6 And Joshua son of Nun calleth unto the priests, and saith unto them, `Bear ye the ark of the covenant, and seven priests do bear seven trumpets of the jubilee before the ark of Jehovah;'
and hast brought the staves into the rings on the sides of the ark, to bear the ark by them,
and it hath been, in your drawing near unto the battle, that the priest hath come nigh, and spoken unto the people, and said unto them, Hear, Israel, ye are drawing near to-day to battle against your enemies, let not your hearts be tender, fear not, nor make haste, nor be terrified at their presence, for Jehovah your God `is' He who is going with you, to fight for you with your enemies -- to save you.
And Joshua speaketh unto the priests, saying, `Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people;' and they take up the ark of the covenant, and go before the people.
And it cometh to pass, when Joshua speaketh unto the people, that the seven priests bearing seven trumpets of the jubilee before Jehovah have passed over and blown with the trumpets, and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah is going after them;
and seven priests bearing seven trumpets of the jubilee before the ark of Jehovah are walking, going on, and they have blown with the trumpets -- and he who is armed is going before them, and he who is gathering up is going behind the ark of Jehovah -- going on and blowing with the trumpets.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Joshua 6
Commentary on Joshua 6 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 6
Joshua opened the campaign with the siege of Jericho, a city which could not trust so much to the courage of its people as to act offensively, and to send out its forces to oppose Israel's landing and encamping, but trusted so much to the strength of its walls as to stand upon its defence, and not to surrender, or desire conditions of peace. Now here we have the story of the taking of it,
Jos 6:1-5
We have here a contest between God and the men of Jericho, and their different resolutions, upon which it is easy to say whose word shall prevail.
Jos 6:6-16
We have here an account of the cavalcade which Israel made about Jericho, the orders Joshua gave concerning it, as he had received them from the Lord and their punctual observance of these orders. We do not find that he gave the people the express assurances God had given him that he would deliver the city into their hands; but he tried whether they would obey orders with a general confidence that it would end well, and we find them very observant both of God and Joshua.
Jos 6:17-27
The people had religiously observed the orders given them concerning the besieging of Jericho, and now at length Joshua had told them (v. 16), "The Lord hath given you the city, enter and take possession.' Accordingly in these verses we have,
Lastly, All this magnified Joshua and raised his reputation (v. 27); it made him not only acceptable to Israel, but formidable to the Canaanites, because it appeared that God was with him of a truth: the Word of the Lord was with him, so the Chaldee, even Christ himself, the same that was with Moses. Nothing can more raise a man's reputation, nor make him appear more truly great, than to have the evidences of God's presence with him.