Commentary on Joshua - Keil & Delitzsch - David Cox

Keil and Delitzsch <strong>Commentary</strong> on the Old Testament
message by Joshua to the priests and the people (vv. 6, 7); then the execution of the
divine command (vv. 8-20); and lastly the burning of Jericho and deliverance of
Rahab (vv. 21-27).
Verse 6-7. In communicating the divine command with reference to the arrangements
for taking Jericho, Joshua mentions in the first place merely the principal thing to be
observed. The plural wayo'mªruw (OT:559) ("they said"), in v. 7, must not be altered,
but is to be explained on the ground that Joshua did not make the proclamation to the
people himself, but through the medium oft he shoterim , who were appointed to
issue his commands (see Josh 1:10-11; 3:2-3). In this proclamation the more minute
instructions concerning the order of march, which had been omitted in vv. 3-5, are
given; namely, that hechaaluwts (OT:2502) was to march in front of the ark. By
hechaaluwts (OT:2502), "the equipped (or armed) man," we are not to understand all
the fighting men, as Knobel supposes; for in the description of the march which
follows, the whole of the fighting men ("all the men of war," v. 3) are divided into
hechaaluwts (OT:2502) and hamª'aceep (OT:622) ( Eng. Ver. "the armed men" and
"the rereward," vv. 9 and 13), so that the former can only have formed one division of
the army.
It is very natural therefore to suppose, as Kimchi and Rashi do, that the former were
the fighting men of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh ( hatsaabaa'
(OT:6635) chaluwtseey (OT:2502), Josh 4:13), and the latter the fighting men of the
rest of the tribes. On the meaning of mª'aceep (OT:622), see at Num 10:25. If we turn
to the account of the facts themselves, we shall see at once, that in the report of the
angel's message, in vv. 3-5, several other points have been passed over for the
purpose of avoiding too many repetitions, and have therefore to be gathered from the
description of what actually occurred. First of all, in vv. 8-10, we have the
appointment of the order of marching, namely, that the ark, with the priests in front
carrying the trumpets of jubilee, was to form the centre of the procession, and that
one portion of the fighting men was to go in front of it, and the rest to follow after;
that the priests were to blow the trumpets every time they marched round during the
seven days (vv. 8, 9, 13); and lastly, that it was not till the seventh time of going
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