Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 10:13
And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. [Is] not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
13. And the sun stood still ] God hearkened to the voice of Joshua. Once more the sunlight burst forth, and the day was miraculously protracted till the end was gained. For expressions similar to those here used compare what is said in Jdg 5:20, of the stars “fighting (not in but out of) their courses against Sisera;” in Isa 34:3; Amo 9:13; Mic 1:4, of the melting down of the mountains; in Isa 64:1, of the rending of the heavens; in Psa 29:6, of the skipping of Lebanon; in Isa 55:12, of the clapping of hands by the trees in the field; in Psa 18:9, of the bowing of the heavens. How or in what way this protraction of the light was brought about we are not told.
Is not this written in the book of Jasher? ] The Book here quoted is also alluded to in 2Sa 1:18, “Also he David bade them teach the children of Israel the Bow (i.e. ‘ the Song of the Bow ’); behold, it is written in the Book of Jasher,” or, as it is rendered in the margin, “ the Book of the Upright,” or “ Righteous.” It was in all probability a collection, rhythmical in form and poetical in diction, of various pieces celebrating the heroes of the Hebrew nation and their achievements. The word itself Jasher, or Jashar, is considered to be an appellation of the Elect Nation, nearly equivalent to “ Jeshurun ” in Deu 32:15. The Book was naturally compiled only by degrees, and gradually any ode or song deemed worthy of preservation was added to it, “so that the quotation of it here is no proof at all that the Book of Joshua was composed after the date of the reference to the ‘Book of Jasher’ in 2Sa 1:18, and as little is the quotation there a proof that the ‘Book of Jasher’ was not extant until, at any rate, the time of David.”
And hasted not to go ] Edersheim would translate this, “And hasted not to go like (as on) a complete day.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Stood still, Heb. was silent, i.e. still, as this phrase is commonly used, as 1Sa 14:9; Psa 4:4; Jon 1:12; the cessation of the tongues motion being put synecdochically for the cessation of any other motion or action.
Until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies, i.e. till they had utterly destroyed them, as is mentioned in the following chapter.
The book of Jasher; either of a man so called, or of the righteous or upright, wherein possibly the memorable actions of worthy men were recorded, and this amongst the rest. And this book was written and published before Joshua wrote his, and so is fitly alleged here. But this, as well as some few other historical books, is lost, not being a canonical book, and therefore not preserved by the Jews with the same care as they were.
So the sun stood still: here is no mention of the moon, because the suns standing was the only thing which Joshua desired and needed; and the moons standing he desired only by accident, to prevent irregularity in the motions of those celestial lights. Some take this to be but a poetical phrase and relation of the victory, that Joshua did so many and such great things in that day, as if the sun and moon had stood still and given him longer time for it. But the frequent repetition and magnificent declaration of this wonder manifestly confutes that fancy. That the sun and moon did really stand still, is affirmed, Hab 3:11; Sir 46:5,6. And if it seem strange to any one that so wonderful a work, observed by the whole world that then was, should not be mentioned in any heathen writers; he must needs be satisfied, if he, considers, that it is confessed by the generality of writers, heathens and others, that there is no certain history or monument in heathen authors of any thing done before the Trojan wars, which was a thousand years after Joshuas time; and that all time before that is called by the learnedest heathens the uncertain, unknown, or obscure time. In the midst of heaven; not mathematically, in the very meridian or middle part of that hemisphere; but morally, and with some latitude, when it had begun a little to decline, the consideration whereof seems to have given Joshua occasion for his desire.
