Giosuè 5:4 Commento

Israel have now got over Jordan, and the waters which had opened before them, to favour their march forward, are closed again behind them, to forbid their retreat backward. They have now got footing in Canaan, and must apply themselves to the conquest of it, in order to which this chapter tells us, I. How their enemies were dispirited (Jos 5:1). II. What was done at their first landing to assist and encourage them. 1. The covenant of circumcision was renewed (Jos 5:2-9). 2. The feast of the passover was celebrated (Jos 5:10). 3. Their camp was victualled with the corn of the land, whereupon the manna ceased (Jos 5:11, Jos 5:12). 4. The captain of the Lord's host himself appeared to Joshua to animate and direct him (Jos 5:13-15).

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 5 The Canaanites being dispirited on the passage of the children of Israel through Jordan, Jos 5:1; Joshua is ordered to circumcise such of the people of Israel that were uncircumcised, Jos 5:2; in order to their eating of the passover, which was now to be kept, Jos 5:10; and they being now provided with corn sufficient, the manna ceased, Jos 5:11; and there appeared to Joshua a divine Person, in an human form, to encourage and direct him what to do in the conquest of the land, and particularly Jericho, Jos 5:13.

And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise,.... Or the reason of the command given him to circumcise the children of Israel at this time, namely, what follows: all the people that came out of Egypt that were males, even all the men of war; meaning such that were twenty years old, and upwards: died in the wilderness, by the way, after they came out of Egypt; not directly, but in a course of forty years, as they journeyed through the wilderness; this is to be understood with an exception of Joshua, Caleb, Eleazar, &c. but then there was a large number who were under twenty years of age, that came out of Egypt, and were now living.

The circumcision was given to Abraham before the law, after the blessings and after the promise, as a sign to set him and those born of him and those of his household apart from the Gentiles in whose midst he was living. And this is obvious, because, when Israel spent forty years alone by themselves in the desert without mixing with any other nation, all those who were born in the desert were not circumcised. However, when Joshua brought them across the Jordan, they were circumcised and a second law of circumcision was made. For, under Abraham a law of circumcision was given, and then it was inoperative for forty years in the desert. Then, after the crossing of the Jordan, God again gave the law for a second time, as is written in the book of Joshua, son of Nave [Nun]: “At that time the Lord said to Joshua: make knives of stone from the sharpest rock, and sitting down circumcise the second time the children of Israel”; and a little further on: “for during forty-two years Israel dwelt in the wilderness of Midbar, and for this reason very many were uncircumcised of the sons of the fighting men who had come out of Egypt, who had disobeyed the commandments of God and to whom he declared that they should not see the good land which he had sworn to give to their fathers, the land flowing with milk and honey. The children of these he made to succeed in their place whom Joshua circumcised because of their not having been circumcised in the way.” Hence, circumcision was a sign by which Israel was set apart from the Gentiles among whom they lived.

The effect produced on the minds of the Canaanites by the late miracle, Jos 5:1. Joshua is commanded to circumcise the Israelites, Jos 5:2. He obeys, Jos 5:3. Who they were that were circumcised, and why it was now done, Jos 5:4-7. They abide in the camp till they are whole, Jos 5:8. The place is called Gilgal, and why, Jos 5:9. They keep the passover in the same place, Jos 5:10. They eat unleavened cakes and parched corn, on the morrow after the passover, Jos 5:11. The manna ceases, Jos 5:12. The captain of the Lord's host appears to Joshua, Jos 5:13-15.

This is the cause why Joshua did circumcise - The text here explains itself. Before the Israelites left Egypt all the males were circumcised; and some learned men think that all those who were born during their encampment at Sinai were circumcised also, because there they celebrated the passover; but after that time, during the whole of their stay in the wilderness, there were none circumcised till they entered into the promised land. Owing to their unsettled state, God appears to have dispensed, for the time being, with this rite; but as they were about to celebrate another passover, it was necessary that all the males should be circumcised; for without this they could not be considered within the covenant, and could not keep the passover, which was the seal of that covenant. As baptism is generally understood to have succeeded to circumcision, and the holy eucharist to the passover, hence, in the Church of England, and probably in most others, no person is permitted to receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper till he has been baptized.

THE CANAANITES AFRAID. (Jos 5:1) the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea--Under the former designation were included the people who inhabited the mountainous region, and under the latter those who were on the seacoast of Palestine. heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan . . . that their heart melted--They had probably reckoned on the swollen river interposing for a time a sure barrier of defense. But seeing it had been completely dried up, they were completely paralyzed by so incontestable a proof that God was on the side of the invaders. In fact, the conquest had already begun in the total prostration of spirit among the native chiefs. "Their heart melted," but unhappily not into faith and penitent submission.

this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise--The omission to circumcise the children born in the wilderness might have been owing to the incessant movements of the people; but it is most generally thought that the true cause was a temporary suspension of the covenant with the unbelieving race who, being rejected of the Lord, were doomed to perish in the wilderness, and whose children had to bear the iniquity of their fathers (Num 14:33), though, as the latter were to be brought into the promised land, the covenant would be renewed with them.

Circumcision of the People, and Celebration of the Passover at Gilgal - Jos 5:1-12 When the Israelites had trodden the soil of Canaan, Joshua began immediately to make arrangements for conquering the land, and destroying its inhabitants. As the Lord had only promised his His assistance on condition that the law given by Moses was faithfully observed (Jos 1:7.), it was necessary that he should proceed first of all to impose it as an inviolable obligation, not only upon himself, but also upon all the people entrusted to his charge, to fulfil all the precepts of the law, many of which could not be carried out during the journey through the wilderness, whilst many others had only been given with special reference to the time when the people should be dwelling in Canaan. The first duty which devolved upon him in this respect, was to perform the rite of circumcision upon the generation that had been born in the wilderness, and had grown up without circumcision, so that the whole congregation might be included in the covenant of the Lord, and be able to keep the passover, which was to be celebrated in a few days in the manner prescribed by the law.