CHAPTER III.

THE ADVANCE INTO CANAAN AND THE SETTLEMENTS

OF THE TRIBES

SECTION I. Joshua becomes the leader. Sends out spies to study the situation of Jericho and its defenses. They lodge with Rahab and bring back a favorable report. The solemn Crossing of the Jordan. Circumcision of the male children born since the departure from Egypt. The encampment at Gilgal. The advance upon Jericho. The fall of Jericho. The taking of Ai. The treaty with the Gibeonites. (Joshua, i, 1-2a; ii, 1, 4a, 6b, 2, 3b, 4b-5, 8-9, 12, 14, 18, 19, 21, 25b, 24; iii, 7a, 8-10a, 13-17; iv, 1-3, 8, 20; v, 2-3, 8-9, 13-19; vi, 2-3, 5c, 7, 10-12, 14-16a, 16c-17, 20a, 21, 25-27; vii, 2-26; viii, 1a, 3-10, 14, 15, 16b, 17b, 19a, c, 21b-22, 23, 29; ix, 3-6b, 12-13a, 16, 22-23a.)

Materials: Oral traditions. Possible records of the priests. The "Book of Jashar".

Now it came to pass after the death of Moses, the servant of Yahweh, that Yahweh spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses's minister, saying: Moses, My servant is dead; now, therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all thy people. Then Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two spies secretly, saying: Go, view the land and Jericho. And they went and came to the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lay there. And the woman took the two men and hid them among the stalks of flax which she had spread out upon the roof.

Now it was told the king of Jericho: Behold, there came men in hither to-night of the Children of Israel to search out the land. And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying: Bring forth the men that are come to thee. And she said: Yea, the men came to me; but it came to pass when it was dark the men went out; whither the men went I know not. Pursue them quickly, and ye will overtake them. And the men pursued them by the way to the Jordan. And before they were laid down, she came up to the men on the roof, and said: I know that Yahweh hath given you the land, and fear of you hath fallen upon us, for all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. Now, therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by Yahweh, since I have dealt kindly with you, that ye also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a true token. And the men said unto her: Our life for yours; if ye tell not this our business, it shall be, that when Yahweh giveth us this land, we will deal kindly and truly with thee. Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window; and thou shalt gather unto thee into the house thy father and thy mother and thy brethren, and all thy father's household. And it shall be that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless; and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our

head if any hand be on him. And she said: according unto your yords, so be it. And she sent them away; and they departed, and she bound the scarlet line in the window. Then the men returned and said to Joshua: Truly Yahweh hath delivered into our hands all the land; and, moreover, all the inhabitants of the land do melt away before us. Then Joshua rose up early in the morning, and he and all the people of Israel removed from Shittim and came to the Jordan, and lodged there before they passed over. And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying: Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people. And Yahweh said unto Joshua: Thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying: When ye come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, ye shall stand still in the Jordan. And Joshua said unto the Children of Israel: Come hither and hear the words of Yahweh your God. And Joshua said: Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you. Behold, the ark of the covenant of Yahweh passeth on before you, over the Jordan. And it shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of Yahweh shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, even the waters that come down from above, and they shall stand in one heap. And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents to pass over the Jordan, the priests that bore the ark of the covenant being before the people, and when they that bore the ark were come unto the Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bore the ark were dipped in the brink of the water,-for the Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest-that the waters which came down from above stood, and rose up in one heap, a great way off from Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off; and the people passed over right opposite Jericho. And the priests that bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, while all Israel passed over, until all the nation had passed clean over the Jordan.

And it came to pass, when all the people were passed over Jordan, that Yahweh spake unto Joshua, saying: Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, and command them, saying: Take you hence out of the midst of the Jordan, out of the place where the priests' feet stood, twelve stones made ready, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging-place where ye shall lodge this night.

And the Children of Israel did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, as Yahweh spake unto Joshua, according unto the number of the tribes of the Children of Israel; and they carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and they laid them down there. And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan did Joshua set up in Gilgal.

At that time, Yahweh said unto Joshua: Make thee knives of flint, and circumcise the Children of Israel. And Joshua made him knives of flint, and circumcised the Children of Israel at Gibeah-ha-Araloth (the Hill of the Foreskins). And it came to pass, when all the nation was circumcised, every one of them, that they abode in their places in the camp until they were whole. And Yahweh said unto Joshua: This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of that place was called Gilgal (rolling), to this day.

And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up

his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand; and Joshua went unto him and said unto him: Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said: Nay, but as leader of the host of Yahweh am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said unto him: What saith my lord unto his servant? And the leader of Yahweh's host said unto Joshua: Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. And Yahweh said unto Joshua: See, I have given into thy hand Jericho and the king thereof, even the mighty men of valor. And ye shall compass the city, all the men of war, going around the city once. This shalt thou do six days. And the seventh day the people shall go up, every man straight before him. And he said unto the people: Pass on and compass the city, and let the armed men pass on before the ark of Yahweh. And Joshua commanded the people, saying: Ye shall not shout, nor let your voice be heard, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout. So he caused the ark of Yahweh to compass the city going about it once; and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp. And Joshua rose up early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of Yahweh. And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp. Thus they did six days.

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early at the dawning of the day and compassed the city after the same manner seven times. Only on that day did they compass the city seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time that Joshua said unto the people: Shout! for Yahweh hath given you the city! And the city shall be devoted, even it and all that is therein, to Yahweh; only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. So the people shouted with a great shout and went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both men and women, both young and old, and ox and sheep and ass, with the edge of the sword. But Rahab the harlot, and her father's household, and all that she had, did Joshua save alive; and she dwelt in the midst of Israel unto this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. And Joshua charged the people with

Cursed before Yahweh be the man With the loss of his first-born son And with the loss of his youngest son

an oath at that time, saying:

that riseth to build up this city. shall he lay foundation thereof; shall he set up its gates.

So Yahweh was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land. And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-Aven on the east of Bethel, and spake unto them, saying: Go up and spy out the land. And the men went up and spied out Ai. And they returned to Joshua, and said unto him: Let not all the people go up; but let two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai; make not all the people go up, for they are but few. So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men; and they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty-six men; and they chased them from before the gate even unto Shebarim, and smote them at the descent. And Joshua rent his clothes and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of Yahweh until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust upon their heads. And Joshua said: Alas,