Joshua 3


Joshua 3 is the third chapter of the Book of Joshua in the Hebrew Bible or in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. According to the biblical historic account, the book was attributed to Joshua, with additions by the high priests Eleazar and Phinehas, but modern scholars view it as part of the Deuteronomistic History, which spans the books of Deuteronomy to 2 Kings, attributed to nationalistic and devotedly Yahwistic writers during the time of the reformer Judean king Josiah in 7th century BCE. This chapter focuses on the Israelites crossing the Jordan River westward into the land of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua, a part of a section comprising Joshua 1:1–5:12 about the entry to the land of Canaan.

Text

This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language. It is divided into 17 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis, Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis. Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls including 4Q48 with extant verses 15–17.
Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint include Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus. Fragments of the Septuagint Greek text containing this chapter is found in manuscripts such as Washington Manuscript I, and a reduced version of the Septuagint text is found in the illustrated Joshua Roll.

Analysis

The narrative of Israelites entering the land of Canaan comprises verses 1:1 to 5:12 of the Book of Joshua and has the following outline:

Preparations and directives of the crossing (3:1–13)

The crossing of the Jordan narrative consists of several units that backtrack and overlap, with a number of elements recounted more than once. It includes a miraculous parting of the waters which recalls the crossing of the Reed Sea, to be followed by the first Passover kept in the new land corresponding to the first ever Passover in Egypt. The centrality of the Ark of the Covenant in the whole narrative emphasizes the guidance of YHWH on the way into the land, and the preparation for the Holy War ahead, although the differences in the terminology of the ark throughout this chapter may indicate diverse origins:
The crossing narrative is connected to that of the spies by the mention of Shittim, as well as bringing Joshua, together with 'all the Israelites', to the verge of Jordan for the crossing, where the officers play their part to observe the due timing of three days. The crossing respects the requirements of holiness, the ark being attended by the properly authorized personnel, and the people keeping due distance, recalling the encounter with YHWH at Sinai. The preparations also include a reaffirmation of Joshua's leadership, and of YHWH's special promise to accompany him throughout his conquest. The phrase 'the LORD, the Lord of all the earth' states a claim to absolute universal dominion, as also found in other ancient Near-Eastern documents for local deities, for examples, Baal in Ugarit literature is written as zbl b'I arș.

Verse 1

  • "Joshua rose early in the morning": a phrase that was used multiple times in the Book of Joshua showing 'his eagerness to act promptly and in full accord with divine instructions.
  • "Shittim": identified as modern "Tell el-Ḥammām", on the eastern side of Jordan valley, opposite Jericho. Here it is written in the same short form as in Numbers 25:1, not in the longer form as in Numbers 33:49. The distance to the edge of Jordan river itself is about.

Crossing the Jordan (3:14–17)

After all the preparations, an initial report of the crossing was given, with a note that it was miraculous, as the river being in its spring flood was suddenly cut off of its flow of water, leaving a dry land to walk on. This passage anticipates a fuller account in the following chapter.

Verses 14–16

  • "The waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap": Many times in recorded history, earthquakes caused landslides and other disruptions leading to a blockage of the Jordan River for one or two days. Humphreys relates this to Psalm 114:1, 3
  • "Adam": identified by Humphreys with modern "Damiya", about north of Jericho, on the east bank of Jordan, and is mentioned in multiple historical records as the place where the Jordan River was blocked due to the seismic activities in the area. Garstang reported a blockage of Jordan in 1927, and a report by an Arabic historian, Nowairi, related to the building of a bridge in 1266 over the Jordan in Damieh on the order of Baybars I, king of Mamluk Egypt and Syria, that on the night of 7 Desember 1267, one part of the wall on the side fell into the river and caused the flow to be dammed from midnight to "the fourth hour", which provided the opportunity to repair the bridge. In 1546 a strong earthquake, documented in three separate sources, caused the damming of Jordan. One source is a letter in Italian sent to a nobleman in Venice and published in Wittenberg, Germany, in 1546, stating that Jordan River was dry for two days, whereas a Spanish document describing the same event notes that the river stopped for one full day, and the third source in Hebrew by Isaac Levy and published in 1562 states that foreigners reported about the Jordan river being dry for three days, because two big hills fell into the river. The reports indicate that the flow of Jordan can be blocked due to landslide or earthquake.