Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 3:5
And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.
5. Sanctify yourselves ] Compare the instructions of Moses before the giving of the Law (Exo 19:10-15). This would consist partly in ceremonial purification, partly in turning to the Lord in a spirit of expectant faith in “the wonders” which “the Lord would do” amongst them. Wyclif renders the verse: “Be ye hallowid; forsothe to morrowe the Lord shall do among yow marveyls.”
to morrow ] the tenth of Nisan (Jos 4:19), the anniversary of the day on which forty years before the Israelites had “taken to them” (Exo 12:3) “every man a lamb” as a Paschal victim.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 5. Sanctify yourselves] What was implied in this command we are not informed; but it is likely that it was the same as that given by Moses, Ex 19:10-14. They were to wash themselves and their garments, and abstain from every thing that might indispose their minds from a profitable attention to the miracle about to be wrought in their behalf.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Joshua said, or rather had said, to wit, the day before their passage; for it follows,
to-morrow. Sanctify yourselves, both in soul and body, that you may be meet to receive such a favour, and with more attention and reverence observe and ponder this great work, and fix it in your hearts and memories. See Poole “Exo 19:10“; See Poole “Lev 20:7“.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. Joshua said unto thepeoplerather “had said,” for as he speaks of”to-morrow,” the address must have been made previous tothe day of crossing, and the sanctification was in all probabilitythe same as Moses had commanded before the giving of the law,consisting of an outward cleansing (Ex19:10-15) preparatory to that serious and devout state of mindwith which so great a manifestation should be witnessed.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Joshua said unto the people,…. On the third day; and the thirtieth day of the mourning for Moses, Jarchi says, was the first of the three days, and that being the seventh day of the month, this must be the ninth, as it is most clear the morrow was the tenth:
sanctify yourselves; in a ceremonial sense, by washing their bodies and their clothes, and abstaining from their wives; and in a moral sense, by acts of religion and devotion, by prayer and meditation, and the exercise of repentance and, good works: it may denote that sanctification is necessary to our passage over Jordan, or through death to the heavenly Canaan, for without holiness no man shall see the Lord:
for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you: in their sight and presence, and for them, by dividing the waters of Jordan, that they might pass through it as on dry land; this, as Kimchi says, was the tenth of Nisan, as is plain from Jos 4:19.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
5. And Joshua said, etc Some unwonted manifestation of divine power in bringing assistance behooved to be held forth, lest the backwardness arising from hesitancy might produce delay; and yet, in order that the Israelites might depend on the mere counsel of God, Joshua does not yet plainly point out the special nature of the miracle, unless, indeed, we choose to read what follows shortly after, as forming part of one context. Herein lies the true test of faith, to lean so on the counsel of God, as not to keep inquiring too anxiously concerning the mode of action or the event. As the word קדש means sometimes to prepare, and sometimes to sanctify, and either meaning is not inappropriate, I thought it best to leave a free choice. For faith prepares us to perceive the operation of God; and in those times, when God manifested himself to men more nearly, they consecrated themselves by a solemn rite; thus we see how Moses, on the promulgation of the Law, sanctified the people as God had commanded. The view taken by some expositors, that the people were thus commanded to purge themselves from defilement’s, merely in order that nothing might impede the passage of the Jordan, seems to be too confined.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
5. Sanctify yourselves By sacred ablutions and observances, and by a change of raiment where the washing of the raiment was impracticable. Compare the marginal references.
The Lord will do wonders among you He will open a passage through the Jordan as he did through the Red Sea, and lead his people through dry-shod. The miracle of the Red Sea was a wonder whose name had been noised abroad for forty years, (Jos 2:10,) and this at the Jordan was to be like it.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And Joshua said to the people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow YHWH will do wonders among you.” ’
The uniqueness of the occasion is again stressed here. They were about to see the wonders of YHWH. They must therefore be ‘sanctified’ in preparation for it. This would include washing their clothes thoroughly and abstaining from sexual contact (Exo 19:10; Exo 19:15; Gen 35:2).
