be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

10

Then Joshua commanded the officers to the people, saying,

11 Pass through the host, and command. the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it.

12 And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying,

13 Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, The LORD your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land.

14 Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren "armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help them ;

9 Num. 32. 20.

15 Until the LORD have given your brethren rest, as he hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the LORD your God giveth them: then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and enjoy it, which Moses the LORD's servant gave you on this side Jordan toward the sunrising.

16 ¶ And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go.

17 According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the LORD thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses.

18 Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.

10 Heb. marshalled by five.

CHAPTER II.

1 Rahab receiveth and concealeth the two spies sent from Shittim. 8 The covenant between her and them. 23 Their return and relation.

AND Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and 'came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and 'lodged there.

2 And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither to night of the children of Israel to search out the country.

3 And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house for they be come to search out all the country.

4 And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were:

5 And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went, I wot not pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.

6 But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.

7 And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they

which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate.

8

And before they were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof;

9 And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

10 For we have heard how the LORD 'dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, 'Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.

11 And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

12 Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token:

13 And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.

14 And the men answered her, Our life 'for your's, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given

us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

15 Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall.

16 And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned and afterward may ye go your way.

17 And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.

18 Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by : and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's houshold, home unto thee.

19 And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and

8 Heb. gather.

we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.

20 And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.

21 And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

22 And they went, and came unto the mountain, and abode there three days, until the pursuers were returned: and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but found them not.

23 So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain, and passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all things that befell them:

24 And they said unto Joshua, Truly the LORD hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do 'faint because of us.

Heb. melt.

Verse 1. Jericho.' · All travellers previous to Mr. Buckingham have acquiesced in the current statement, that the site of the ancient Jericho is marked by the poor village of Rihhah, between three and four miles from the Jordan, where, however, it was admitted that no trace of an ancient city could be found. But that traveller has questioned this conclusion on such strong grounds, that his correction has, and we think with great propriety, been introduced into most recent maps of the Holy Land. As Mr. Buckingham has the sole merit of this discovery, and we decidedly acquiesce in his conclusions, there is nothing for us to do but to follow his account. In the note on v. 10, the plain of Jericho is described. It is only therefore necessary to observe here, that travellers from Jerusalem to Jericho must, after descending the hills which bound the plain on the west, proceed for about four miles towards the Jordan before they reach Rihhah. But Mr. Buckingham had scarcely quitted the foot of these hills to go eastward over the plain, before he came upon the ruins of a large settlement, of which sufficient remained to prove it to have been a place of consequence, although no one perfect building existed. Some of the more striking objects among the ruins were several large tumuli, evidently the work of art, and resembling in size and shape those of the Greek and Trojan heroes on the plain of Ilium. Near to this was also a large square area, enclosed by long and regular mounds, uniform in their height, breadth, and angle of slope, and seeming to mark the place of enclosing walls now worn into mounds. Besides these, the foundations of other walls in detached pieces, portions of ruins of an undefinable character, shafts of columns, and a capital of the Corinthian order, were seen scattered about over the widely extended heaps of this ruined city. These ruins did not seem, taken in their greatest extent, to cover less than a square mile; but the remains were not sufficiently marked to enable the traveller to form a plan of them. The order of the columns is indicated by the Corinthian capital, which also shews that the building belonged probably to the time when the country was dependent on Rome; and we hazard a conjecture, that they may have pertained to the palace which Herod built at Jericho; and the knowledge that a palace

was erected here at so comparatively late a period as the architecture indicates, strengthens whatever conclusion may be formed in preference of this site to that of Rihhah, where no ancient remains whatever are found.

But, besides this, the situation of these remains agrees much better than the site of Rihhah with the position which Josephus assigns to Jericho. He says, It is situate in a plain; but a narrow and barren mountain, of very great length, hangs over it. This mountain extends to the land about Scythopolis northward, and southward as far as the country of Sodom and the utmost limits of the lake Asphaltites. It is all of it very uneven, and uninhabited by reason of its barrenness.' (De Bell, Jud. iv. 8, 2.) And in another place, he says that Jericho is one hundred and fifty furlongs from Jerusalem, and sixty from the Jordan, adding, The country as far as Jerusalem is desert and stony, but that as far as the lake Asphaltites lies low, though it be equally desert and barren.' It is clear that all this applies very exactly to Mr. Buckingham's Jericho, but not to Rihhah. He observes himself: Nothing can more accurately apply in all its particulars than this description does to the site of the present ruins, assumed here as those of the ancient Jericho, whether it be in its local position, its boundaries, or its distance from Jerusalem on the one hand, or from the Jordan on the other. The spot lies at the very foot of the barren hills of Judæa, which may be said literally to overhang it on the west; and these mountains are still as barren, as rugged, and as destitute of inhabitants as formerly, throughout their whole range, from the lake of Tiberias to the Dead Sea. The distance, by the computation of our journey in time, amounted to about six hours, or nearly twenty miles; and we were now, according to the report of our guides, at the distance of two hours, or about six miles, from the banks of the Jordan.'

