Commentary on Joshua - Keil & Delitzsch - David Cox

Keil and Delitzsch <strong>Commentary</strong> on the Old Testament
necessary that the people should hasten over, lest the strength of the priests should be
exhausted. This reason for hastening, however, does not preclude the other-namely,
that the crossing had to be finished in one day, before night came on.
The statement in v. 11, that when all the people had passed over, the ark of the Lord
also passed over with the priests, is so far anticipatory of the actual course of the
events, that up to this time nothing has been said about the fighting men belonging to
the two tribes and a half having passed over (vv. 12, 13); nor has the command of
God for the ark to pass over been mentioned (vv. 15ff.), though both of these must
have preceded the crossing of the ark in order of time. It is to be observed, that, in the
words "the art of the Lord passed over, and the priests," the priests are subordinate to
the ark, because it was through the medium of the ark of the Lord that the miracle of
drying up the river had been effected: it was not by the priests, but by Jehovah the
Almighty God, who was enthroned upon the ark, that the waters were commanded to
stand still. "Before the people" ( Eng. Ver. "in the presence of the people") has the
same signification in v. 11 as in Josh 3:6,14.
Verse 12-14. The account of the fighting men of the tribes on the east of the Jordan
passing over along with them, in number about 40,000, is added as a supplement,
because there was no place in which it could be appropriately inserted before, and yet
it was necessary that it should be expressly mentioned that these tribes performed the
promise they had given (Josh 1:16-17), and in what manner they did so. The words
wgw' waya`abªruw (OT:5674) do not imply that these 40,000 men crossed over
behind the priests with the ark, which would not only be at variance with the fact so
expressly stated, that the ark of the covenant was the medium of the miraculous
division of the water, but also with the distant statement in v. 18, that when the
priests, with the ark, set their feet upon the dry land, the waters filled the river again
as they had done before. The imperfect with vav consec. here expresses simply the
order of thought, and not of time. "Arboth Jericho," the steppes of Jericho, were that
portion of the Arabah or Ghor which formed the environs of Jericho, and which
widens here into a low-lying plain of about three and a half or four hours' journey in
breadth, on account of the western mountains receding considerably to the south of
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