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Joshua Chapter
Three
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 3
Joshua
removed from Shittim to Jordan, where he stayed three days, Joshua 3:1; the
people are directed to move when they saw the ark bore by the priests, and what
distance they should keep from it, Joshua 3:3; are bid
to sanctify themselves against the morrow, when wonders would be wrought, Joshua 3:5; and the
priests are ordered to take up the ark, Joshua 3:6; Joshua
is encouraged by the Lord, and instructed to command the priests when they come
to Jordan to stand still in it, Joshua 3:7; and he
declares to all the people, as a token that God would drive the Canaanites from
before them, that as soon as the feet of the priests bearing the ark should
rest in the waters of Jordan, they should be parted, and make way for them to
pass through, Joshua 3:9; which
accordingly came to pass, so that all the Israelites passed over on dry ground,
Joshua 3:14.
Joshua 3:1 Then
Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out from Acacia Grove[a] and came
to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they
crossed over.
YLT
1And Joshua riseth early in
the morning, and they journey from Shittim, and come in unto the Jordan, he and
all the sons of Israel, and they lodge there before they pass over.
And Joshua rose early in the morning,.... The
morning after the spies had returned and made their report; which, as Kimchi
rightly observes, was the ninth of Nisan; for on the morrow, which was the
tenth, the people passed over Jordan, see Joshua 3:5. Moses,
according to the Jewish writers, died on the seventh of Adar or February; the
thirty days of his mourning ended the seventh of Nisan or March; two days
before they were ended the spies were sent, who returned on the eighth day of
the month; and the morning following Joshua rose early, which shows his
readiness and alacrity to proceed in the expedition he was directed and
encouraged to:
and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan; from Shittim
in the plains of Moab, to the river Jordan:
he and all the children of Israel; he as their general, and
they an army of six hundred thousand fighting men under him, besides women and
children, and others that came along with them:
and lodged there before they passed over; lay there
encamped a night before they passed over the river Jordan.
Joshua 3:2 2 So it was, after three
days, that the officers went through the camp;
YLT
2And it cometh to pass, at
the end of three days, that the authorities pass over into the midst of the
camp,
And it came to pass after three days,.... At the
end of the three days they were bid to prepare food for their expedition, and
to go over Jordan, Joshua 1:11,
that the officers went through the host; the camp of
Israel; very probably the same as in Joshua 1:10; this
was, no doubt, by the order of Joshua, and who was directed to it by the Lord.
Joshua 3:3 3 and they commanded the
people, saying, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and
the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place
and go after it.
YLT
3and command the people,
saying, `When ye see the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, and the
priests, the Levites, bearing it, then ye journey from your place, and have
gone after it;
And they commanded the people,.... In the name of
Joshua, by whom they were sent:
saying, when ye see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God,
and the priests the Levites bearing it: the Targum reads, the
priests and Levites; so the Septuagint: it was the business of the Levites, particularly
the Kohathites, to bear the ark in journeying, but here the priests, who also
were Levites, were to carry it: it is remarked in the TalmudF16T.
Bab. Sotah, fol. 33. 2. , that there are three places in which the priests are
said to bear the ark; here, and when they surrounded Jericho, Joshua 6:6; and
when it was returned to its place in the times of David, 2 Samuel 15:29; and
Kimchi and Abarbinel observe a fourth, when it was brought into Solomon's
temple, 1 Kings 8:6,
then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it; their usual
signal for marching was the cloud, when that was taken up, Numbers 9:17,
&c. but now the ark, the clouds of glory having removed at the death of
Moses, and were seen no more, as Abarbinel and other Jewish writers observe;
and therefore it was proper the Israelites should be made acquainted with this
signal; for, as Jarchi says, this journey was different from all the journeys
(though that of the three days journey from Sinai must be excepted, Numbers 10:33), for
all the time Moses was in being, the pillar of cloud marched first and showed
them the way, and the ark moved after two of the standards (Judah and Reuben),
and now the ark went first: the cloud was a figure of the dark and cloudy
dispensation of the law, particularly the ceremonial law, the shadow of good
things to come, and which continued only during the former state, and
discontinued to be of any use when the Mosaic dispensation ceased, and when
Joshua or Jesus was come: the ark was a type of Christ, the forerunner for us
entered, and whom we are to follow whithersoever he goes or directs to, in the
exercise of grace and performance of duty; and the ark being carried now by
different persons, may denote that Christ was held forth in a weaker manner
under the legal dispensation, and by his apostles and ministers under the
Gospel dispensation in a clearer and stronger manner, and who are to be
followed no further or longer than as they bear the ark or direct to Christ.
