Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Joshua 5:11
And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched [corn] in the selfsame day.
11. of the old corn ] Rather, of the produce of the land. “And thei eten of the fruytis of the lond in the tothir day, therf looues, and potage of the same eer, etin cornys seengid and frotid in the hond.” Wyclif. It could not have been other than the new corn just ripening at the season of the Passover (Lev 23:11), not “the old corn,” of which no sufficient supply could have been procurable.
on the morrow after the passover ] In Num 33:3 these words denote the 15th of Nisan. Here, however, they must apparently mean the 16th. For the people could not lawfully eat of the new corn, till the firstfruits had been “waved before the Lord,” which was done “on the morrow after the Sabbath,” i.e. the morrow after the first day of unleavened bread; this, though not necessarily the seventh day of the week, was to be observed as a Sabbath, and therefore is so called. (Comp. Lev 23:7; Lev 23:11; Lev 23:14.)
unleavened cakes ] according to the requirements of the Law, Exo 12:8; Exo 12:15.
parched corn ] i.e. roasted harvest ears.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Old corn of the land – Rather produce of the land, the new grain just coming in at the time of the Passover. (So in Jos 5:12.)
On the morrow after the passover – These words denote in Num 33:3 the 15th Nisan, but must here apparently mean the 16th. For the Israelites could not lawfully eat of the new grain until the first fruits of it had been presented, and this was done on the morrow after the Sabbath, i. e. the morrow after the first day of Unleavened Bread, which was to be observed as a Sabbath, and is therefore so called. (Compare Lev 23:7, Lev 23:11, Lev 23:14.)
The term Passover, which is sometimes used for the lamb slain on the evening of the 14th Nisan, sometimes for the paschal meal, sometimes for the whole eight days festival, here means the first great day of the eight, the Sabbath of the first holy convocation.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 11. They did eat of the old corn of the land] The Hebrew word abur, which we translate old corn, occurs only in this place in such a sense, if that sense be legitimate. The noun, though of doubtful signification, is evidently derived from abar, to pass over, to go beyond; and here it may be translated simply the produce, that which passes from the land into the hands of the cultivator; or according to Cocceius, what passes from person to person in the way of traffic; hence bought corn, what they purchased from the inhabitants of the land.
On the morrow after the passover] That is, on the fifteenth day; for then the feast of unleavened bread began. But they could neither eat bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, till the first-fruits of the harvest had been waved at the tabernacle; (see Le 23:9, c.) and therefore in this case we may suppose that the Israelites had offered a sheaf of the barley-harvest, the only grain that was then ripe, before they ate of the unleavened cakes and parched corn.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The old corn; the corn of the last year, which the inhabitants of those parts had left in their barns, being doubtless fled for fear of the Israelites into their strong cities, or other remoter and safer parts.
On the morrow after the passover, i.e. on the sixteenth day; for the passover was killed between the two evenings of the fourteenth day, and was eaten in that evening or night, which, according to the Jewish computation, whereby they begin their days at the evening, was a part of the fifteenth day, all which was the feast of the passover; and so the morrow of the sixteenth day was
the morrow after the passover, when they were obliged to offer unto God the first sheaf, and then were allowed to eat of the rest.
Parched corn; of that years corn, which was most proper and customary for that use.
In the selfsame day; having an eager desire to enjoy the fruits of the land.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11, 12. And they did eat of the oldcorn of the landfound in storehouses of the inhabitants whohad fled into Jericho.
parched cornnew grain(see on Le 23:10), probably lying inthe fields. Roasteda simple and primitive preparation, much likedin the East. This abundance of food led to the discontinuance of themanna; and the fact of its then ceasing, viewed in connection withits seasonable appearance in the barren wilderness, is a strikingproof of its miraculous origin.
Jos5:13-15. AN ANGELAPPEARS TO JOSHUA.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they did eat the old corn of the land,…. That of the last year, as some versions g, which agree with ours; in which they seem to follow the Jewish writers, who, as particularly Kimchi, Gersom, and Ben Melech, interpret it of the old corn, for this reason, because they might not eat of the new until the wave sheaf was offered up,
Le 23:10; of which old corn they suppose the unleavened cakes were made, and was also parched corn, though that word the Septuagint version translates “new”; and indeed were it not for the above law, there does not seem to be any reason for rendering it old corn, only corn of the land, as the Septuagint does; and there is some difficulty how they should get at the old corn, which it may be supposed was laid up in the granaries, when Jericho was close shut up, and none went in or out; unless they met with it in some of the villages near at hand, or it was brought them by the traders in corn, of whom they bought it, or found it in some houses and barns without the city:
on the morrow after the passover; which Kimchi and Ben Gersom say was on the fifteenth of Nisan, the passover being on the fourteenth; but if the morrow after the passover is the same with the morrow after the Sabbath, Le 23:11; that was the sixteenth of Nisan; and so Jarchi here says, this is the day of waving the sheaf, which was always done on the sixteenth: it is difficult to say which day is meant; if it was the sixteenth, then it may refer to what they ate on that day, after the sheaf was offered h; if it was the fifteenth, it seems necessary to understand it of the old corn; and such they must have to make their unleavened cakes of, both for the passover on the fourteenth, and the Chagigah, or feast of unleavened bread, which began the fifteenth, as it follows:
unleavened bread, and parched [corn] in the selfsame day; unleavened bread, for the uses before mentioned, they were obliged to, and parched corn for their pleasure; but new corn, as the Septuagint render it, was expressly forbidden before the waving of the sheaf, Le 23:14; and therefore old corn seems to be meant; this was just forty years to a day from their coming out of Egypt.
