Joshua 6:8

. Joshua 6:6 Ver. 6. And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests,.... Not the Levites and Kohathites, whose business it was in common to bear the ark, but upon this occasion the priests; not all of them, but as many as were sufficient for the purpose: and said unto them, take up the ark of the covenant; by putting the staves into the rings of it, and so carry it, Exodus 25:14; see Numbers 7:9; and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord: See Gill on "Joshua 6:4". Joshua 6:7 Ver. 7. And he said unto the people, pass on, and compass the city,.... The women and children, the young men under twenty years of age, the unarmed part of the camp, as distinguished from the armed men: and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the Lord; to guard the ark, protect the priests, and defend the people, should any sally be made by the enemy upon them. These seem to design all the males that were above twenty years of age able to bear arms, and fit for war; though some restrain it to the forty thousand of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, Joshua 1:14. Joshua 6:8 Ver. 8. And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken to the people,....

6:6-16 Wherever the ark went, the people attended it. God's ministers, by the trumpet of the everlasting gospel, which proclaims liberty and victory, must encourage the followers of Christ in their spiritual warfare. As promised deliverances must be expected in God's way, so they must be expected in his time. At last the people were to shout: they did so, and the walls fell. This was a shout of faith; they believed the walls of Jericho would fall. It was a shout of prayer; they cry to Heaven for help, and help came.

And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken to the people,.... Both armed and unarmed; had finished the orders and directions he gave them before mentioned: that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns passed on before the Lord; in his sight, and by his direction, and at his command given by Joshua, and before the ark, the symbol of his presence: and blew with the trumpets; a short blast as they went along; this they did on each of the six days: and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them; being borne by priests, Joshua 6:6.

Jos 6:8-19. The City Compassed Six Days. 8-11. the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets … passed on before the Lord—before the ark, called "the ark of the covenant," for it contained the tables on which the covenant was inscribed. The procession was made in deep and solemn silence, conforming to the instructions given to the people by their leader at the outset, that they were to refrain from all acclamation and noise of any kind until he should give them a signal. It must have been a strange sight; no mound was raised, no sword drawn, no engine planted, no pioneers undermining—here were armed men, but no stroke given; they must walk and not fight. Doubtless the people of Jericho made themselves merry with the spectacle [Bishop Hall].

He said - The reading in the Hebrew text is "they said." Joshua no doubt issued his orders through the "officers of the people" (compare Joshua 1:10 ). Him that is armed - i. e. the warriors generally, not a division only. "The rereward" Joshua 6:9 was merely a detachment, and not a substantial portiere of the host; and was told off, perhaps, from the tribe of Dan (compare the marginal reference) to close the procession and guard the ark from behind. Thus the order would be (1) the warriors, (2) the seven priests blowing the cornets, (3) the ark, (4) the rear-guard.

Verse 8. - He that is armed, or rather disencumbered, i.e. , prepared for battle (see Joshua 4:13 ). Similarly, in the next verse, "the armed men," i.e. , the host in marching order, as we say. Kimchi and Jarchi refer this to the Reubenites and their brethren, but without sufficient authority. Keil thinks that it was impossible that the unarmed people would have gone with the procession as "the rereward" (see note on Joshua 5:13), because no command to that effect is given in ver. 3. But as he has told us in Joshua 3, 4 , and as we have just seen in ver. 4. the command to Joshua is not fully given. A short abstract of it is given, and it is to be filled up in detail from the subsequent narrative. Joshua 6:8