Joshua 3:4 4 Yet there shall be a space
between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it,
that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this
way before.”
YLT
4only, a distance is between
you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure; ye do not come near unto it,
so that ye know the way in which ye go, for ye have not passed over in the way
heretofore.'
Yet there shall be a space between you and it,.... The ark;
the Keri or marginal reading is, "between you and them"; the priests
that bear it: hence sprung a fiction among the Jews, that there were two arks,
the ark of the Shechinah or divine Majesty, and the ark of Joseph, in which his
bones were put, which went togetherF17T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 13. 1. ;
which Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abarbinel take notice of, but has no foundation in
the text:
about two thousand cubits by measure; by a certain
well known measure, that of a common cubit; for the "caph" we render
"about" is a note of truth, reality, and certainty, and designs the
exact precise measure here given: this difference was to be observed, partly in
reverence to the ark, the symbol of the divine Presence; Christ is to be
reverenced by his people, and so his word and ordinances; and there is a
reverence and respect due to his ministers and priests that bear the ark; as also
that they might the better see the ark and go after it, as Ben Gersom; or the
way in which they should go, as is suggested in the following clause; and
likewise have the better view of the greatness of the miracle, as Abarbinel;
the dividing of the waters of Jordan as soon as the ark came to it, and while
it was in it: the Jews conclude from hence that this was the measure of ground
they may go on a sabbath day, and no further, called a sabbath day's journey, Acts 1:12,
come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must
go; over Jordan into Canaan's land; for being at some distance from
them they could better discern that and the way he directed them to walk in:
Christ the antitype of the ark is the way to the heavenly Canaan, and his
ministers point out the right way of salvation by him, in the ministration of
the word, by attending to which the way is seen and known in which men must go:
for ye have not passed this way heretofore; a path indeed
untrodden by any; neither they nor any other ever went into Canaan the way they
were now going, through the river Jordan as on dry land: the way to heaven by
Christ is only revealed in the Gospel, and only trodden by believers in him,
and especially the way to glory through Jordan's river; or death is an
untrodden path, which, though the way of all flesh, is a trackless path, and
gone through, but once, and those who pass it have never before gone that way.
Joshua 3:5 5 And Joshua said to the
people, “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do
wonders among you.”
YLT
5And Joshua saith unto the
people, `Sanctify yourselves, for to-morrow doth Jehovah do in your midst
wonders.'
And Joshua said unto the people,.... On the third day;
and the thirtieth day of the mourning for Moses, Jarchi says, was the first of
the three days, and that being the seventh day of the month, this must be the
ninth, as it is most clear the morrow was the tenth:
sanctify yourselves; in a ceremonial sense,
by washing their bodies and their clothes, and abstaining from their wives; and
in a moral sense, by acts of religion and devotion, by prayer and meditation,
and the exercise of repentance and, good works: it may denote that
sanctification is necessary to our passage over Jordan, or through death to the
heavenly Canaan, for without holiness no man shall see the Lord:
for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you: in their
sight and presence, and for them, by dividing the waters of Jordan, that they
might pass through it as on dry land; this, as Kimchi says, was the tenth of
Nisan, as is plain from Joshua 4:19.
Joshua 3:6 6 Then Joshua spoke to the
priests, saying, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the
people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.
