves accursed... make the camp a curse" is trying to keep that single word visible in English.

19All the silver and gold and the objects made of bronze and iron belong to the LORD. They must go into the LORD's treasury."

19But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.

Note"Brass" in 1611 English meant what we now call bronze, copper alloyed with tin. True brass (copper and zinc) was barely known in the ancient Near East. "Consecrated" means set aside for God's exclusive use; metal, unlike people, animals and buildings, could be melted and purified rather than destroyed, so it went to the sanctuary's stores instead.

20So the people shouted when the priests blew the horns. When the people heard the sound of the horn and gave a great shout, the wall fell down flat. The people went up into the city, each man going straight ahead, and they captured it.

20So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

NoteThe Hebrew says the wall fell "beneath itself" or "in its place": it collapsed straight down where it stood, rather than toppling outward, which is why the attackers could go up over the rubble from wherever they were standing.

21With the sword they completely destroyed everything in the city: men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep, and donkeys.

21And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.

Note"Utterly destroyed" is the verb formed from the same word translated "accursed" in verse 17: to put something under *herem*. "With the edge of the sword" translates a Hebrew idiom, literally "to the mouth of the sword", a sword's blade was spoken of as devouring.

22Joshua had said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute's house and bring out the woman and everyone who belongs to her, just as you promised her under oath."

22But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her.

23So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and everyone who belonged to her. They brought out her whole family and settled them outside the camp of Israel.

23And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel.

Note"Without the camp" in the King James means outside the camp, not lacking a camp. Rahab's family were not Israelites and had not undergone the rites that allowed a person to live inside the camp, so they were quartered just beyond it until they could be brought in.

24Then they burned the city and everything in it. But they put the silver, the gold, and the objects made of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD's house.

24And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.

25Joshua let Rahab the prostitute live, along with her father's family and everyone who belonged to her, because she hid the messengers Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. She has lived among the Israelites ever since.

25And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

Note"Unto this day" is a stock phrase of Hebrew narrative marking a situation that still held when the account was written down; it points to the writer's own time rather than to Joshua's lifetime.

26At that time Joshua made the people swear this oath: "May the LORD curse anyone who sets out to rebuild this city, Jericho. It will cost him his oldest son to lay its foundation, and his youngest son to set up its gates."

26And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.

Note"Adjured" means put under a binding oath, Joshua made those present swear to the terms. The curse is phrased as a price: whoever rebuilds the town will lose his eldest son by the time the foundations are laid and his youngest by the time the gates are hung. The wording may also glance at the ancient practice of burying a child beneath a new building's foundations, though this is disputed.

27So the LORD was with Joshua, and news about him spread through the whole land.

27So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country.

Note"Noised" is the old passive of "noise" as a verb, to be reported or spread by talk. It carries no suggestion of loudness or disturbance.