Concerning Rihhah, which has so long borne the honour of being the representative of Jericho, we have only to observe that it appears to have obtained this distinction through some supposed resemblance between its name and that of Rahab the harlot. But were this analogy still clearer, it would prove nothing, since Jericho was never called after that celebrated woman. It is a poor village,

containing about forty dwellings, every one of which is fenced in front with thorny bushes, while a barrier of the same kind encircles the whole of the village. A fine brook flowing by, and emptying itself into the Jordan, supplies the inhabitants with water for the irrigation of the grounds, and for their domestic wants. The only alleged antiquities shewn here are a modern square tower of Mohammedan workmanship, pretended to be the house of Zaccheus, and an old tree, stated to be that into which the same person climbed to see Christ pass by; but, unfortunately for the story, this tree is not a sycamore, which the Evangelist mentions in the narrative of that interesting transaction.

They went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab.'-As this woman is honourably mentioned in the New Testament for her faith: and as, moreover, it appears from Matt. i. 5, that she was ultimately married to Salmon, by which marriage she became an ancestress of our Saviour, there has been considerable anxiety to rescue her name from the imputation which rests upon her character. Her vindication is made to rest, chiefly, upon the derivation of the word rendered harlot.' This is zonah; and it is contended that this word ought not to be here derived from n zanah, to commit fornication,' but from un, to nourish,' and, consequently, that it should be rendered not harlot, but hostess.' The Chaldee paraphrase of Onkelos, Josephus, and several rabbins, agree in the same view; but the balance of opinion is against it. We feel obliged to express our entire concurrence in the common translation. The word zonah does not occur anywhere else in a sense which the context will allow to be rendered hostess' (see Levit. xxi. 7, 14; Deut. xxi. 18); and there is no sufficient reason for giving here a different derivation from that which it elsewhere bears. Moreover, the Septuagint, and the Apostles Paul (Heb xi. 31) and James (ii. 25), have given it the common interpretation. It will also be observed that, while Rahab so anxiously provides for the safety of her relations, she does not say a word about her husband or children; which is a more remarkable circumstance than it would be in England, as, in the East, scarcely any women but those of low character remain unmarried. Another reason, which

has escaped the notice of expositors, but which seems to us of considerable weight, is, that in the East there are no such persons as hostesses. The places of public entertainment (caravauserais) in towns, only furnish empty lodging, and cannot be said to have even a host, much less a hostess; and if a stranger be accommodated in a private house, he never sees the lady of the house, or asks anything about her. The only woman in general who has a house to herself, and certainly the only woman to whose house a stranger can have access, is one who bears the stigma which attaches to the name of Rahab. Probably the spies went to this house because there was no other private house to which they could go; and they may be supposed to have some regard to the advantageous situation of the house, which was built against the town wall, and had a window towards the open country, thus affording facilities for escape, of which they afterwards actually had occasion to avail themselves.

4. The woman took the two men and hid them.'-Apart from all other considerations, the woman had, according to Oriental notions, contracted an imperative and superseding obligation to do her utmost in behalf of the spies, after they had been harboured and had eaten under her roof; and, reciprocally, they had contracted an obligation to suffer no harm which they could prevent to come upon those under whose roof they had been sheltered. The sense of honour is manifested among the Orientals more in this custom than in any other. If a man receive another, even though a robber, into his house, if he eat with him but a crust of bread, he is bound to treat him as a friend, and to defend him even at the hazard of his own life-unless he is prepared to brave the scorn and contempt of ing examples of the fidelity with which these duties have all his countrymen. Oriental history abounds with strikbeen discharged-even towards murderers, and the bitterest enemies of the house. See Gen. xix. 1-9; Josh. ix. 19; Judg. iv. 17-22. Allusions to the custom may be traced in Psalm xli. 9; xci. 1; 2 Sam. xii. 3; Luke vii 24; John xiii. 18.

6. Stalks of flax.'-'p pishtai ha-etz, literally, flax of the wood,' that is, undressed flax, or flax with its ligneous parts. It is well known that flax must be ex

and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho,

17 And the priests that bare the ark of the

Verse 12. Now therefore.'--This verse is generally admitted to be an interpolation, being nothing more than the second verse of the next chapter egregiously misplaced.