YLT
6And Joshua speaketh unto
the priests, saying, `Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the
people;' and they take up the ark of the covenant, and go before the people.
And Joshua spoke unto the priests,.... On the morrow, that
is, on the tenth day of the month, the day on which they went over Jordan:
saying, take up the ark of the covenant; in which the
law was put, which was the covenant between God and the people, from whence the
ark had this name; and in which it was typical of Christ, in whom both the law,
the covenant of works, was fulfilled, and with whom the covenant of grace was
made; who is the Mediator; surety, and messenger of it, and in whom all the
blessings and promises of it are, and with whom it is, and will be kept for
evermore: the ark, the priests were ordered to take up and bear on their
shoulders; for no other way might they carry it; these typified the ministers
of Christ who bear his name, his Gospel in the world, see Acts 9:15,
and pass over before the people; over the river Jordan,
to direct them in the way through it, and encourage them to follow them:
and they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the
people; from the place where they had lodged the night before to the
brink of the river.
Joshua 3:7 7 And the Lord said to
Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that
they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.
YLT
7And Jehovah saith unto
Joshua, `This day I begin to make thee great in the eyes of all Israel, so that
they know that as I was with Moses I am with thee;
And the Lord said unto Joshua,.... Out of the
tabernacle:
this day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel; by working
the miracle afterwards related; dividing the waters, which was done on this
day, and was but the beginning of wonders; for other great and marvellous
things were done for him and by him, by which it appeared he was high in the
favour of God, greatly esteemed and honoured by him, and so would be great and
honourable in the account of the people:
that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be
with thee; by dividing the waters of Jordan for him, as he had divided the
waters of the Red sea for Moses; which, as it was a token of his powerful
presence with him, this would be a like token of it with Joshua. The Targum
is,"as my Word was for the help of Moses, so shall my Word be for thy
help.'
Joshua 3:8 8 You shall command the
priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you have come to the
edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan.’”
YLT
8and thou, thou dost command
the priests bearing the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye come unto the
extremity of the waters of the Jordan -- in the Jordan ye stand.'
And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the Lord,.... Who were
subject to Joshua, the chief governor of the nation, and general of the army,
as well as the common people; and whose commands they were to obey, and
especially when they appeared to be from the Lord:
saying, when ye come to the brink of the water of Jordan; not of the
bank of it, but of the water, which had now overflowed its bank; that is, the
brink or extremity of it, which was nearest to them, and to which they first
came; though it is a notion of some Jewish commentatorsF20Kimchi,
Abarbinel. , and which some Christian interpretersF21Masius,
Drusius. have given into, and both of considerable note, that this was the
further extremity, or the brink on the other side of the river; but, according
to this notion, they must pass the river to the other side before the waters
were divided, which is not credible; and must return again into the midst of
the river, which is not probable; and besides, it is expressly said, that as soon
as their feet dipped in the brim, or extremity of the water, the waters parted,
which must be the first brim or extremity they came at, Joshua 3:15,
ye shall stand still in Jordan; after the waters were
parted; upon their coming to, and touching, the brink of them, they proceeded,
and went into the middle of the river, where they were ordered to stop and
stand still.
Joshua 3:9 9 So Joshua said to the
children of Israel, “Come here, and hear the words of the Lord your God.”
YLT
9And Joshua saith unto the
sons of Israel, `Come nigh hither, and hear the words of Jehovah your God;
And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, come hither,.... Very
probably to the door of the tabernacle:
and hear the words of the Lord your God; which he was
about to deliver to them as from him, and in his name.
