Joshua 5 Study Notes

5:1 The Amorite kings dominated the hill country whereas the Canaanite kings lived near the Mediterranean Sea. The message that these kings heard concerns how the Lord had dried up the water of the Jordan, and it links 4:24 and the statement there. While the effect in chap. 4 was to increase faith, here it had the opposite effect on the enemies. The key word, crossed over, again occurs (1:2). That they lost heart is literally “their hearts melted.” This repeats Rahab’s description of the Canaanites upon hearing of Israel’s victory over Egypt (2:9-11, which also includes the same verb for drying up the Red Sea).

5:2 The command to circumcise implies that this generation had not been circumcised (vv. 4-7) and revives again this act of covenant-making that God began with Abraham (Gn 17). Thus Israel would once again become children of Abraham and heirs of the promised land.

5:3 Gibeath-haaraloth means “the hill of foreskins,” an unknown site.

5:4-9 Words and phrases are repeated and interwoven to explain the necessity of this act. A contrast is made repeating the verb to end, to finish in vv. 6 and 8. Thus the previous generation died off (v. 6) while the present generation “finished” being circumcised.

5:5 The generation coming from Egypt had been united in their circumcision. Egyptians also circumcised their males, but as Gn 17 suggests, the Israelite practice precedes their time in Egypt.

5:9 The wordplay on Gilgal, which means “circle” as a noun and “roll” as a verb, refers to rolling away the disgrace of Egypt. This was the rebellion of the previous generation of Israel that caused them to die in the desert. Because this current generation now had followed the covenant and had been circumcised, they could now enter the promised land and leave behind forever the disgrace of their parents.

5:10 Israel was explicitly commanded to celebrate the Passover when the people arrived in the promised land (Ex 13:5). Israel thereby inherited the covenantal promises and blessings that the earlier generation had received when it left Egypt. This was the Israelites’ fortieth year out of Egypt but only their third Passover celebration (see Ex 12:1-28; Nm 9:1-14).

5:11 The days of unleavened bread follow the Passover (Ex 12:17,20; 23:15; 34:18). The basic food of Canaan was barley that ripened at this time. Manna had been all that the present generation of Israel knew. Now they would begin to eat from the food of the new land. Israel enjoyed the fruits of the land where they had arrived as a token of the greater abundance they were to enjoy when the entire land was taken.

5:12 The cessation of the manna signaled a new phase in Israel’s history. The people were no longer in the wilderness but in their homeland. They began a new life in keeping with the celebration of God’s historic acts of redemption. Today this occurs with the new life in Jesus Christ whose death and resurrection bring it about.

5:13 God had promised his presence to Joshua (1:7-9), and here he began to fulfill it. Joshua encountered a man with a drawn sword. In Nm 22:23 Balaam’s donkey stopped before such a figure.

5:14-15 The man’s title commander of the Lord’s army suggests someone of importance. The relevant question was not whether he was for or against Joshua, but how Joshua regarded him. Joshua bowed to worship. The man’s command to remove his sandals evokes God’s encounter with Moses at the burning bush (Ex 3:5). God appeared to Joshua before this great challenge to encourage him and to provide directions for what he should do.