“Tomorrow YHWH will do wonders among you.” This was the reason for the special requirements. They were to behold the wondrous working of YHWH that previously they had only heard about. YHWH was about to come near and manifest Himself. Compare Exo 4:13 where Moses also spoke of seeing the deliverance of YHWH. So they were to be sanctified ‘lest YHWH break forth on them’ (Exo 19:22).
The similarity between this and the crossing of the Sea of Reeds was to be recognised. They had left Egypt by passing though the waters, they would enter Canaan by passing through the waters. It was a new beginning, a new birth, brought about by the miraculous power of YHWH. In a sense it was the adoption of the new generation of Israel. We must not read cleansing into this passing through the waters for that idea is not prominent in the Old Testament. They spoke rather of the power and manifestation of YHWH – Psa 114:3; Psa 114:5; Psa 114:7. In the Old Testament water spoke of new life and deliverance (Isa 44:3-5; Isa 32:15). You could always tell where there was water, because there there was fruitfulness and life. (Washing with water in the ritual was always preparatory to cleansing, not a vehicle of cleansing in itself unless it was sprinkled with the ashes of a heifer and thus became ‘cleansed water’).
This revealing of wonders was deliberate on the part of YHWH. At this time of the year (April) the Jordan overflowed its banks. At any other time the fords could have been used to cross it, but not at this time. The Israelites were to cross the Jordan when the river was at its widest and deepest, and was flowing its swiftest. They were not, of course, aware of this. They were not familiar with the Jordan. As the snow on Mount Hermon melts and the rainy season ends, the Jordan rises at this season to a depth of 10-12 feet (3-4 metres) and floods to a width of 300-360 feet ( 100 metres) at this point, unlike the slow moving, turgid river of the dry season.
But in this crossing of the Jordan there was a divine necessity. It could not wait. It was to be the springboard to which they would look back and remember that YHWH was with them. Whenever they doubted they would remember the crossing of the Jordan, and how YHWH had therefore put the land at their disposal. And it was to be the complete validation before the people that Joshua was the new Moses (verse 7).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ver. 5. And Joshua said unto the people He also spake to the people the night before their passage over the Jordan; and as the matter was important, it is very evident that he went himself from tribe to tribe to give the orders in question.
Sanctify yourselves Though the sacred historian does not say in what this sanctification was to consist, there is scarcely room to doubt that it was in the same things as God had already required on similar occasions; Gen 35:2. Exo 19:10-11. Num 9:18. But to these purifications we are to add the purification of the mind and heart, of which the former were but symbols and assistants. The essential point was, to prepare themselves, by recollection and prayer, to behold the marvellous effects of the divine power with becoming respect, fear, gratitude, confidence, and devotion; without which, in vain had the Israelites washed their clothes, and shunned all kinds of corporeal impurities: so that there is no doubt that the purification of the soul was what Joshua principally required of them.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
This sanctifying the people meant to set themselves apart from all worldly concerns. It is suitable and proper to withdraw from communion with men, in order to enjoy communion with God. And when our God is about in a more especial manner to come to bless his people, well may they be found waiting the Lord’s approach. Jas 4:8 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jos 3:5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.
Ver. 5. Sanctify yourselves. ] By ceremonial and spiritual purifications, doing your utmost to bring your hearts to a holy temper, that ye may make the best of the ensuing miracle.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Joshua
‘THE WATERS SAW THEE; THEY WERE AFRAID’
Jos 3:5 – Jos 3:17
The arrangement of the narrative of the passage of Jordan, which occupies Jos 3:1-17 and Jos 4:1-24 , is remarkable, and has led to suggestions of interpolation and blending of two accounts, which are quite unnecessary. It is divided into four sections,-the preparations Jos 3:1 – Jos 3:6, the passage Jos 3:7 – Jos 3:17, the lifting of the memorial stones from the river’s bed and the fixing of one set of them in it Jos 4:1 – Jos 4:14, the return of the waters, and the erection of the second set of memorial stones at Gilgal Jos 4:15 – Jos 4:24.