About a whole day, i.e. for the space of a whole day. Understand an artificial day, between sun-rising and sun-setting; for that was the day which Joshua needed and desired, a day to give him light for his work.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed,…. The sun that came out of his chamber like a bridegroom, and rejoiced as a strong man to run his course, stopped his course at once; and the moon that walks in her brightness proceeded not on, but both stood still, motionless, and continued in this position:
until the people had avenged themselves on their enemies: until the nation and people of Israel had taken vengeance on and destroyed the live kings and their forces: how this is to be reconciled to the Copernican system, or that with this, I shall not inquire. It was a most wonderful and surprising phenomenon, to see both luminaries standing still in the midst of heaven; it is pretended by some historians f, that a like miracle was wrought at the battle of Mulberg, won by the Emperor Charles the Fifth, on April 24, 1547. In the Chinese history g it is reported, that in the time of their seventh, emperor, Yao, the sun did not set for ten days, and that men were afraid the world would be burnt, and there were great fires at that time; and though the time of the sun’s standing still is enlarged beyond the bounds of truth, yet it seems to refer to this fact, and was manifestly about the same time; for this miracle was wrought in the year of the world 2554, which fell in the seventy fifth, or, as some say, the sixty seventh year of that emperor’s reign, who reigned ninety years:
[is] not this written in the book of Jasher? about which the Jews are divided; some say it is the book of Genesis, others the book of Deuteronomy, others the book of Judges h; the Targum interprets it of the book of the law, and so Jarchi and Kimchi; and Ben Melech interprets it of the book of the law of Moses, where they suppose this miracle was predicted. The former thinks, in the words of Jacob to Joseph, “his seed shall fill the nations”, Ge 48:19; which he supposes was fulfilled in Joshua of the tribe of Ephraim, when the whole world was filled with the fame of him on account of this miracle; and the latter in the words, “before all thy people I will do miracles”,
Ex 34:10; one was in making the face of Moses to shine, the other the standing still of the sun for Joshua, as he interprets it. Bolducius, a commentator on the book of Job i, fancies that that book is designed, and that this miracle is foretold in it, particularly in Job 9:7; “which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not”; it is most likely that this book of Jasher, in which this miracle was recorded, was a public register, or annals, in which memorable events were written, as they happened in different ages by different persons; and Masius thinks Josephus k means this by the archives laid up in the temple, to which he appeals for the truth of this miracle:
so the sun stood still in the midst of heaven; somewhere above the horizon, very probably this was about noon, when the sun was in its meridian. Gussetius l thinks about ten or eleven o’clock; it may be supposed that early in the morning Joshua came up with his troops, and engaged the kings, and it might be noon before the battle was over, and the victory obtained, at least before Joshua had proceeded in his pursuit of them, so far as he had done, when the miracle was wrought; and the rather, as it would be the more conspicuous in the several parts of the world; for had it been near sun setting, it could not have been seen in some places, and particularly by the Chinese, as it seems to have been by what has been observed:
and hasted not to go down about a whole day; which was either artificial or natural; if an artificial day, then it stood still but twelve hours; if a natural day, twenty four hours; and accordingly the length of the day must be judged of; if it was at noon when it stood still, and continued so a natural day, or twenty four hours, then as it had gone six hours to noon, and, after it returned to its motion, had six more to go to its setting, this day must be thirty six hours long; and so the Jews commonly say m; but if an artificial day, or twelve hours, then it was but a day of twenty four hours; but if this was, as the Jews say n, on the third of Tammuz, which answers to part of June, and was in the summer solstice, on the longest day in the year, when their days consisted of fourteen hours, this will make this long day four hours longer. According to the author of Ecclesiasticus, in the Apocrypha:
“Did not the sun go back by his means? and was not one day as long as two?” (Sirach 46:4)
it was a double day, or, as he expresses it, one day became two, or was as long as two.
