ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for Joshua 6

Josh. 6:1–12:24 Taking the Land. Although the Promised Land is God’s gift to the Israelites (6:2), now that they are in the land they must conquer it.

Josh. 6:1–27 As the first city to be taken in Canaan, Jericho was to be completely dedicated to the Lord, as a kind of symbolic “firstfruits” (compare Lev. 23:10). The people of Israel were to take no goods and were to leave no survivors. See note on Josh. 6:17–18.

Josh. 6:1–2 Jericho is one of the oldest known fortified cities in the ancient Near East. It is about 750 feet (229 m) below sea level. Well supplied with spring water, Jericho was an oasis and was sometimes referred to as the “city of palms” (Judg. 1:16). The name “Jericho” sounds like the Hebrew word for “moon,” so Canaanite Jericho may have been a center of moon worship. If so, the Lord’s destruction of Jericho would have suggested victory over the false gods of Canaan.

Josh. 6:4 the ark. The visible symbol of the Lord’s presence emphasizes that the conquest of the land of Canaan was the Lord’s doing. See also v. 8.

Josh. 6:5 and the wall of the city will fall down flat. Archaeologists have explored the site of Jericho for many years. Many aspects of their findings seemed to fit the biblical description of the city’s destruction, but there are differences of opinion about the age of the ruins. Even so, the various proposed dates for Jericho’s fall are all within the range of possible dates for Israel’s exodus from Egypt and conquest of Canaan (see note on 1 Kings 6:1).

Josh. 6:17–18 devoted to the Lord for destruction. See notes on Lev. 27:28–29; Deut. 2:34–35; 20:16–18. This order to destroy every living thing was not a license to kill indiscriminately in other warfare situations, because cities outside the Land of Promise were to be treated more leniently (Deut. 20:10–15). Rather, this was a specific order intended to punish the Canaanites, whose wickedness had become complete (Gen. 15:16; Lev. 18:1–3). The decree of destruction was also to protect the Israelites from worshiping other gods because of Canaanite influence (Deut. 7:1–6). Jericho’s destruction was not a general guideline for the conduct of war. Instead, it is a picture of what will happen in the final judgment to all who continue to rebel against God. Nor can the destruction of Jericho or of the Canaanites in general be seen as a case of ethnic cleansing, for the Lord warns that if Israel does not totally destroy Jericho, the camp of Israel itself will become a thing for destruction. Furthermore, Canaanites such as Rahab (Joshua 2) and the Gibeonites (ch. 9) who devote themselves to the Lord are spared, while Israelites who defy the Lord, such as Achan (ch. 7), are killed.

Josh. 6:20 So the people shouted. Hebrews 11:30 commends the people’s faith: they believed the promise of Josh. 6:2–5 and showed their faith by obeying the instructions.

Josh. 6:21 devoted . . . to destruction. See note on vv. 17–18.

Josh. 6:23 Rahab . . . and all who belonged to her are spared, in keeping with the promise in 2:14, 17–20. Their placement outside the camp of Israel is apparently temporary (see 6:25).

Josh. 6:26 Jericho’s ruins are to serve as a warning to Israel. Any attempt to rebuild the city, therefore, will defy the Lord’s rule. For the fulfillment of Joshua’s curse, see 1 Kings 16:34.