Each section closes with a summary of the whole transaction, after the common manner of Old Testament history, which gives to a hasty reader the impression of confusion and repetition; but a little attention shows a very symmetrical arrangement, negativing the possibility of interpolation. The last three sections are all built on the same lines. In each there is a triple division,-God’s command to Joshua, Joshua’s communication of it to the people, and the actual fact, fulfilling these. So each stage passes thrice before the view, and the impressiveness of the history is heightened by our seeing it first in the mirror of the divine Word, and then in the orders of the commander, before we see it as a thing actually happening.
Jos 3:5 – Jos 3:6 of the chapter belong to the section which deals with the preparation. General instructions had been already issued that the host was to follow the ark, leaving two thousand cubits between them and it; but nothing had been said as to how Jordan was to be crossed. No doubt many a question and doubt had been muttered by the watch-fires, as the people looked at the muddy, turbid stream, swirling in flood. The spies probably managed to swim it, but that was a feat worthy to be named in the epitaph of heroes 1Ch 12:15, and impossible for the crowd of all ages and both sexes which followed Joshua. There was the rushing stream, swollen as it always is in harvest. How were they to get over? And if the people of Jericho, right over against them, chose to fall upon them as they were struggling across, what could hinder utter defeat? No doubt, all that was canvassed, in all sorts of tones; but no inkling of the miracle seems to have been given.
God often opens His hand by one finger at a time, and leaves us face to face with some plain but difficult duty, without letting us see the helps to its performance, till we need to use them. If we go right on the road which He has traced out, it will never lead us into a blind alley. The mountains will part before us as we come near what looked their impassable wall; and some narrow gorge or other, wide enough to run a track through, but not wide enough to be noticed before we are close on it, will be sure to open. The attitude of expectation of God’s help, while its nature is unrevealed, is kept up in Joshua’s last instruction. The people are bidden to ‘sanctify themselves, because to-morrow the Lord will do wonders’ among them. That sanctifying was not external, but included the hallowing of spirit by docile waiting for His intervention, and by obedience while the manner of it was hidden. The secret of to-morrow is partly made known, and the faith of the people is nourished by the mystery remaining, as well as by the light given. The best security for to-morrow’s wonders is to-day’s sanctifying.
The command to the priests discloses to them a little more, in bidding them pass over before the people, but the additional disclosure would only be an additional trial of faith; for the silence as to how so impossible a command was to be made possible is absolute. The swollen river had obliterated all fords; and how were priests, staggering under the weight of the ark on their shoulders, to ‘pass over’? The question is not answered till the ark is on their shoulders. To-day often sees to-morrow’s duty without seeing how it is to be done. But the bearers of the ark need never fear but that the God to whom it belongs will take care of it and of them. The last sentence of Jos 3:6 is the anticipatory summary which closes each section.
In Jos 3:7 – Jos 3:17 we have the narrative of the actual crossing, in its three divisions of God’s command Jos 3:7 – Jos 3:8, Joshua’s repetition of it Jos 3:9 – Jos 3:13, and the historical fact Jos 3:14 – Jos 3:17. The final instructions were only given on the morning of the day of crossing. The report of God’s commands given in Jos 3:7 – Jos 3:8 is condensed, as is evident from the fuller statement of them in Joshua’s address to the people, which immediately follows. In it Joshua is fully aware of the manner of the miracle and of the details of the crossing, but we have no record of his having received them. The summary of that eventful morning’s instructions to him emphasises first the bearing of the miracle on his reputation. The passage of the Red Sea had authenticated the mission of Moses to the past generation, who, in consequence of it, ‘believed God and His servant Moses.’ The new generation are to have a parallel authentication of Joshua’s commission. It is noteworthy that this is not the purpose of the miracle which the leader announces to the people in Jos 3:10 . It was a message from God to himself, a kind of gracious whisper meant for his own encouragement. What a thought to fill a man’s heart with humble devotion, that God would work such a wonder in order to demonstrate that He was with him! And what a glimpse of more to follow lay in that promise, ‘This day will I begin to magnify thee I.’
