I am getting ready to give the lesson Joshua and the Battle of Jericho. I have a few things that I had not noticed before and wondered if you had considered them.<\/p>\n
In Joshua 5:15 a reference is made to “sandal” NKJV or “shoe” KJV. Since this is in the singular form, do you think Joshua was only supposed to take off one shoe? I know that Moses was instructed to remove his “shoes” plural.<\/p>\n
When the walls came down, do you think they “fell” or did they just go into the ground? I had always thought of them as “tumbling” or crumbling. (probably because of the song). Zerr’s Commentary says they sank into the ground. I had never <\/b>heard it put this way.<\/p>\n
Joshua 6:3 it says “all ye men of war”. Does this indicate that it was only the soldiers and the priests who marched around the city? In verse 10 it says “people”, but I didn’t know if that could be just a reference to all the soldiers and priests collectively or if meant the children of Israel as a whole. I had always heard it as all the people, but know that we can sometimes assume things, especially in stories we have heard since we were small.<\/p>\n\t
The phrase “take off your sandals from your feet” in Exodus 3:5 and Joshua 5:15 are almost exactly the same. The difference is that there is a “yod” in the words for sandals and feet in Exodus 3:5. The translations reflect this as plural in Exodus 3:5 and singular in Joshua 5:15. What adds an interesting twist is that the words “shoe” and “foot” are collective nouns in Hebrew. Thus, even when in the singular, it can refer to both shoes or both feet. The translations are accurately following what was written, but the net meaning can be the same.<\/p>\n
In Hebrews 11:30 we read, “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days.<\/em>” The Greek word for “fell down” is\u00a0pipto<\/em>, which means to fall, fall down, fall in ruins, fail, or be ruined. In Joshua 6:20 we read, “And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat.<\/em>” The Hebrew word for “fell down” is\u00a0naphal<\/em>, which means to fall. The Hebrew word for “flat” is\u00a0tachath<\/em>, which means beneath. Many city walls of that era were ringed by a pit (or a dry moot) to make it harder to bring battering rams straight up against the wall. In\u00a0Biblical Archaeology Review<\/em>, March\/April 1990, Bryant G. Wood notes that the ruins of Jericho have mud bricks heaped just outside of the walls’ foundations. It appears the walls toppled outward, filled the moot and provided the Israelites a level path straight into the city.<\/p>\n Joshua 6:3-4 says “You shall march around the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.” Thus we have two groups, the warriors and the priests.<\/em>” This is again seen in Joshua 6:7, “And he said to the people, “Proceed, and march around the city, and let him who is armed advance before the ark of the LORD,”<\/em>” Joshua 6:9, “The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while the priests continued blowing the trumpets,<\/em>” and Joshua 6:13, “Then seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually and blew with the trumpets. And the armed men went before them. But the rear guard came after the ark of the LORD, while the priests continued blowing the trumpets.<\/em>” Thus “all the people” referred to all the people present; that is, the warriors and the priests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: I am getting ready to give the lesson Joshua and the Battle of Jericho. I have a few things that I had not noticed before and wondered if you had considered them. In Joshua 5:15 a reference is made to “sandal” NKJV or “shoe” KJV. Since this is in the singular form, do you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[279,564],"class_list":["post-9005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-history","tag-joshua"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":67871,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/taking-the-gifts-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":9005,"position":0},"title":"Taking the Gifts of God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Robert F. Turner \"And Jehovah said unto Joshua, See I have given into thy hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor\" (Joshua 6:2). According to some theories of Gift and Grace, this promise says, ``(1) you already have the city and can't lose it;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4279,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-can-i-find-information-about-the-falling-of-jerichos-walls\/","url_meta":{"origin":9005,"position":1},"title":"Where can I find information about the falling of Jericho’s walls?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am doing a paper for school trying to prove that the Bible is true. One example I was going to use was the walls of Jericho.\u00a0 What I have to do is find the verses, and then try to prove it looking in books, interviews, the Internet, etc.\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49257,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-achan-punished-because-he-did-not-confess-his-sin-to-joshua\/","url_meta":{"origin":9005,"position":2},"title":"Was Achan punished because he did not confess his sin to Joshua?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can somebody be punished for not telling their leaders about the sin they have committed, like how Achan was punished for not telling Moses about his sin until God found him out? Answer: \"But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan the son\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62749,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-did-jericho-fall\/","url_meta":{"origin":9005,"position":3},"title":"How Did Jericho Fall?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 15, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Joshua 6:6-20 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The record of the fall of Jericho is familiar to many people. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was an impressive victory for the people of Israel who had recently entered the land. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Despite the fact that the city was heavily fortified - Joshua 6:1 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7660,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-is-the-commander-of-the-lords-army\/","url_meta":{"origin":9005,"position":4},"title":"Who is the commander of the Lord’s army?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 29, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Who is the commander of the Lord's army? Answer: \"And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7118,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-one-person-put-a-curse-on-another\/","url_meta":{"origin":9005,"position":5},"title":"Can one person put a curse on another?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: A friend asked me about someone putting curses on others and what does the Bible have to say about it?\u00a0 Could you share some thoughts in this regard?\u00a0 He feels like he is cursed by what his great-grandfather did years ago. Answer: Your question doesn't deal with a matter\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9005\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}