g “de frumento praeteriti anni”, Montanus; sic, Munster, Tigurine version, Vatablus. h So in Seder Olam Rabba, c. 11. p. 31.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
11. And they did eat of the old corn, etc Whether they then began first to eat wheaten bread is not very clear. For they had dwelt in a country that was not uncultivated, and was tolerably fertile. At least in the territories of the two kings there was enough of corn to supply the inhabitants. It does not seem reasonable to suppose that the children of Israel allowed the corn which they found there to rot and perish by mere waste. And I have no doubt that they ate the flesh which remained over of the sacrifices. It is quite possible, therefore, that they did not wholly abstain from wheaten bread, and yet did not abandon their accustomed food. For a country which was assigned to a tenth part could not have furnished food sufficient for the whole multitude, as there cannot be a doubt that a just estimate was made when Moses settled in it only two tribes and a half tribe. As yet, therefore, the twelve tribes had not found sufficient food, more especially as the country had been devastated by war, and the Israelites, who were not in safety to leave the camp, could not devote their attention to agriculture. The manna was thus necessary to feed them until a more abundant supply was obtained. This took place in the land of Canaan, and then, accordingly, they returned to common food. But why they deferred it till that day is not known, unless it be that after their wound was cured, some days behooved to be spent in collecting corn, while religion did not permit them to bake bread lest they should break the Sabbath. But although that rest was sacred, we gather from the circumstances that they made haste, as the flour must have been previously prepared, seeing they could not grind it and bake it in a single day.
Be this as it may, the Lord furnished them with provision as long as their want required to be supplied. The failure of the manna on a sudden, and at the very moment, must have furnished an additional attestation to the kindness of God, inasmuch as it was thence apparent that the manna was a temporary resource, which had descended not so much from the clouds as from a paternal providence. It is moreover plain, that this is to be understood of the produce of the former year, and it is needless to raise any question in regard to it; for it would have implied too much precipitation to rush upon the produce of the present year when not yet properly matured, and a whole month would scarcely have sufficed to collect enough for the supply of so great a multitude. I cannot see why expounders should give themselves so much trouble with so clear a matter.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(11) They did eat of the old corn.The word occurs nowhere else except in Jos. 5:12. It need not have been last years corn; in fact, it seems to have been the produce of this very harvest. It seems to mean that which was brought to them, and was the fruit or produce of the land of Canaan, probably brought to the camp for sale.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. The old corn of the land There is no authority in the Hebrew for the word old. They ate of the produce of the land. The word old was inserted by our translators because it was unlawful to eat of the new grain before the sheaf was waved before Jehovah on the morrow of the Sabbath.
Lev 23:14-16. [But here is a difficulty. The morrow after the passover is used in Num 33:3, for the fifteenth of Nisan, the day after the evening on which the paschal lamb was eaten. But according to Lev 23:7, this day was to be celebrated by a holy convocation, and on it no servile work performed. How, then, shall we account for Israel’s eating the new fruit of the land on the morrow after the passover? The simplest explanation is that of Keil, who understands the word passover here, as in several other places, to mean not simply the paschal supper but the entire feast connected with it, which lasted seven days.
Parched corn Ears of grain baked at the fire, an article of food still much relished by the Arabs. See note on Rth 2:14.]
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And they ate of the produce of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes and parched corn, on the selfsame day.’
That is they celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread the next day with unleavened cakes and parched or roasted corn which was the produce of the land. It was a day of triumph. The grain needed to make these cakes, and the corn, may have come from storeplaces in the plain of Jordan whose owners had taken shelter in Jericho. The amount was unimportant. It was the fact that mattered. The rules in Lev 23:10-14 would not apply because they had not reaped a harvest. They still also had the manna which did not cease until the next day.
“The produce (of the land).” The particular noun (‘avur) is only used here and in the next verse. It was used in this context probably because its consonants connect with the word for ‘cross over’ (‘avar) referring to the crossing of the Jordan.
“The morrow after the passover.” This may be 15th or 16th Nisan, the former a Sabbath. But it does not say when the corn was collected. The womenfolk could have collected it from abandoned storeplaces while the men were recuperating.