Execution of the divine Command. - Joshua 6:8-11 . The march round on the first day; and the instructions as to the war-cry to be raised by the people, which are appended as a supplement in Joshua 6:10 . "Before Jehovah," instead of "before the ark of Jehovah," as the signification of the ark was derived entirely from the fact, that it was the medium through which Jehovah communicated His gracious presence to the people. In Joshua 6:9 , תּקעוּ is in the perfect tense, and we must supply the relative אשׁר, which is sometimes omitted, not only in poetry, but also in prose, after a definite noun in the accusative (e.g., Exodus 18:20 ; see Ewald, 332, a.). There is not sufficient ground for altering the form of the word into תּקעי, according to the Keri, as תּקע is construed in other cases with the accusative השּׁופר, instead of with בּ, and that not only in poetry, but also in prose (e.g., Judges 7:22 , as compared with Judges 7:18-20 ). ותקוע הלוך, "trumpeting continually" (Eng. Ver. "going on and blowing"). הלוך is used adverbially, as in Genesis 8:3 , etc.

[Bible] 6:5. And when the voice of the trumpet shall give a longer and broken tune, and shall sound in your ears, all the people shall shout together with a very great shout, and the walls of the city shall fall to the ground, and they shall enter in every one at the place against which they shall stand. 6:6. Then Josue, the son of Nun, called the priests, and said to them: Take the ark of the covenant: and let seven other priests take the seven trumpets of the jubilee, and march before the ark of the Lord. 6:7. And he said to the people: Go, and compass the city, armed, marching before the ark of the Lord. 6:8. And when Josue had ended his words, and the seven priests blew the seven trumpets before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, 6:9. And all the armed men went before, the rest of the common people followed the ark, and the sound of the trumpets was heard on all sides. 6:10. But Josue had commanded the people, saying: You shall not shout, nor shall your voice be heard, nor any word go out of your mouth: until the day come wherein I shall say to you: Cry, and shout. 6:11. So the ark of the Lord went about the city once a day, and returning into the camp, abode there. 6:12. And Josue rising before day, the priests took the ark of the Lord, 6:13. And seven of them seven trumpets, which are used in the jubilee: and they went before the ark of the Lord, walking and sounding the trumpets: and the armed men went before them, and the rest of the common people followed the ark, and they blew the trumpets. 6:14. And they went round about the city the second day once, and returned into the camp. So they did six days. 6:15. But the seventh day, rising up early, they went about the city, as it was ordered, seven times. 6:16. And when in the seventh going about the priests sounded with the trumpets, Josue said to all Israel: Shout: for the Lord hath delivered the city to you:

And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said to them, Carry the ark of the covenant, and seven priests shall carry seven blast-trumpets before the ark of Jehovah. And he said to the people, Pass on, go round the city, and they that are armed shall pass on before the ark of Jehovah. And it came to pass when Joshua had spoken to the people, that the seven priests carrying the seven blast-trumpets before Jehovah passed on and blew with the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah went after them. And the armed men went before the priests who blew with the trumpets, and the rearguard came after the ark; they blew with the trumpets in marching. And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor let your voice be heard, neither shall a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I say to you, Shout; then shall ye shout. And the ark of Jehovah went round the city, encompassing [it] once; and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp. And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests carried the ark of Jehovah. And the seven priests carrying the seven blast-trumpets before the ark of Jehovah went on and blew continually with the trumpets; and the armed men went before them, and the rearguard went after the ark of Jehovah; they blew with the trumpets in marching. And on the second day they went round the city once, and returned into the camp. So they did six days.

And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man before him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him, and said to him: Art thou for us, or for our enemies? And he said, No; for [as] captain of the army of Jehovah am I now come. Then Joshua fell upon his face to the earth, and worshipped, and said to him, What saith my lord unto his servant? And the captain of Jehovah`s army said to Joshua, Loose thy sandal from off thy foot: for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. Chapter 6 Now Jericho was shut up and was barred, because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. And Jehovah said to Joshua, See, I have given into thy hand Jericho, and the king thereof, [and] the valiant men. And ye shall go round the city, all the men of war, encompassing the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. And seven priests shall carry before the ark seven blast-trumpets; and on the seventh day ye shall go round the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass when they make a long blast with the blast-horn, that all the people on hearing the sound of the trumpet shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall flat, and the people shall go up, each one straight before him.