Joshua 6:9

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. Joshua 6:9 Ver. 9. And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets,....

The strongest and highest walls cannot hold out against Omnipotence; they needed not to fight, and therefore needed not to fear, because God fought for them. . 7 And 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. 8 And 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. 9 And 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. 10 And 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. 11 So the ark of the LORD compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp. 12 And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. 13 And 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. 14 And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days. 15 And it came to pass on th

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 the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets,.... Whom Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abarbinel, interpret of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh; that is, as many of them as Joshua took with him over Jordan; though rather all the armed men in the camp are meant; at least along with those mentioned went the standards of Judah and Ephraim: and the rereward came after the ark; because the tribe of Dan was the rereward in journeying, Numbers 2:31; hence the Targum paraphrases the words,"and the tribe of the house of Dan went after the ark;''and so both Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it: but rather the body of the people unarmed are designed; at least these were brought up by the standard of Dan; or otherwise no place in this procession is appointed for them, whose business it was to make the great shout on the seventh day with the rest: the priests going on and blowing with the trumpets; the word "priests" is not in the text, but is rightly supplied; for, as Kimchi and Abarbinel observe, this is not said of the rereward, but of the priests, for they only bore and blew the trumpets; and so the Targum reads,"the priests going on, &c.''

9 . the rereward ] The remaining warriors were to act as a rearguard. During the march through the wilderness this duty devolved on the tribe of Dan (see Numbers 10:25 ). “Rereward” means the “rearguard” of an army; guard and ward being related as guise and wise , Fr. guerre , and E. war . It is a corruption of the Fr. arrière-garde , as vanguard for avant-garde ; or rather the first part of the word is formed from the O. Fr. riere (Lat. retro ). Comp. 1 Samuel 29:2 , “but David and his men passed on in the rereward with Achish;” Isaiah 52:12 , “the God of Israel will be your rereward ;” Isaiah 58:8 , “the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward ;” Shakespeare, Ι . Hen. 6 . 3. 3, “Now in the rearward comes the duke, and his;” Rom. and Jul . 3.2, “But with a rearward following Tybalt’s death, Romeo is banished.” Joshua 6:9

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.

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.