Joshua 5
5:1 a After news of Israel’s crossing of the Jordan River spread, all of southern Canaan was in a state of alert awaiting Israel’s expected invasion.• With Israel’s impossible crossing of the Jordan, the Canaanites lost heart and were paralyzed with fear. They knew they faced the people of a God more powerful than any they worshiped.
5:2 b Before the Israelites turned their attention to Jericho, God directed Joshua to perform the covenant renewal ceremony of circumcising all the males born in the forty years since the exodus from Egypt. Because the land was part of the covenant promise, Israel’s men needed to demonstrate their personal participation in the covenant through circumcision in order to enter into the land.
• Flint is found in a natural state, so flint knives were mandated for circumcision as a symbol of purity or holiness.
5:3 c The name Gibeath-haaraloth (“hill of foreskins”) suggests that the circumcision ritual took place on a hill outside Israel’s camp at Gilgal.
Summary for Josh 5:4-7: 5:4-7 d This unexpected detour in the narrative provides an important reminder of Israel’s earlier refusal to believe that God would bring them safely into the land of Canaan (Num 14 e). This summary of God’s judgment upon their fathers reminded the present generation that trusting in God was still necessary if they were to occupy the land their ancestors had forfeited. Further, it signaled the completion of God’s judgment upon the earlier generation.
5:8 f until they were healed: Recovery from circumcision, a relatively minor surgery, usually takes about three days if no complications occur.
5:9 g Gilgal sounds like the Hebrew word galal (“to roll”)—this place was where God rolled away the reproach of Egypt.
5:10 h The Passover lamb was slain on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month. Just as the Passover in Egypt marked the exodus from slavery, the celebration of this Passover in Canaan marked the attainment of the goal God had been leading the Israelites toward. This Passover also anticipated God’s promised rest for his people in their new land.
• This was apparently the first Passover Israel had celebrated since they had been encamped at Sinai (Num 9:1-5 i). For the younger Israelites, it was their first Passover ever; for the older ones, their first since childhood. Celebrating the Passover after such a long lapse, particularly on the eve of the campaign to take the Promised Land, heightened both the joy and the solemnity of the occasion.
Summary for Josh 5:11-12: 5:11-12 j God’s daily provision of manna (Exod 16:31 k; Num 11:9 l) could cease because the produce from the land was now available. 5:11 m Israel reinstituted the Festival of Unleavened Bread, observed for seven days following Passover (Lev 23:6 n). The people ate unleavened bread and roasted grain, a favorite food of the harvest season (see Ruth 2:14 o).
5:12 p Israel harvested the crops that the people of Jericho did not have time to harvest before Israel crossed the Jordan.
Summary for Josh 5:13-15: 5:13-15 q The commander of the Lord’s army gave Joshua instructions for conducting the siege of Jericho (6:2-5 r). Like God’s earlier message to Joshua (1:1-9 s), this encounter was to encourage Joshua on the eve of action against the enemy. 5:13 t Joshua was scouting the land and the city’s defenses near the town of Jericho to follow up on the report of the two spies (2:23-24 u). Joshua demonstrated personal courage when he approached the unknown figure whose sword was already drawn.
5:14 v Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence when he understood who stood before him. Joshua’s action demonstrated that he was available for God’s service, wholeheartedly and without reservation.
• Scholars disagree whether the commander was an appearance of God, the pre-incarnate Christ, or an angel. His reference to himself as commander of the Lord’s army might imply that he was an angel. However, he did not prevent Joshua from worshiping him, as angels usually did (e.g., Rev 22:8-9 w; cp. Acts 10:25-26 x).
5:15 y Take off your sandals, for the place ... is holy: This was what God told Moses at the burning bush (Exod 3:5 z). Joshua certainly recognized the similarity. This encounter would have encouraged Joshua of God’s blessing on Israel’s first action against Canaan.
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