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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
5:1-15 Ritual Renewal and Divine Encounter. With Israel now finally in the Land of Promise, after so many years of living in the desert, the urge to begin the conquest must have been powerful. But Joshua 5 underscores matters of even greater importance. The reinstitution of the covenant sign of circumcision (vv. 2-9) and the celebration of Passover (vv. 10-12) remind God's people of their privileged covenant relationship with him (signified by circumcision) and of their redemption out of bondage by him (signified by the Passover). These two fundamentally important rites are paralleled in the NT by baptism (the sign of covenant relationship; Col. 2:11-12) and the Lord's Supper (celebration of redemption from the bondage of sin through the sacrificial death of the Lamb of God; Matt. 26:18-19). Observing circumcision and the Passover at this occasion requires that Israel act by faith: both to trust God for protection while they are vulnerable (Josh. 5:8) and to commit themselves afresh to basing their life in the land on their identity as God's people (i.e., not simply as a political entity). Fittingly, an encounter with the "commander of the army of the Lord" reminds Joshua of his reliance on the Lord (vv. 13-15) and, with its militaristic overtones, anticipates the commencement of the conquest in ch. 6.
5:1 Even before Israel did anything to take the land, the Lord went before and demoralized the enemy so that there was no longer any spirit in them. This verse is transitional:
5:2 Make flint knives . . . circumcise . . . a second time. Circumcision was widely practiced in the ancient Near East (see Jer. 9:25-26) but not universally. The Philistines were not circumcised (1 Sam. 14:6), nor, apparently, were some inhabitants of Canaan (Gen. 34:14). Unlike its significance in Egypt, for instance, where circumcision marked a rite of passage, in Israel circumcision was a sign of the covenant instituted by Yahweh in Gen. 17:10-14 and was to be administered to all males when they were old. The need to circumcise the Israelite men under Joshua's command a second time is explained in Josh. 5:4-5, 7. The use of flint knives, even in a time period when metal instruments had been developed, may attest to the antiquity of the practice (cf. Ex. 4:25), or it may have to do with the need for many instruments at one time. Flint, or obsidian, was readily available and was particularly well suited. An Egyptian text, dated to the , speaks of
5:6 land flowing with milk and honey. A land particularly suited to agrarian existence, Israel's new home would flow with milk (from goatherding) and honey (perhaps, in addition to naturally occurring bee's honey, also the syrup derived from boiling down figs or grapes). See Ex. 3:17; 13:5; Lev. 20:24; Num. 13:27; Deut. 6:3.
5:9 The name Gilgal sounds similar to a Hebrew verb meaning "to roll" (Hb. galal) and a noun meaning "wheel" (Hb. galgal), and thus is aptly associated with the Lord having rolled away the reproach of Egypt. The "reproach" may have been the aspersions the Egyptians would have cast on Israel had the Lord not succeeded in bringing them into the land (Ex. 32:12; Num. 14:13-16; Deut. 9:28), or it may refer to the reproach represented in the disobedient generation that has now died (see Josh. 5:4-6).
5:10 For the institution of the Passover, which celebrated Israel's deliverance from the judgment that befell the Egyptians, see Exodus 12; on the timing of the Passover, see Ex. 12:18; Lev. 23:5; etc. Preparation for the first Passover meal, shortly before Israel's departure from Egypt, took place according to Ex. 12:3 on the tenth day of the first month (Abib or Nisan, overlapping with modern March/April). The notice in Josh. 4:19 that "the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month" suggests a parallel; the transition from wandering in the wilderness to arrival in the land was a kind of "second exodus." In the first exodus, the Passover preceded the crossing of the Red Sea. In this "second exodus," it followed the crossing of the Jordan.
5:12 manna ceased. Cf. Ex. 16:35. Commensurate with their changed status, the people of Israel can now enjoy the fruit of the land of Canaan.
5:13-14 Are you for us, or for our adversaries? Joshua's question to the man with the drawn sword is best understood as, "Are you one of ours, or one of our adversaries' [soldiers]?" To this question the commander of the army of the Lord rightly answers "No," i.e., "Neither" (in other words, not in the sense that Joshua is asking the question, assuming a merely human ally or enemy). Far from suggesting a lack of commitment to his people, the Lord underscores his commitment by marshaling his hosts on their behalf. The expression with his drawn sword in his hand appears in Num. 22:23, 31 and 1 Chron. 21:16, where it refers to the angel of the Lord as the agent of God's zeal. The way that Josh. 5:15 (see note there) evokes Ex. 3:5 reinforces this identification and shows that the angel of the Lord is often a manifestation of the Lord himself. The "army of the Lord" is the force God commands when judging (Isa. 13:4) or protecting (1 Kings 22:19). worshiped. Or, "bowed down." Joshua knew he was inferior to the commander; possibly he believed he was in God's own presence. Exodus 23:20-33 relates God's promise of his angel to secure Israel's success in conquest.