Joshua 3:10 10 And Joshua said, “By this
you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will
without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the
Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the
Jebusites:
YLT
10and Joshua saith, `By this
ye know that the living God [is] in your midst, and He doth certainly
dispossess from before you the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Hivite, and
the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Jebusite:
And Joshua said,.... To the people as follows:
hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you; who has life
in and of himself, and is the author of life to all his creatures; and is so
called in opposition to the lifeless idols of the Gentiles: and it may be, as
Abarbinel observes, to suggest to them, that though Moses was dead, the Lord
lived, and lives for evermore; and by the following miracle of dividing the
waters of Jordan, it would be a plain case that the Lord was yet among them, to
protect and defend them, deliver and save them:
and that he will without fail drive out from before you the
Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the
Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites; all the seven nations
are mentioned, even the Girgashites, who are sometimes omitted, to assure them
of the expulsion of them all, to make way for their entire possession of the
land of Canaan, as had been promised them.
Joshua 3:11 11 Behold, the ark of the
covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you into the
Jordan.
YLT
11lo, the ark of the covenant
of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into Jordan;
Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth,.... Some both
Jewish and Christian interpreters, because there is a distinguishing accent on
the word "covenant", read the words "the ark of the covenant,
even the Lord of all the earth"; so in some copies of our English Bible,
as if the ark was called the Lord of all the earth, because of his presence and
dwelling there; but, as Kimchi observes, either the word "ark" is
wanting, or the word "covenant", and may be supplied either
thus,"the ark of the covenant, the ark (I say) of the Lord of all the
earth;'or thus,"the ark of the covenant, which is the covenant of the Lord
of all the earth:'the true meaning is what Abarbinel gives,"the ark of the
covenant of the Lord, who is the Lord of the whole earth;'the Maker and
possessor of the whole earth, the whole terraqueous globe; and can do what he
pleases in the earth, or in the water; and can control the powers of nature,
and do what is beyond them, things miraculous and astonishing:
passeth before you into Jordan; not only unto it, but
into it, into the river itself; and, by the power of him whose presence was
with it, the waters of Jordan were to be divided, to give them a passage
through it as on dry land, and so it came to pass.
Joshua 3:12 12 Now therefore, take for
yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from every tribe.
YLT
12and now, take for you
twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, one man -- one man for a tribe;
Now therefore take ye twelve men,.... For what end and
purpose is not mentioned. Abarbinel is of opinion, that they were chosen and
appointed, that every man might pitch upon and take a place for his tribe to
encamp in, when they came on the other side Jordan: whether this was Joshua's
view or no is not certain; however, the use he made of these, thus provided by
divine direction, is related Joshua 4:2,
and these were to be taken out of the tribes of Israel, out of
every tribe a man; Levi not reckoned, having no part in the land; and so we find
that tribe left out in other accounts, when there was a choice of twelve men
out of each of the tribes, Numbers 13:4.
Joshua 3:13 13 And it shall come to pass,
as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of
all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters
of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and
they shall stand as a heap.”
YLT
13and it hath been, at the
resting of the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of Jehovah,
Lord of all the earth, in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan
are cut off -- the waters which are coming down from above -- and they stand --
one heap.'
And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the
priests that bear the ark of the Lord,.... Which they were bid
to take up and carry, Joshua 3:6,
the Lord of all the earth; this shows that not the
ark, but the Lord, is called "the Lord of all the earth"; see Gill on
Joshua 3:11,
shall rest in the waters of Jordan; the meaning is, as soon
as their feet should touch them, or they should set their feet in them, when
they came to the brink of them:
that the waters of
Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; from above
the place where the priests came, and the children of Israel after passed over:
and they shall stand upon an heap; or one heap; stop and
rise up high, as if piled up one upon another, and stand unmoved. This had been
made known to Joshua by divine revelation, and is what he hints at, Joshua 3:5; and now
plainly speaks out, and foretells before it came to pass; and which must serve
to magnify Joshua, as in Joshua 3:7; and
give him great credit and honour among the people.
Joshua 3:14 14 So it was, when the people
set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the
ark of the covenant before the people,
YLT
14And it cometh to pass, in
the journeying of the people from their tents to pass over the Jordan, and of
the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people,
And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents to
pass over Jordan,.... Which they had pitched very near it, upon their removal from
Shittim, and in which they had lodged the night past:
and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people; at the
distance of two thousand cubits.
