Commentary on Joshua - Keil & Delitzsch - David Cox

Keil and Delitzsch <strong>Commentary</strong> on the Old Testament
round, on the seventh day, that the people were to raise the war-cry at the command
of Joshua, and then the walls of the town were to fall (vv. 10,
16). There can be no doubt that we are right in assuming that Joshua had received
from the angel the command which he issued to the people in vv. 17ff., that the whole
town, with all its inhabitants and everything in it, was to be given up as a ban to the
Lord, at the time when the first announcement concerning the fall of the town was
made.
Verse 8-10. Execution of the divine Command. - Vv. 8-11. The march round on the
first day; and the instructions as to the war-cry to be raised by the people, which are
appended as a supplement in v. 10. "Before Jehovah," instead of "before the ark of
Jehovah," as the signification of the ark was derived entirely from the fact, that it was
the medium through which Jehovah communicated His gracious presence to the
people. In v. 9, taaqª`uw (OT:8628) is in the perfect tense, and we must supply the
relative 'asher (OT:834), which is sometimes omitted, not only in poetry, but also in
prose, after a definite noun in the accusative (e.g., Ex 18:20; see Ewald , §332, a. ).
There is not sufficient ground for altering the form of the word into toqª`eey
(OT:8628), according to the Keri , as taaqa` (OT:8628) is construed in other cases
with the accusative hashowpaar (OT:7782), instead of with bª , and that not only in
poetry, but also in prose (e.g., Judg 7:22, as compared with vv. 18-20). wªtaaqowa`
(OT:8628) haalowkª (OT:3212), "trumpeting continually" ( Eng. Ver. "going on and
blowing"). haalowkª (OT:3212) is used adverbially, as in Gen 8:3, etc.
Verse 11. "So the ark of the Lord compassed the city," not "Joshua caused the ark
to compass the city." The Hiphil has only an active, not a causative, meaning here, as
in 2 Sam 5:23, etc.
Verse 12-14. The march on each of the next five days resembled that on the first. "So
they did six days." In v. 13, wªtaaqª`uw (OT:8628) does not stand for wªtaaqowa`
(OT:8628), but corresponds to wªtaaqª`uw (OT:8628) in
v. 8; and the participle howleekª (OT:1980) is used interchangeably with the inf. abs.
haalowkª (OT:3212), as in Gen 26:13; Judg 4:24, etc., so that the Keri haalowkª
(OT:3212) is an unnecessary emendation.
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