14. When the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan.'-The great event described in this chapter took place on the tenth day of the first month (iv. 19), wanting therefore only five days to complete the forty years from the day (the 15th of the first month) when the Israelites left Egypt. The manner in which the passage took place seems to be this. The priests, bearing the ark at the distance of two thousand cubits from the host, marched onward, and, in full confidence in the Divine promise, proceeded, as if to enter the river: but no sooner did their feet touch its waters, which then overflowed the banks from the melting of the snows of Lebanon (see Gen. xiv.), than the waters divided from shore to shore. The stream that was then coming from above stood still at that point; while that which had passed the point of separation, continued to flow to the Dead Sea, and, arriving there, left all the channel open between the sea and the point of separation.

As we cannot determine the site of the cities of Adam and Zaretan, mentioned in v. 16, we do not know the extent to which the channel was laid open; but from a reference to the direction of the journey, and the situation of Gilgal, where they formed their first encampment in Canaan (ch. iv. 19), we may suppose it to have been about seven miles. The river, in this part, has a firm pebbly bottom, on which the host might pass without inconvenience, when the waters had been cleared before them. The priests entered first, and stood still in the mid-channel, until the entire host had passed over. They seem to have been placed not so that the people passed on each side of them as they stood there, but only below them, that is, between them and the sea--the ark of God being thus interposed between the people and the suspended waters, that the faint-hearted might feel the more assured. It must have taken a considerable time for so vast a multitude, with women, children, and baggage, to pass over; and the constancy which the priests exhibited on this occasion, bears honourable testimony to their faith, and ought not to pass unnoticed. When all had gone over, the priests also went up with the ark out of the channel; and no sooner had they left it than the suspended waters, above, returned to their place, and overflowed the banks as before. When the river is thus overflowed its breadth is said to be nearly two hundred fathoms, and its greatest depth fourteen feet. "The passage of this deep and rapid, though not wide river,' says Dr. Hales, at the most unfavourable season, was more manifestly miraculous, if possible, than that of the Red Sea; because here was no natural agency whatsoever employed; no mighty wind to sweep a passage, as in the former case; no reflux of the tide, on which minute philosophers might fasten to depreciate the miracle. It

CHAPTER IV.

1 Twelve men are appointed to take twelve stones for a memorial out of Jordan. 9 Twelve other stones are set up in the midst of Jordan. 10, 19 The people pass over. 14 God magnifieth Joshua. 20 The twelve stones are pitched in Gilgal.

covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.

seems, therefore, to have been providentially designed to silence cavils respecting the former; and it was done in the noon-day, in the face of the sun, and in the presence, we may be sure, of the neighbouring inhabitants; and struck terror into the kings of the Amorites and Canaanites, westward of the river, "whose hearts melted, neither was there any spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel." Josh. v. 1; Analysis, i. 412.

15. Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest.'-The following is the recent and most valuable testimony of Professor Robinson on the subject of the overflowing of the Jordan. He remarks: It has generally been assumed that the Jordan of old, somewhat like the Nile, regularly overflowed its banks at the spring, covering with its waters the whole of the lower valley, and perhaps sometimes large tracts of the broad Ghor itself. It seems, however, to be generally admitted that no such extensive inundation takes place at the present day. It is therefore supposed that some change must have taken place, either because the channel has been worn deeper than formerly, or because the waters have been deepened or diverted. But although at present a smaller quantity of rain may fall in Palestine than anciently, in consequence perhaps of the destruction of the woods and forests, yet I apprehend that even the ancient rise of the river has been greatly exaggerated. The sole accounts we have of the ancient rise of its waters are found in the earlier Scriptural history of the Israelites, where, according to the English version, the Jordan is said to" overflow all its banks" in the first month, or all the "time of harvest." But the original Hebrew expresses in those passages nothing more than that the Jordan“ was full (or filled) up to all its banks," meaning the banks of its channel; it ran with full banks, or was brimful. The same sense is given by the Septuagint and Vulgate.'

It occurs to us that although the passage in question may not necessarily mean more than this, the larger meaning of our translation, which the original will equally sus tain, is well sustained by other passages. For instance, the lion (and, by implication, other ravenous beasts) is described as driven from its coverts on the banks by the 'swellings' of the river, which would hardly be possible unless the inner channel were not merely filled but overflowed, so as to inundate the thickets which are above the inner channel of the river.

16. The waters which came down,' etc. - Horsley's translation of this difficult verse renders its details much more distinct: Then the waters which came down from the upper parts [of the river] stood still (i. e. the current was stopped); and rose up in one heap to a great distance above the city Adam, which is hard by Zaretan. And those that were coming down towards the sea of the plain, the salt sea, ran quite off, being separated [from the upper stream]. So the people crossed over opposite to Jericho.'

2 Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man,

1 Deut. 27. 2.

2 Chap. 3. 12.