Joshua 3:15 15 and as those who bore the
ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in
the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole
time of harvest),
YLT
15and at those bearing the
ark coming in unto the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark have
been dipped in the extremity of the waters (and the Jordan is full over all its
banks all the days of harvest) –
And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan,.... Not to
the bank, which was overflowed, but to the extremity of the water overflowing:
and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the
brim of the water; which was doubtless the first they came to, and not the brim or
extremity of it on the other side:
for Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest; that is, of
barley harvest, as appears from the time of year; for it was in the first
month, the month Nisan, or Abib, which answers to part of March, and April, it
used to overflow, 1 Chronicles 12:15;
and it was now the tenth day of that month, Joshua 4:19; on the
sixteenth of which, at the time of the passover, the sheaf of the firstfruits
of barley harvest was offered up, Leviticus 23:10;
the inundation continued all the time of harvest; and so AristeasF23Hist.
de 72. Interpret. p. 41. testifies, that"the river being filled, it
overflows as the Nile in the time of harvest, and waters much of the
country:'it overflows its banks both on the one side and on the other, the
eastern and western shores. This overflow is supposed to be occasioned either
by the latter rains, which fell about this time; or rather by the snow on Mount
Lebanon melting at this time of the year, when the sun has great strength in
those parts, and which poured down in great quantities into this river, that
took its rise from thence. JosephusF24Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 22.
speaks of Mount Lebanon and of the fountains of Jordan together; and says they
have their rise from the mountain; and of the snow of Lebanon see Jeremiah 18:14.
This river continued to overflow at this season in the times of David, 1 Chronicles 12:15;
and in the times of Aristeas, who lived in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus,
king of Egypt, as before observed; and some late travellersF25Egmont
and Heyman's Travels, vol. 1. p. 335, 336. observe,"it generally happens
in the month Nisan; that is, from the middle of March to the middle of April,
the time of the first harvest;'but Mr. MaundrellF26Journey from
Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 81, 82. , who was upon the spot in 1697, and at the
proper time of its overflowing, perceived nothing of it. He says,"there is
a small descent, which you may fitly call the, first and outermost bank of
Jordan, as far as which it may be supposed the river does, or at least did
anciently, overflow; but at present (whether it was because the river has by its
rapidity of current worn its channel deeper than it was formerly, or whether
because its waters are diverted some other way) it seems to have forgot its
ancient greatness; for we could discern no sign or probability of such
overflowings when we were there, which was the thirtieth of March, being the
proper time for these inundations; nay, so far was the river from overflowing,
that it ran at least two yards below the brink of the channel.'However, at this
time of the passage of the children of Israel through it, it was overflowing;
which made the miracle the greater.
Joshua 3:16 16 that the waters which came
down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at
Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into
the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the
people crossed over opposite Jericho.
