Joshua Chapter 3 verse 2 Holy Bible
And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the midst of the camp;
read chapter 3 in ASV
And at the end of three days, the men in authority over the people went through the tents,
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And it came to pass at the end of three days, that the officers went through the camp;
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And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host;
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And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host;
read chapter 3 in WBT
It happened after three days, that the officers went through the midst of the camp;
read chapter 3 in WEB
And it cometh to pass, at the end of three days, that the authorities pass over into the midst of the camp,
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Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 2. - The officers. LXX., γραμματεις (see Joshua 1:10). This is evidently the history of the fulfilment of the command there given by Joshua. There he orders the officers to pass through the host; here the command is fulfilled. There is no reasonable doubt that the spies had returned before the order recorded in Joshua 1:10 had been given. Many commentators have raised objections to the order of the narrative in this and in the following chapter; and commentators like Houbigant, Masius (who says, "Narrationis ordo admodum perturbatus"), and Bishop Horsley, have suggested a different order of the verses. But Delitzsch has observed that the narrative is drawn up in a threefold order. First, the commencement of the crossing is detailed, from vers. 7-17 of this chapter; then (Joshua 4:1-14), its further progress; lastly (Joshua 4:15-24), its conclusion. And in each separate paragraph we have (1) God's command to Joshua; (2) Joshua's command to the people; and (3) their fulfilment of his command. . . .
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(2) After three days.--See Joshua 1:2.(2-6) PRELIMINARY ORDERS.--The priests are to bear the ark. This was usually the duty of the Levites of the family of Kohath; but both at the passage of Jordan and the taking of Jericho, the priests were employed as bearers. The people must be sanctified, as they were in preparation for the giving of the law at Sinai (in Exodus 19). And the ark itself takes, in some sense, a fresh position. The space of 2,000 cubits was left between the head of the column of Israelites and the ark, in order that they might all see it. Up to this time, during the whole of the Exodus, they had been led by the pillar of cloud and fire. The ark had led the van ever since they left Sinai (Numbers 10:33-34). But as the cloud had moved above the ark, where all the people could see it, the head of the column might follow the ark as closely as possible, without any inconvenience. Now the cloud was no longer with them. It was a visible token of God's presence especially granted to Moses, and with him it disappeared. The ark was now to be the only leader, and therefore it must be placed in a somewhat more conspicuous position. This difference of arrangement appears to be indicated by the words in Joshua 3:4, "Ye have not passed this way heretofore." The words may mean, "You are marching over untrodden ground;" but if so, they are not more applicable to this march than to many previous marches. They may also mean, "You have not marched in this manner heretofore," and this interpretation seems more to the purpose.It may be of use to consider here, what was the actual significance of the position assigned to the ark in Joshua. What was the ark? It was a chest containing the ten commandments, written with the finger of God on two tables of stone prepared by Moses (Deuteronomy 10:1-5; Exodus 34:1; Exodus 34:28). But the ark was made for the law, not the law for the ark. The mercy-seat above was the covering of the law--the shield between that law and the people. Between the cherubim that formed the mercy-seat, was the throne of Jehovah. But the central thing, the only thing not of human workmanship, that remained in the ark, was "the law written with the finger of God." If we would exactly describe the position before us, we must say that the Israelites marched into Jordan led by the written law of God. The same written law, borne round the walls of Jericho, was the minister of vengeance to the Canaanites, as indeed it became afterwards to Israel when incautiously handled or invoked, as at Eben-ezer (1 Samuel 4), and as at Beth-shemesh (1 Samuel 6; comp. 2 Samuel 6), and also to the Philistines (1 Samuel 5). As soon as the army of Joshua reached the centre of Canaan, this same law was written on great stones in the heart of the country and became the law of the land. It is consistent with what we have already noted (Joshua 1:1) as to the difference between Moses and Joshua, that under Moses the people should follow the cloudy pillar, and under Joshua, the written law of God. But it is a strange picture, and one that may well call up our reverent wonder, that the Israelites should pass over Jordan and assail the Canaanites, with the ten commandments carried before them, and as it were leading the way. Was not this the direct object of the conquest of Canaan, that God's law should not only have a people to obey it, but a country in which its working might be exhibited to the nations, as the law of the land? . . .
