Commentary on Joshua - Keil & Delitzsch - David Cox

Keil and Delitzsch <strong>Commentary</strong> on the Old Testament
of Ex 3:5.) The object of the divine appearance was indicated by the drawn sword in
the hand (cf. Num 22:31), by which he manifested himself as a heavenly warrior, or,
as he describes himself to Joshua, as prince of the army of Jehovah. The drawn sword
contained in itself this practical explanation: "I am now come with my heavenly
army, to make war upon the Canaanites, and to assist thee and thy people" ( Seb.
Schmidt ). It was not in a vision that this appearance took place, but it was an actual
occurrence belonging to the external world; for Joshua saw the man with the drawn
sword at a certain distance from himself, and went up to him to address him-a fact
which would be perfectly incompatible with an inward vision.
Joshua 6:1-5
Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out,
and none came in.
When Joshua had taken off his shoes, the prince of the army of God made known to
him the object of his coming
(vv. 2-5). But before relating the message, the historian first of all inserts a remark
concerning the town of Jericho, in the form of an explanatory clause, for the purpose
of showing the precise meaning of the declaration which follows.
(Note: If there is any place in which the division of chapters is unsuitable, it is so here; for the appearance
of the prince of the angels does not terminate with Josh 5:15, but what he had come to communicate
follows in ch. 6:2-5, and Josh 6:1 merely contains an explanatory clause inserted before his message,
which serves to throw light upon the situation (vid., Ewald , §341). If we regard the account of the
appearance of the angel as terminating with Josh 5:15, as Knobel and other commentators have done, we
must of necessity assume
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