The command to the priests in Jos 3:8 is also obviously condensed; for Joshua’s version of it, which follows, is much more detailed, and contains particular instructions, which must have been derived from the divine word to him on that morning.
We may pass on, then, to the second division of the narrative; namely, Joshua’s communication of God’s commands to the people. Observe the form which the purpose of the miracle assumes there. It is the confirmation of the divine Presence, not with the leader, but with the people and their consequent victory. Joshua grasped the inmost meaning of God’s Word to himself, and showed noble self-suppression, when he thus turned the direction of the miracle. The true servant of God knows that God is with him, not for his personal glorification, but for the welfare of God’s people, and cares little for the estimation in which men hold him, if they will only believe that the conquering God is with them. We too often make great leaders and teachers in the church opaque barriers to hide God from us, instead of transparent windows through which He shines upon His people. We are a great deal more ready to say, ‘God is with him,’ than to add, ‘and therefore God is with us, in our Joshuas, and without them.’
Observe the grand emphasis of that name, ‘the living God,’ tacitly contrasted with the dead idols of the enemies, and sealing the assurance of His swift and all-conquering might. Observe, too, the triumphant contempt in the enumeration of the many tribes of the foe with their barbarous names. Five of them had been enough, when named by the spies’ trembling lips, to terrify the congregation, but here the list of the whole seven but strengthens confidence. Faith delights to look steadily at its enemies, knowing that the one Helper is more than they all. This catalogue breathes the same spirit as Paul’s rapturous list of the foes impotent to separate from the love of God. Mark, too, the long-drawn-out designation of the ark, with its accumulation of nouns, which grammatical purists have found difficult,-’the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth’; where it leads they need not fear to follow. It was the pledge of His presence, it contained the Ten Words on which His covenant was concluded. That covenant enlisted on their side Him who was Lord of the swollen river as of all the fierce clans beyond; and with His ark in front, their victory was sure. If ever the contemplation of His power and covenant relation was in place, it was on that morning, as Israel stood ranked for the march that was to lead them through Jordan, and to plant their feet on the soil of Canaan. Nor must we omit the peculiar appropriateness of this solemn designation, on the occasion of the ark’s first becoming the leader of the march. Hitherto it had been carried in the centre; now it was moved to the van, and took the place of the pillar, which blazed no more. But the guidance was no less divine. The simple coffer which Bezaleel had made was as august and reliable a symbol of God’s presence as the pillar; and the tables of the law, shut in it, were henceforth to be the best directors of the nation.
Then follows the command to elect twelve representatives of the tribes, for a purpose not yet explained; and then, at the last moment, the manner of crossing is disclosed, to the silencing of wise doubters and the confirmation of ignorant faith. The brief anticipatory announcement of the miracle puts stress on the arrest of the waters at the instant when the priests’ feet touched them, and tells what is to befall the arrested torrent above the point where the ark stood, saying nothing about the lower stretch of the river, and just hinting by one word ‘heap’ the parallel between this miracle and that of the passing of the Red Sea: ‘The floods stood upright as an heap’ Exo 15:8.
Jos 3:14 – Jos 3:17 narrate the actual crossing. One long sentence, like the roll of an Atlantic wave, or a long-drawn shout of triumph, masses together the stages of the march; the breaking up of the encampment; the solemn advance of the ark, watched by the motionless crowd; its approach to the foaming stream, running bank-full, as is its wont in the early harvest months; the decisive moment when the naked feet of the priests were dipped in the water. What a hush of almost painful expectation would fall on the gazers! Then, with a rush of triumph, the long sentence pours on, like a river escaping from some rocky gorge, and tells the details of the transcendent fact. Looking up stream, the water ‘stood’; and, as the flow above went on, it was dammed up, and, as would appear, swept back to a point not now known, but apparently some miles up. Looking down the course, the water flowed naturally to the Dead Sea; and, in effect, the whole bed southwards was quickly left bare, giving room for the advance of the people with wide-extended front, while the priests, with the ark on their shoulders, stood silent in the midst of the bed, between the heaped waters and the hasting host. Jos 3:17 gives the usual summary sentence, which partly anticipates what is still to follow, but here comes in with special force, as gathering up the whole wonderful scene, and recounting once more, and not without a ring of astonished triumph, how the priests stood firm on dry ground in that strange place, ‘until all the nation were passed clean over Jordan.’
