Joshua 5:2
in Joshua 5At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel once again.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
At that time Jehovah said unto Joshua, Make thee knives of flint, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.
KJV
At that time the Lord said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.
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This verse in Joshua 5
Commentary
3 notes on this verseMake thee sharp knives - חרבות צרים charboth tsurim, knives of rock, stone, or flint. Before the use of iron was common, all the nations of the earth had their edge-tools made of stones, flints, etc. In the lately discovered islands this is found to be a common case. Our ancestors in these countries made their arrow and spear-heads of flint: these I have often seen turned up by the plough.
This site's exposition
Make thee sharp knives
on Joshua 5:2-7
The covenant sign had lapsed for the whole of the wilderness, and the text says so plainly at verse 5, that those born by the way had not been circumcised. Nobody explains why it stopped, and the chapter gives the fact without a reason. The generation that carried the sign died in the desert and the generation that lacked it is the one taking the land, so the first act inside the country is to put the mark of Genesis 17 back on the people.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The language, however, evidently points to a general circumcising on some previous occasion, which, though unrecorded, must have been made before the celebration of the passover at Sinai (compare Ex 12:48; Nu 9:5), as a mixed multitude accompanied the camp. "The second time" of general circumcising was at the entrance into Canaan.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Who were on the western side of the Jordan. On the side to which Bnei Yisroel crossed, which is the western side, since they had been on the eastern side.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בָּעֵ֣ת | baet | at the time | H6256 → | 296 times |
| הַהִ֗יא | hahi' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| אָמַ֤ר | ʾamar | he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְהוֹשֻׁ֔עַ | yehoshua' | Joshua | H3091 → | 218 times |
| עֲשֵׂ֥ה | ʾaseh | make | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לְךָ֖ | lekha | for <the> yourself | ||
| חַֽרְב֣וֹת | charvot | knives of | H2719 → | 413 times |
| צֻרִ֑ים | tzurim | flint<s> | H6697 → | |
| וְשׁ֛וּב | veshuv | and return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| מֹ֥ל | mol | circumcise | H4135 → | 37 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּנֵֽי־ | benei- | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| שֵׁנִֽית׃ | shenit | a second [time] | H8145 → | 156 times |
בָּעֵ֣תat the time
baetH6256 →296 times
הַהִ֗יא<the> that
hahi'H1931 →1879 times
אָמַ֤רhe said
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְהוֹשֻׁ֔עַJoshua
yehoshua'H3091 →218 times
עֲשֵׂ֥הmake
ʾasehH6213 →2628 times
לְךָ֖for <the> yourself
lekha
חַֽרְב֣וֹתknives of
charvotH2719 →413 times
צֻרִ֑יםflint<s>
tzurimH6697 →
וְשׁ֛וּבand return
veshuvH7725 →1056 times
מֹ֥לcircumcise
molH4135 →37 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בְּנֵֽי־[the] people of
benei-H1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
שֵׁנִֽית׃a second [time]
shenitH8145 →156 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Deuteronomy 30:6The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 36:26–27
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
- Deuteronomy 10:16
Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.
- Romans 2:28–29
A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 32:39
I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will always fear Me for their own good and for the good of their children after them.
- Ezekiel 11:19–20
And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh,
- Ezekiel 36:26–27
Through
Deuteronomy 10:16Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 4:4
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and remove the foreskins of your hearts, O men of Judah and people of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to…
- Deuteronomy 30:6
The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
- Leviticus 26:41
and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled and they will make amends for their iniquity,
- Jeremiah 4:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Joshua
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.