(In the late 1960’s, someone circulated a story that NASA had discovered there was a missing day in the solar system. Using this passage they accounted for about twenty one missing hours and the account in Isa 38:8 to account for the rest of the missing time. This story is a complete fable and has absolutely no basis in fact. Editor.)
f See Bayle’s Dictionary, vol. 4. p. 268. g Martin. Sinie. Histor. l. 1. p. 25. h T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 35. 1. i Bolduc. in Job. ix. 7. k Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 17. l Comment. Ebr. p. 281. m Targum in Cant. i. 1. T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 25. 1. Kimchi in loc. So Justin Martyr. Dialog. cum Tryph. p. 361. n Seder Olam Rabba, c. 11. p. 31. Kimchi in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
13. And the sun stood still, etc The question how the sun stood in Gibeon, is no less unseasonably raised by some than unskillfully explained by others. (95) For Joshua did not subtlety place the sun in any particular point, making it necessary to feign that the battle was fought at the summer solstice, but as it was turning towards the district of Ajalon as far as the eye could discern, Joshua bids it stay and rest there, in other words, remain above what is called the horizon. In short, the sun, which was already declining to the west, is kept from setting. (96)
I do not give myself any great anxiety as to the number of the hours; because it is enough for me that the day was continued through the whole night. Were histories of that period extant, they would doubtless celebrate this great miracle; lest its credibility, however, should be questioned, the writer of this book mentions that an account of it was given elsewhere, though the work which he quotes has been lost, and expounders are not well agreed as to the term Jazar. Those who think Moses is meant, insist on referring the example which is here given to general predictions. As Moses applies this name to the chosen people, it is more congruous to hold that commentaries on the events in their history are meant. I, for my part, understand by it either God or Israel, rather than the author of a history. (97)
(95) The rebuke here administered to those who attempt to explain the miracle applies with double force to those who attempt to explain it away. It is rather strange that among this number are some of the most distinguished Jewish rabbis as Levi-ben-Gerson and Maimonides, both of whom maintain that there was no miracle, but only something very like one. Their chief inducement to adopt this very extraordinary view, is zeal for the honor of Moses, which they think would be seriously impugned by admitting that a miracle which he never performed was performed by the instrumentality of his successor Joshua. — Ed.
(96) French “ En somme, le soleil remonte estant ja commence a se coucher;” “In a word, the sun remounts after he had begun to set.” — Ed.
(97) French, “ Quant a moy, pour dire la verite, je le prends comme s’il estoit parle de Dieu ou du peuple d’Israel, plutost que de celuy qui a escrit Phistoire;” “For my part, to tell the truth, I understand it as it were spoken of God, or of the people of Israel, rather than of him who wrote the history.” The view here adopted as to the meaning of Jasher has the sanction of many expositors of eminence, both ancient and modern, who consider it to have been some record in which an account of the leading events in the history of the chosen people was regularly inserted, and which might thus come to be commonly spoken of as the Book of the Just, very much in the same way as we are accustomed to speak of the Book of Worthies, the Book of Martyrs, etc. The only other allusion to the Book of Jasher is in 2Sa 1:18, where it is referred to as containing, or at least in connection with David’s lament over Saul and Jonathan. Founding on this reference, De Wette and other rationalists argue that the Book of Joshua is not of the early date usually ascribed to it, and must have been written after the time of David. This argument assumes that Jasher is the name of an author living in the time, or subsequently to the time, of David, and, but for this assumption, for which no good grounds are shown, is utterly destitute of plausibility. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(13) And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed.Literally, the sun was silent, and the moon stopped.
The sun stood still (i.e., stopped) in the midst of heaven.Literally, in the half of the heavensi.e., either in the midst of heaven, or in the same hemisphere (in the one-half of the heavens).
And hasted not to go down (or to go in) about a whole day.The word cannot mean to rise, or ascend, and thus these words absolutely exclude the view that what Joshua desired was to prevent the sun from rising, in order to complete a night attack upon the Amorites.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13. The book of Jasher This was a poetical book in praise of the heroes of the theocracy a collection of national songs. Both its name and extant fragments seem to show that it was composed to celebrate upright men in Israel, like Joshua and Jonathan. Jasher signifies the upright. It was probably written in the reign of David, or soon after. It may have been compiled gradually through a long course of years, one national song after another being added to the collection, but it certainly was not completed till David’s time, for it contained his elegy on Saul and Jonathan. See 2Sa 1:18. Furst is of the opinion that Jasher is a collective term for Israelites, and that it should be translated the book of the Israelites, that is, the national book. We are ignorant of its author or compiler. If it had been divinely inspired, Providence would doubtless have preserved it for the benefit of mankind. The modern works bearing its title are later and spurious.
