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Joshua 3:6

in Joshua 3

And he said to the priests, “Take the ark of the covenant and go on ahead of the people.” So they carried the ark of the covenant and went ahead of them.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.

KJV

And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.

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This verse in Joshua 3

Commentary

2 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark - It is remarkable that the priests, not the Levites, whose ordinary business it was were employed to carry the ark on this occasion. Calmet conjectures that this was because it was probably carried without being wrapped up in its curtains, as it always was when the Levites carried it. Though it was the business of the Levites, the sons of Kohath, to carry the ark; yet on certain occasions the priests alone performed this office. 1. In the present case. 2. When they encompassed Jericho, Jos 6:6.

This site's exposition

for to morrow the Lord

on Joshua 3:5-6

Exodus 19:10-11 has Moses sanctify the people to day and to morrow against the third day, when the Lord came down on the mountain, and the same word is paired with the same to morrow here. Sanctify yourselves falls once more in this book, at 7:13 after the defeat at Ai, where it goes before a search for the accursed thing instead of before a wonder. The ark is carried by priests rather than by the Kohathites of Numbers 4:15, and Adam Clarke notes that priests carry it again at the circuit of Jericho in 6:6.

The words behind it

19 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • יְהוֹשֻׁ֙עַ֙Joshua

    yehoshua'H3091 →218 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַכֹּהֲנִ֣יםthe priests

    hakohanimH3548 →750 times

  • לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • שְׂאוּ֙lift up

    seuH5375 →656 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אֲר֣וֹן[the] ark of

    ʾaronH727 →202 times

  • הַבְּרִ֔יתthe covenant

    haberitH1285 →284 times

  • וְעִבְר֖וּand pass over

    veivruH5674 →556 times

  • לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before

    lifneiH6440 →2123 times

  • הָעָ֑םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • וַיִּשְׂאוּ֙and they lifted up

    vaiyisuH5375 →656 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אֲר֣וֹן[the] ark of

    ʾaronH727 →202 times

  • הַבְּרִ֔יתthe covenant

    haberitH1285 →284 times

  • וַיֵּלְכ֖וּand they went

    vaiyelekhuH1980 →1546 times

  • לִפְנֵ֥י<to> before

    lifneiH6440 →2123 times

  • הָעָֽם׃ סthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

14 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 Kings 8:3When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the priests took up the ark,4 works2 Chronicles 5:4When all the elders of Israel had arrived, the Levites took up the ark,3 worksJoshua 3:3and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, you are to set out from your positions and follow it.2 worksMicah 2:13One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate, and go out by it. Their King will pass through before them, the LORD as their leader.2 worksNumbers 14:15If You kill this people as one man, the nations who have heard of Your fame will say,2 worksNumbers 10:33So they set out on a three-day journey from the mountain of the LORD, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them.2 works
The other 8 cross-references, with their words ▾
John 14:2–3In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?2 worksDeuteronomy 9:1Hear, O Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities fortified to the heavens.2 worksJoshua 3:14So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of them.2 worksJoshua 6:6So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and said, “Take up the ark of the covenant and have seven priests carry seven rams’ horns in front of the ark of the LORD.”2 worksNumbers 4:33This is the service of the Merarite clans according to all their work at the Tent of Meeting, under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.”2 works2 Samuel 15:24Zadok was also there, and all the Levites with him were carrying the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar offered sacrifices until the people had passed out of the city.2 worksHebrews 6:20where Jesus our forerunner has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.1 worksJoshua 8:33All Israel, foreigners and citizens alike, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the LORD facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded earlier, to bless the people of Israel.1 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Micah 2:13

    One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate, and go out by it. Their King will pass through before them, the LORD as their leader.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 52:12

      For you will not leave in a hurry nor flee in haste, for the LORD goes before you, and the God of Israel is your rear guard.

    • Zechariah 9:14–15

      Then the LORD will appear over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning. The Lord GOD will sound the ram’s horn and advance in the whirlwinds of the south.

    • Isaiah 45:1–2

      This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates…

    • Hebrews 2:14–15

      Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil,

    • Revelation 7:17

      For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

  • Through

    Joshua 3:3

    and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, you are to set out from your positions and follow it.

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 31:9

      So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.

    • 2 Samuel 6:13

      When those carrying the ark of the LORD had advanced six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.

  • Through

    Numbers 10:33

    So they set out on a three-day journey from the mountain of the LORD, with the ark of the covenant of the LORD traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a…

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 1:33

      who went before you on the journey, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day, to seek out a place for you to camp and to show you the road to…

About Joshua

The Israelites Cross the Jordan River — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Israelites Cross the Jordan River — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Joshua: the study guide →Read Joshua 3 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Joshua 3 →