YLT
16that the waters stand;
those coming down from above have risen -- one heap, very far above Adam the
city, which [is] at the side of Zaretan; and those going down by the sea of the
plain, the Salt Sea, have been completely cut off; and the people have passed
through over-against Jericho;
That the waters which came down from above,.... Above
where the priests' feet rested, and which came down from Mount Lebanon, and the
fountains of Jordan northward:
stood and rose up upon an heap; they stopped
their current, and as the water came down they rose up on high, and made one
vast heap of waters:
very far from the city of Adam, that is, beside Zaretan; the Cetib, or
textual reading, is, "in Adam the city"; we follow the marginal
reading, "from Adam": both readings, as is usually, if not always the
case, are to be received; and the meaning is, that this heap of waters, though
the river was at a considerable distance from Adam; yet through the overflow of
it, it reached to, and was "in Adam": this city was in Perea, on the
other side Jordan, that side on which the Israelites were before their passage;
and Zaretan, which is supposed to be the same with Zartanah, and Zarthan, 1 Kings 4:12, was
on this side, in the tribe of Manasseh; and the sense is, not that Adam was on
the side of Zaretan, or near it, for it was on the other side of the river; and
according to the TalmudistsF1T. Hieros. Sotah, fol. 21. 4. was
twelve miles from it; but the construction is with the word "heap",
"which heap was on the side of Zaretan"; it was there where
the waters were heaped up; it seems as if they reached on the one side to Adam,
and on the other side to Zaretan:
and those that came down towards the sea of the plain, even
the salt sea, failed, and were cut off; those waters, which were
below where the priests' feet rested, ran down into the lake Asphaltites, where
Sodom and Gomorrah formerly stood, the sea of the plain, or vale of Siddim, Genesis 14:3;
sometimes called the dead sea, and here the salt sea, its water being exceeding
salt; so, Mr. Maundrell, the above mentioned travellerF2Maundrell,
ut supra, (Journel from Aleppo to Jerusalem) p. 84. Ed. 7. testifies on his own
knowledge;"the water of the lake (the lake Asphaltites, or dead sea, says
he) was very limpid, and salt to the highest degree; and not only salt, but
also extreme bitter and nauseous;'
so
that these waters running down thither, and those above stopped, made a dry
channel for sixteen or eighteen miles: and the people passed over right against
Jericho; which was the city Joshua had in view to attack first, and had sent
spies thither to get intelligence of it, and the disposition of the people in
it: See Gill on Joshua 2:1.
Joshua 3:17 17 Then the priests who bore
the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground
in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until
all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.
YLT
17and the priests bearing the
ark of the covenant of Jehovah stand on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan
-- established, and all Israel are passing over on dry ground till that all the
nation hath completed to pass over the Jordan.
And the priests that bare the ark of the Lord stood firm on dry
ground in the midst of Jordan,.... Which for its breadth Mr. Maundrell,
the above mentioned traveller, saysF3Maundrell, Journey from Aleppo
to Jerusalem, p. 83. might be about twenty yards over, and its depth exceeded
his height; but Dr. ShawF4Travels, p. 346. , a later traveller
still, says,"the river Jordan is by far the most considerable river,
excepting the Nile, either of the coast of Syria, or of Barbary. I computed it
to be about thirty yards broad, but the depth I could not measure, except at
the brink, where I found it to be three yards.'Now in the midst of this river
the priests bearing the ark stood firm on dry ground, the waters above being
stopped and those below cut off. This perhaps might give rise to the fables
among the Heathens of the river Scamander being swelled for the destruction of
Achilles, and dried up by Vulcan, of which HomerF5Iliad. 21. makes
mention; and of the river Inachus, dried up by Neptune, as the Grecians fable;
however, if Heathens can credit these accounts, surely we Christians ought to
believe this, attested by divine revelation. And this may denote the presence
of Christ with his people in afflictions, who will not suffer those waters to
overflow them, and in death itself, when the swellings of Jordan shall not come
near them to distress them; and when the covenant of grace will appear firm and
sure, and be their great support; and when also the feet of the ministers of
Christ stand firm, and their faith fails not; which is of great use, and very
encouraging to the spiritual Israel of God:
and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground; the waters
being divided to a space large enough for such a body of people to pass over,
and which continued
until all the people were clean passed over Jordan; perfectly and
completely, not one being left behind, or lost in the passage through it; in
the midst of which the priests stood until all were passed over. So the
spiritual Israel of God must all go over Jordan's river, or must all go through
the valley of the shadow of death; and they will all go over safe to Canaan's
land, to the heavenly glory; their souls go immediately to heaven at death, and
their bodies will be raised at the last day, and be reunited to them, and
partake of happiness with them; nor will anyone of them be lost; they all clean
pass over, and arrive safe; for they are the chosen of God, the care and charge
of Christ, the purchase of his blood, partake of his grace, and have the
earnest of his Spirit.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)