About a whole day The exposition of Bush, who translates this passage as at the perfect day, signifying only that the sun did not go down at its usual time at the close of the day, but pretty soon after, is rather far-fetched. The Vulgate version, “Nor was there before nor afterward so long a day,” contains the true explanation of this expression, namely, that the day was greatly extended, perhaps nearly doubled in length. A study of the whole chapter, and a consideration of the many acts performed by Joshua and his army, would seem to require about two days for their accomplishment.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jos 10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. [Is] not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
Ver. 13. And the sun stood still. ] Heb., Was silent. The whole body of the movable heaven stopped its course, and made a halt. Neither need it offend us that there is no record of this miracle in heathen histories; for Diodorus Siculus confesseth, that all heathen antiquities before the Theban and Trojan wars are either fabulous narrations, or little better.
Is not this written in the book of Jasher?
a In Ezek. xviii.
b Prolog. in Cant., ad finem.
c De Civ. Dei, lib. xviii, cap. 38.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
stood still = waited silently.
the book of Jasher. Why may not this be “the book of the Upright”, another name for Israel, like Jeshurun? See note on Deu 32:15. Is. It is so in Arabic and Syriac. It is mentioned in 2Sa 1:18. In the Targum it is “the book of the Law”. Josephus appeals to it as a book in the temple, which probably perished with it. Two spurious books so called, A.D. 1394 and 1625.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
until: Num 31:2, Jdg 5:2, Jdg 16:28, Est 8:13, Luk 18:7, Rev 6:10
Jasher: or, the upright, Num 21:14, 2Sa 1:18
So the sun: Jos 10:11, Jos 10:14, Psa 19:4, Psa 74:16, Psa 74:17, Psa 136:7-9, Psa 148:3, Isa 24:23, Isa 38:8, Joe 2:10, Joe 2:31, Joe 3:15, Mat 5:45, Mat 24:29, Act 2:20, Rev 6:12, Rev 8:12, Rev 16:8, Rev 16:9, Rev 21:23
Reciprocal: Exo 34:10 – I will do marvels Deu 4:19 – which the Lord Jos 10:12 – Sun Psa 111:6 – showed Psa 119:91 – all are Ecc 1:5 – hasteth Hab 3:11 – sun
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jos 10:13. And the sun stood still God heard Joshuas request, and gave him the thing he asked for, a prolongation of the day to near twice the length of any other day. This is the fact here attested, and this we are bound to believe on the divine testimony. But as to the manner in which this wonderful miracle was accomplished, God has not informed us; and to make inquiries concerning it would be a mere waste of time, being beyond our discovery and comprehension. Until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies That is, till they had utterly destroyed them. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? This book was written and made public before Joshua wrote his history, and is therefore properly alluded to here. It was probably a collection of records, or of poems, concerning the principal events of these wars, and no doubt gave a further account of this miracle. But this and some other books of these ages have long been lost, not being canonical, and therefore not preserved by the Jews with the same care wherewith they guarded their inspired writings. If it seem strange to any one that so wonderful an event as is here recorded should not be mentioned by any heathen writers, it may be answered, 1st, That many learned men have shown that there is a great appearance of its being alluded to in many of the fables of the heathen poets, and mythologists of Greece and Rome, and in the histories of the Chinese. But whether or not, it must be observed, 2d, That it is confessed by the generality of writers, heathen and others, that there is no certain history or monument in heathen authors of any thing done before the Trojan war, which happened a thousand years after Joshuas time, and that all the ages preceding that war are termed, by the most learned heathen, the uncertain, unknown, or obscure time.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
10:13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. [Is] not this written in the book of {e} Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
(e) Some read, the book of the righteous, meaning Moses: the Chaldea text reads, in the book of the Law, but it is likely that it was a book thus named, which is now lost.