Joshua

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Joshua 6 – Skeptic's Annotated Bible answered

A response and reply to the notes on Joshua 6 in the Skeptic's Annotated Bible (SAB).

King James Version

SAB comment

My comment

1 Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.

The Massacre of Jericho

2 And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.

3 And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.

(6:3-5) God's plan for the destruction of Jericho
Have seven priests go before the ark with seven trumpets of ram's horns. Then on the seventh day, they go around the city seven times. Finally, the priests blow a long blast from the ram's horns, all the people shout, and the walls will fall down.

Clearly a method that would not work for humans. But this was done so God only would be glorified as the one who gave Jericho in the hand's of the Israelites.
Note that we can still see the evidence of how Jericho's walls came tumbling down.

4 And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.

5 And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.

6 And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD.

7 And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the LORD.

8 And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns passed on before the LORD, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them.

9 And the armed men went before the priests that blew with the trumpets, and the rereward came after the ark, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.

10 And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout.

11 So the ark of the LORD compassed the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.

12 And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD.

13 And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew with the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; but the rereward came after the ark of the LORD, the priests going on, and blowing with the trumpets.

14 And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days.

15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on that day they compassed the city seven times.

16 And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city.

17 And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.

(6:17) "And the city shall be accursed ... and all that therein, to the Lord: only Rahab the harlot shall live."
God explains that Rahab is to be spared since she hid Joshua's spies and lied to those who were searching for them (Joshua 2:4-5). But why was everyone else killed? Some of them were probably liars too.
Is it OK to lie?

Rahab didn't lie, she protected the spies. That's a moral difference most people are able to grasp. See also chapter 2:4.

18 And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.

(6:18-19) "Keep yourselves from the accursed thing."
Whatever that is. And be sure to save all the silver and gold for God!

What the accursed thing is is described in the previous verse (verse 17): the city Jericho, and everything found in it.
As also the silver and gold was cursed, it had to be consecrated to God, meaning that the Israelites could not use it, but it would be put to use in the tabernacle.

19 But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.

20 So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

(6:21) "And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword."
God's 31st Killing

The sins of the inhabitants of Canaan were now full: God had waited 430 years, see Gen. 15:16, and now the judgement had come.

21 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.

22 But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot’s house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her.

(6:24) "Only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD."
After killing everyone in Jericho, "they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein." Only the valuables (silver, gold, brass, and iron) did they keep to "put into the treasury of the house of the Lord."

Leaving the valuable would be the same as giving them away to anyone who would want to take them. But as the city was accursed, no one could use the valuables, so there were put to a holy use, i.e. no human could claim possession over it, sell it, or use it.

23 And the young men that were spies went in, and brought Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel.

24 And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.

25 And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father’s household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

26 And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.

(6:26) "Cursed be the man ... that ... buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn."
Joshua says that those who try to rebuild Jericho will be accursed by God, and will have to sacrifice both their oldest and their youngest sons in its construction. Well, Jericho still exists today, and is often considered to be the world's oldest, continuously occupied city.

As far as I'm aware every archaeologist agrees that there were times that Jericho was not populated, even those who believe this account to be a fable. But I think the author of the SAB has read this verse wrong: it does not say that Jericho would never be populated, but the first to do so would lose two of his sons. Several hundred years after, someone actually rebuilt Jericho and indeed lost his two sons, see 1 Kg. 16:34.

27 So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country.