1 Joshua rose up early in the morning; and they moved from Shittim, and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel. They lodged there before they passed over. 2 It happened after three days, that the officers went through the midst of the camp; 3 and they commanded the people, saying, "When you see the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then you shall move from your place, and follow it. 4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Don't come near to it, that you may know the way by which you must go; for you have not passed this way before." 5 Joshua said to the people, "Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow Yahweh will do wonders among you." 6 Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people." They took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. 7 Yahweh said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 8 You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, 'When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.'" 9 Joshua said to the children of Israel, "Come here, and hear the words of Yahweh your God." 10 Joshua said, "Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Hivite, and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Jebusite out from before you. 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into the Jordan. 12 Now therefore take twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, for every tribe a man. 13 It shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of Yahweh, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, even the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand in one heap." 14 It happened, when the people moved from their tents to pass over the Jordan, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant being before the people, 15 and when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark had dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest), 16 that the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap, a great way off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people passed over right against Jericho. 17 The priests who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan; and all Israel passed over on dry ground, until all the nation had passed completely over the Jordan.
The contents of this and the next chapter, which record the miraculous passage of Israel over Jordan, are given in four sections:
(1) Joshua 3:1-6, describing the preliminary directions;
(2) Joshua 3:7-17, the commencement of the passage;
(3) Joshua 4:1-14, the accomplishment of it;
(4) Joshua 4:15-24, the conclusion of the passage and erection of a monument to commemorate it.
A certain completeness and finish is given to each division of the narrative, and to effect this the writer more than once repeats himself, anticipates the actual order of events, and distributes into parts occurrences which in fact took place once for all.
The Israelitish camp removes from Shittim to Jordan, Joshua 3:1. The officers inform them how they are to pass the river, and the distance they are to keep from the ark, Joshua 3:2-4. Joshua directs the people, Joshua 3:5, Joshua 3:6; and the Lord gives directions to Joshua, Joshua 3:7, Joshua 3:8. He delivers the Lord's message to the people, and foretells the miraculous passage and division of Jordan, Joshua 3:9-13. The priests, bearing the ark, enter the river, and immediately the waters are cut off, and the priests stand on dry ground, in the bed of the river, till all the camp passes over, Joshua 3:14-17.
INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 3
Joshua removed from Shittim to Jordan, where he stayed three days, Joshua 3:1; the people are directed to move when they saw the ark bore by the priests, and what distance they should keep from it, Joshua 3:3; are bid to sanctify themselves against the morrow, when wonders would be wrought, Joshua 3:5; and the priests are ordered to take up the ark, Joshua 3:6; Joshua is encouraged by the Lord, and instructed to command the priests when they come to Jordan to stand still in it, Joshua 3:7; and he declares to all the people, as a token that God would drive the Canaanites from before them, that as soon as the feet of the priests bearing the ark should rest in the waters of Jordan, they should be parted, and make way for them to pass through, Joshua 3:9; which accordingly came to pass, so that all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, Joshua 3:14.
(Joshua 3:1-6) The Israelites come to Jordan.
(Joshua 3:7-13) The Lord encourages Joshua - Joshua encourages the people.
(Joshua 3:14-17) The Israelites pass through Jordan on dry land.
Passage Through the Jordan - Joshua 3-4
The following morning, after the return of the spies into the camp, Joshua proceeded with the people from Shittim to the bank of the Jordan, to complete the necessary preparations there, and then cross the river and enter Canaan (Joshua 3:1). The crossing of this boundary river of Canaan, or rather the passage through the bed of the river, which had been dried up by a miracle of divine omnipotence at the place of crossing, is narrated in these two chapters in the following manner: first (Joshua 3:1-6), the final preparations for crossing; and then the passage through the bed of the river and the erection of stones as a permanent memorial of this miracle. This is arranged in three parts: viz., Joshua 3:7-17, the commencement of the crossing; Joshua 4:1-14, its further progress; and Joshua 4:15-24, its close. The account is also arranged upon the following plan: in every one of these three sections the command of God to Joshua is mentioned first (cf. Joshua 3:7-8; Joshua 4:2-3, Joshua 4:15-16); then the communication of this command to the people by Joshua; and finally its execution (Joshua 3:9-17; Joshua 4:4-13, Joshua 4:17-20). This arrangement was adopted by the author for the purpose of bringing distinctly out to view, not only the miracle itself, but also the means with which God associated the performance of the miracle, and also of impressing deeply upon the memory of the people both the divine act and the end secured. In doing this, however, some repetitions were inevitable, in consequence of the endeavour, so peculiar to the Hebrew mode of writing history to mark and round off the several points in the occurrences described, by such comprehensive statements as anticipate the actual course of events. It is to this arrangement and dovetailing of the differing points that we must attribute the distribution of the revelation and commands which Joshua received from God, over the several portions of the history; and consequently we are not to suppose, that at each separate point during the passage God revealed to Joshua what he was to do, but must rather assume that He actually revealed and commanded whatever was requisite all at once, on the day before the miraculous passage.
(Note: The assertion made by Paulus, Eichhorn, Bleek, Knobel, and others, that the account is compounded from two different document, is founded upon nothing else than a total oversight of the arrangement explained above and doctrinal objections to its miraculous contents. The supposed contradictions, which are cited as proofs, have been introduced into the text, as even Hauff acknowledges (Offenbarungsgl. pp. 209, 210).)
*More commentary available by clicking individual verses.