From Jos 3:7 and Jos 3:10 we learn the purpose of this miracle as being twofold. It was intended to stamp the seal of God’s approbation on Joshua, and to hearten the people by the assurance of God’s fighting for them. The leader was thereby put on the level of Moses, the people, on that of the generation before whom the Red Sea had been divided. The parallel with that event is obvious and significant. The miracle which led Israel into the wilderness is repeated as they pass from it. The first stage of their deliverance and the second are begun with analogous displays of divine power. The same arm which cleft the sea is stretched out, after all sins, for the new generation, and ‘is not shortened that it cannot save.’ God does not disdain to duplicate His wonders, even for very unworthy servants. The unchanging, long-suffering patience, and the unwearied strength to which all generations in succession can turn with confidence, are wonderfully set forth by these two miracles. And though we have passed into the higher stage, where miracles have ceased, the principle which dictated the parallelism still holds good, and we too can look back to all these ancient wonders, and be sure that they are done over and over again according to our needs. ‘As we have heard, so have we seen,’ might have been Israel’s song that day, as it may be ours every day.
The beautiful application made of the parted waters of Jordan in Christian literature, which sees in them the prophecy of conquered death, is perhaps scarcely in accordance with truth, for the divided Jordan was the introduction, not to peace, but to warfare. But it is too deeply impressed on the heart to be lightly put aside, and we may well allow faith and hope to discern in the stream, whose swollen waters shrink backwards as soon as the ark is borne into their turbid and swift current, an emblem of that dark flood that rolled between the host of God and their home, and was dried up as soon as the pierced foot of the Christ touched its cold waters.
‘What ailest thee, thou sea, that thou fleest; thou Jordan, that thou turnest back?’ Christ has gone up before us. He has shaken His hand over the river, and caused men to go over dry shod.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED TEXT): Jos 3:5-6
5Then Joshua said to the people, Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you. 6And Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over ahead of the people. So they took up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.
Jos 3:5 consecrate yourselves This VERB (BDB 872, KB 1073, Hithpael IMPERATIVE, cf. Jos 7:13) is used for specific acts of purification in Exo 19:10; Exo 19:14; Exo 19:22. This is the Hebrew root which is used for holiness.
SPECIAL TOPIC: HOLY
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Sanctify: Jos 7:13, Exo 19:10-15, Lev 10:3, Lev 20:7, Num 11:8, 1Sa 16:5, Job 1:5, Joe 2:16, Joh 17:19
the Lord: Jos 3:13, Jos 3:15, Psa 86:10, Psa 114:1-7
Reciprocal: Exo 19:23 – Set bounds Jos 11:6 – morrow 2Ki 7:1 – To morrow
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jos 3:5. And Joshua said He himself also, as well as the officers, by his direction, spake to the people the day before their passage; and as the matter was very important, he probably went himself from tribe to tribe, to give the orders here mentioned. Sanctify yourselves Not only wash your clothes, and shun all kinds of bodily impurities, (see Gen 35:2; Exo 19:10; Num 9:10,) but purify your minds and hearts, by repentance, and faith, and new obedience, without which the external purifications of your bodies and garments will be of little avail. In other words, prepare yourselves by seriousness, recollection, and prayer, that you may behold with proper regard, reverence, and gratitude, and may fix in your hearts, the wonderful display which is about to be made of the divine power in your behalf, and that you may be meet to receive so great a favour as is now about to be conferred upon you.