Joshua6
New American Standard
1Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in.
2But the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have handed Jericho over to you, with its king and the valiant warriors.
3And you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days.
4Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.
5It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight ahead.”
6So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and have seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord.”
7Then he said to the people, “Go forward and march around the city, and the armed men shall go on ahead of the ark of the Lord.”
8And it was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Lord went forward and blew the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed them.
9And the armed men went ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while they continued to blow the trumpets.
10But Joshua commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard, nor let a word proceed from your mouth, until the day I tell you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout!”
11So he had the ark of the Lord taken around the city, circling it once; then they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp.
12Now Joshua got up early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord.
13Then the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord went on continually, and blew the trumpets; and the armed men went ahead of them, and the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while they continued to blow the trumpets.
14So the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp; they did the same for six days.
15Then on the seventh day they got up early at the dawning of the day and marched around the city in the same way seven times; only on that day did they march around the city seven times.
16And at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city.
17But the city shall be designated for destruction, it and everything that is in it belongs to the Lord; only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent.
18But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things designated for destruction, so that you do not covet them and take some of the designated things, and turn the camp of Israel into something designated for destruction and bring disaster on it.
19But all the silver and gold, and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.”
20So the people shouted, and the priests blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, everyone straight ahead, and they took the city.
21They utterly destroyed everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, sheep, and donkey, with the edge of the sword.
22And Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring the woman and all she has out of there, just as you have sworn to her.”
23So the young men who were spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and all she had; they also brought out all her relatives, and placed them outside the camp of Israel.
24Then they burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only the silver and gold, and the articles of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord.
25However, Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all she had, Joshua spared; and she has lived in the midst of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
26Then Joshua made them take an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed before the Lord is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho; with the loss of his firstborn he will lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he will set up its gates.”
27So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Joshua 6.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The siege of Jericho. (1–5). The city is compassed. (6–16). Jericho is taken, Rahab and her family are saved. (17–27).
vv1-5
Jericho resolves Israel shall not be its master. It shut itself up, being strongly fortified both by art and nature. Thus were they foolish, and their hearts hardened to their destruction; the miserable case of all that strengthen themselves against the Almighty. God resolves Israel shall be its master, and that quickly. No warlike preparations were to be made. By the uncommon method of besieging the city, the Lord honoured the ark, as the symbol of his presence, and showed that all the victories were from him. The faith and patience of the people were proved and increased.
vv6-16
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.
vv17-27
Jericho was to be a solemn and awful sacrifice to the justice of God, upon those who had filled up the measure of their sins. So He appoints, from whom, as creatures, they received their lives, and to whom, as sinners, they had forfeited them. Rahab perished not with them that believed not, Heb 11:31. All her kindred were saved with her; thus faith in Christ brings salvation to the house, Ac 16:31. She, and they with her, were plucked as brands from the burning. With Rahab, or with the men of Jericho; our portion must be assigned, as we posses or disregard the sign of salvation; even faith in Christ, which worketh by love. Let us remember what depends upon our choice, and let us choose accordingly. God shows the weight of a Divine curse; where it rests there is no getting from under it; for it brings ruin without remedy.
Key Words
יְרִיחוֹ: Jericho or Jerecho, a place in Palestine
סָגַר: to shut up; figuratively, to surrender
פָּנִים: the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
אַיִן: a non-entity; generally used as a negative particle
יָצָא: to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proxim.
בּוֹא: to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
יְהוֹשׁוּעַ: Jehoshua (i.e. Joshua), the Jewish leader
Cross References
Joshua 6Direct, historical fulfillment of Joshua's prophetic curse when Hiel rebuilt Jericho under Ahab's reign.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
New Testament commentary highlighting that the walls of Jericho fell specifically by faith.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
New Testament commendation of Rahab's faith saving her from perishing with the unbelievers.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The Hebrew 'horns of jubilee' connects the trumpets to the Year of Jubilee proclamation.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The law of the 'cherem' or devoted thing, meaning devoted entirely to destruction or God.
Supported by JFB
Direct consequence of Israel violating the command to keep away from the accursed thing.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The Mosaic command to utterly destroy the Canaanites as a divine judgment.
Supported by JFB
The oath the spies swore to Rahab, which Joshua commands them to fulfill.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Spiritual parallel of pulling down strongholds with weapons not of carnal warfare.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Rahab's incorporation into Israel, culminating in her placement in the genealogy of Jesus Christ.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Rahab justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Contextual link; the speaker is the Captain of the Lord's Host introduced in chapter 5.
Supported by JFB
The command to blow an alarm with trumpets to be remembered before the Lord.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Historical parallel of victory achieved through blowing trumpets, shouting, and minimal weapon use.
Supported by Matthew Henry