Joshua 5
King James Version
5 And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.
2 At that time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.
3 And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.
4 And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt.
5 Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised.
6 For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord: unto whom the Lord sware that he would not shew them the land, which the Lord sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
7 And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way.
8 And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole.
9 And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.
10 And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho.
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.
12 And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant?
15 And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
Joshua 5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 5
Rites at Gilgal. 1 When all the kings of the Amorites to the west of the Jordan and all the kings of the Canaanites by the sea heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they crossed over, their hearts melted and they were utterly dispirited because of the Israelites.
2 (A)On this occasion the Lord said to Joshua: Make flint knives and circumcise Israel for the second time. 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath-haaraloth.[a] 4 This was the reason for the circumcision: Of all the people who had come out of Egypt, every male of military age had died in the wilderness(B) during the journey after they came out of Egypt. 5 Though all the men who came out were circumcised, none of those born in the wilderness during the journey after the departure from Egypt were circumcised. 6 Now the Israelites wandered forty years in the wilderness, until all the warriors among the people that came forth from Egypt died off because they had not listened to the voice of the Lord. For the Lord swore(C) that he would not let them see the land he had sworn to their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. 7 (D)It was the children God raised up in their stead whom Joshua circumcised, for these were yet with foreskins, not having been circumcised on the journey. 8 When the circumcision of the entire nation was complete, they remained in camp where they were, until they recovered. 9 Then the Lord said to Joshua: Today I have removed the reproach of Egypt from you.(E) Therefore the place is called Gilgal[b] to the present day.
10 (F)While the Israelites were encamped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they celebrated the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month.[c] 11 On the day after the Passover they ate of the produce of the land in the form of unleavened cakes and parched grain. On that same day 12 after they ate of the produce of the land, the manna ceased. No longer was there manna for the Israelites, who that year ate of the yield of the land of Canaan.(G)
Siege at Jericho. 13 [d]While Joshua was near Jericho, he raised his eyes and saw one who stood facing him, drawn sword in hand.(H) Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you one of us or one of our enemies?” 14 He replied, “Neither. I am the commander[e] of the army of the Lord: now I have come.” Then Joshua fell down to the ground in worship, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?” 15 The commander of the army of the Lord replied to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy.”(I) And Joshua did so.
Footnotes
- 5:3 Gibeath-haaraloth: “Hill of the Foreskins.”
- 5:9 The place is called Gilgal: by popular etymology, because of the similarity of sound with the Hebrew word gallothi, “I have removed.” Gilgal probably means “circle,” i.e., the place of the circle of standing stones. Cf. 4:4–8.
- 5:10 The month: the first month of the year, later called Nisan; see note on 3:15. The crossing of the Jordan occurred, therefore, about the same time of the year as did the crossing of the Red Sea; cf. Ex 12–14.
- 5:13–6:26 The account of the siege of Jericho embraces: (1) the command of the Lord to Joshua (5:13–6:5); (2) Joshua’s instructions to the Israelites, with a brief summary of how these orders were carried out (6:6–11); (3) a description of the action on each of the first six days (6:12–14); (4) the events on the seventh day (6:15–26).
- 5:14 Commander: the leader of the heavenly army of the Lord of hosts is either the Lord or an angelic warrior; if the latter, he is a messenger who speaks in the person of the one who sent him. I have come: the solemn language of theophany; cf., e.g., Ps 50:3; 96:13.
Joshua 5
Jubilee Bible 2000
5 ¶ And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, who were on the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites, who were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the sons of Israel until we had passed, that their heart melted, and there was no more spirit in them before the sons of Israel.
2 At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time.
3 And Joshua made himself sharp knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at the hill of the foreskins.
4 And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: All the people that had come out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, had died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt.
5 Now all the people that had come out were circumcised; but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way, after they came forth out of Egypt, were not circumcised.
6 For the sons of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness until all the people that were men of war, who had come out of Egypt, were consumed because they did not listen to the voice of the LORD; therefore, the LORD swore unto them that he would not let them see the land which the LORD had sworn unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that flows with milk and honey.
7 But their sons, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised; for they were uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised by the way.
8 And when they had finished circumcising all the people, they abode in the same place in the camp until they were whole.
9 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Therefore, the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day.
10 ¶ And the sons of Israel encamped in Gilgal and celebrated the passover on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, in the plains of Jericho.
11 And they ate of the fruit of the land, unleavened cakes, on the next day after the passover and parched new ears of grain in the same day.
12 And the manna ceased on the next day after they had begun to eat of the fruit of the land; and the sons of Israel never had manna again; but they ate of the fruits of the land of Canaan that year.
13 ¶ And Joshua, being near Jericho, lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went unto him and said unto him, Art thou one of us or one of our adversaries?
14 And he said, No, but I am the Prince of the host of the LORD; now I am come. Then Joshua falling upon his face in the earth worshipped him and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his slave?
15 And the Prince of the LORD’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place on which thou dost stand is holy. And Joshua did so.
Joshua 5
New King James Version
The Second Generation Circumcised
5 So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites (A)who were by the sea, (B)heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until [a]we had crossed over, that [b]their heart melted; (C)and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel.
2 At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make (D)flint knives for yourself, and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time.” 3 So Joshua made flint knives for himself, and circumcised the sons of Israel at [c]the hill of the foreskins. 4 And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: (E)All the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way, after they had come out of Egypt. 5 For all the people who came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness, on the way as they came out of Egypt, had not been circumcised. 6 For the children of Israel walked (F)forty years in the wilderness, till all the people who were men of war, who came out of Egypt, were [d]consumed, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord—to whom the Lord swore that (G)He would not show them the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers that He would give us, (H)“a land flowing with milk and honey.” 7 Then Joshua circumcised (I)their sons whom He raised up in their place; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.
8 So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp (J)till they were healed. 9 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away (K)the reproach of Egypt from you.” Therefore the name of the place is called (L)Gilgal[e] to this day.
10 Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover (M)on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho. 11 And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and [f]parched grain, on the very same day. 12 Then (N)the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.
The Commander of the Army of the Lord
13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, (O)a Man stood opposite him (P)with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”
14 So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”
And Joshua (Q)fell on his face to the earth and (R)worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”
15 Then the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, (S)“Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.
Footnotes
- Joshua 5:1 So with Kt.; Qr., some Heb. mss. and editions, LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. they
- Joshua 5:1 their courage failed
- Joshua 5:3 Heb. Gibeath Haaraloth
- Joshua 5:6 destroyed
- Joshua 5:9 Lit. Rolling
- Joshua 5:11 roasted
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Copyright © 2013, 2020 by Ransom Press International
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