We do not know whether the wheat harvests had been collected in by the Canaanites by this time. The ever-threatening presence of the Israelite army may well have hindered it so that it was only partly collected. And if it was fully collected much would have been available outside the city in the storehouses.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Ver. 11. And they did eat of the old corn of the land, &c. i.e. of the corn of the preceding year, which they found in divers places, abandoned by the people on retiring to Jericho. However, the matter is not very certain, and several interpreters do not thus understand the Hebrew. They are of opinion, that it means as well the new corn as that of the foregoing year. See Poole’s Synopsis. In the Hebrew it is, they ate of the produce of the land; and because the word abur, which signifies the profits, or produce, comes from a root which signifies to pass away, we apprehend it should be translated, produce, or corn of the past year. But besides that the word abur, which occurs here only, is for that reason of a doubtful signification, the text clearly imports, that the Israelites ate of the produce of the ground, the same day that they ate of corn roasted. They could eat roasted corn only on the 16th of the month, after the offering of the sheaf; so that it is more than probable, that their unleavened cakes were made of new corn, the same as that of which they parched the ears: it should be translated, therefore, and they did eat of the corn of the country (viz. of unleavened cakes, and roasted corn) after the passover. Though, strictly speaking, machar, signifies on the morrow, it may also signify a more extensive term, some one of the following days. Had the Israelites made their unleavened cakes of the old corn, we cannot see why Joshua should have remarked their eating of it after the passover. There was nothing so extraordinary in that: whereas, supposing him to speak of the new corn, the reason immediately strikes one, namely, that it could not be eaten till after the passover, when the sheaf was offered. 2. Josephus starts the same supposition. 3. The ancient versions countenance it, and say simply the corn of the country, without distinguishing old or new.
And parched corn Taken from the ears they found standing, and some of which they roasted in the fire, after offering the sheaf, or handful, which the law prescribed should be presented to the Lord.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
One mercy is followed by another. The people probably found corn upon their entrance on Canaan, in the houses of the inhabitants who dwelt on the coast, and fled at their approach: or as this was the season when the corn of the fields was ripening, their supply might be from thence. Hence they were enabled to follow up the celebration of the passover, with the feast of the unleavened bread, which the supply of corn furnished them with the means of doing. Exo 12:17 . I desire the Reader particularly to mark with me, the display of divine mercy in the withholding the manna, and giving the people corn. Nothing could be an higher proof of God’s care and love for his people, than this supply of food from heaven, while the people were in the wilderness, where there were no fields for corn, and no supply of the common staff of life could be obtained. But when the Lord is pleased to make use of ordinary means, miraculous interpositions are no longer necessary. But let not the Reader overlook the spiritual lesson held forth to us in this sweet scripture, especially, when Jesus hath himself opened its meaning. Jesus himself is the bread of life, which this manna represented. While his church is in a wilderness state, he is, and will be, our unceasing food, conveyed to us in the means of ordinances. But when we have once passed over Jordan, and are come to our heavenly inheritance, we shall have the full enjoyment of Jesus; without the medium of ordinances, – an uninterrupted fruition of our God, in glory forever. Joh 6:48 , etc.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jos 5:11 And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched [corn] in the selfsame day.
Ver. 11. On the morrow after the Passover. ] That holy sacrament was , to those believers, sanctifying those outward comforts to their use. “To the pure all things are pure.”
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the morrow. Feast of unleavened bread ended 21st Abib at even, exactly forty years from Exo 12:41.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
corn
The manna is a type of Christ in humiliation, known “after the flesh,” giving his flesh that the believer might have life Joh 6:49-51 while the “old corn of the land” is Christ apprehended as risen, glorified, and seated in the heavenlies. Occupation with Christ on earth, “crucified through weakness,” tends to a wilderness experience. An experience befitting the believer’s place in the heavenlies demands an apprehension of the power of His resurrection; 2Co 5:16; 2Co 13:4; Php 3:10; Eph 1:15-23. It is the contrast between “milk” and “meat” in Paul’s writings.; 1Co 3:1; 1Co 3:2; Heb 5:12-14; Heb 6:1-3.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
old corn: The people would find abundance of old corn in the deserted granaries of the affrighted inhabitants, and the barley harvest being ripe, after offering the sheaf of first-fruits, they ate also new parched corn; and thus the manna being no longer necessary, ceased, after having been sent them regularly for almost forty years. To Christians the manna for their souls shall never fail, till they arrive at the Canaan above, to feast on its rich and inexhaustible provisions.
unleavened cakes: Exo 12:18-20, Exo 13:6, Exo 13:7, Lev 23:6, Lev 23:14
Reciprocal: Exo 23:15 – the feast Lev 25:22 – old fruit Lev 26:10 – General Num 15:19 – General Psa 105:44 – inherited
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jos 5:11. They eat of the old corn The corn of the last year, which the inhabitants of those parts had left in their barns, being fled into their strong cities, or other remoter parts. On the morrow That is, on the sixteenth day; for the passover was killed between the two evenings of the fourteenth day, and was eaten in that evening or night, which, according to the Jewish computation, whereby they begin their days at the evening, was a part of the fifteenth day, all which was the feast of the passover; and so the sixteenth day was the morrow of the passover, when they were obliged to offer unto God the first sheaf, and then were allowed to eat of the rest. Parched corn Of that years corn, which was most proper for that use. Self-same day Having an eager desire to enjoy the fruits of the land.
And this corn came very seasonably; for after the passover they were to keep the feast of unleavened bread, which they could not do when they had nothing but manna to live upon.