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Joshua 6:20

in Joshua 6

So when the rams’ horns sounded, the people shouted. When they heard the blast of the horn, the people gave a great shout, and the wall collapsed. Then all the people charged straight into the city and captured it.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

So the people shouted, and the priests blew the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, that the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

KJV

So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

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This verse in Joshua 6

Commentary

4 notes on this verse
And did Joshua, the son of Nun, err in recognizing the leader of the heavenly host? But after he believed, he forthwith conquered, being found worthy to triumph in the battle of faith. Again, he did not lead forth his armed ranks into the fight, nor did he overthrow the ramparts of the enemy's walls, with battering rams or other engines of war, but with the sound of the seven trumpets of the priests. Thus the blare of the trumpet and the badge of the priest brought a cruel war to an end.

This site's exposition

So the people shouted when

Hebrews 11:30 names this as an act of faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they were compassed about seven days, and the very next verse names Rahab, so the New Testament sets the falling wall and the woman living inside it in consecutive sentences. The wall falls flat and every man goes up straight before him, which means the army enters on every side at once and uses no gate. The mound at Tell es-Sultan is disputed on date rather than on ruin: Garstang read the collapsed walls as the Jericho of Joshua near 1400 BC, Kathleen Kenyon redated that destruction to about 1550 in Digging Up Jericho, and Bryant Wood reopened the pottery case for Garstang's date.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

An abstract of this story we find among the trophies of faith, Heb. xi. "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days." The Siege of Jericho. 1 Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

The people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down - There has been much learned labor spent to prove that the shouting of the people might be the natural cause that the wall fell down! To wait here, either to detail or refute any such arguments, would be lost time: enough of them may be seen in Scheuchzer.

The words behind it

25 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.

  • וַיָּ֣רַעand it shouted

    vaiyara'H7321 →44 times

  • הָעָ֔םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • וַֽיִּתְקְע֖וּand they gave a blast

    vaiyitkeuH8628 →69 times

  • בַּשֹּֽׁפָר֑וֹתon the trumpets

    bashofarotH7782 →72 times

  • וַיְהִי֩and it was

    vayhiH1961 →3559 times

  • כִשְׁמֹ֨עַwhen heard

    khishmoa'H8085 →1159 times

  • הָעָ֜םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • ק֣וֹל[the] sound of

    kolH6963 →506 times

  • הַשּׁוֹפָ֗רthe trumpet

    hashofarH7782 →72 times

  • וַיָּרִ֤יעוּand they shouted

    vaiyariuH7321 →44 times

  • הָעָם֙the people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • תְּרוּעָ֣הa shout

    teruahH8643 →

  • גְדוֹלָ֔הloud

    gedolahH1419 →526 times

  • וַתִּפֹּ֨לand it fell

    vatipolH5307 →435 times

  • הַֽחוֹמָ֜הthe city wall

    hachomahH2346 →133 times

  • תַּחְתֶּ֗יהָin place its

    tachteihaH8478 →505 times

  • וַיַּ֨עַלand it went up

    vaiyaalH5927 →890 times

  • הָעָ֤םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • הָעִ֙ירָה֙the city towards

    hairahH5892 →1090 times

  • אִ֣ישׁeveryone

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • נֶגְדּ֔וֹbefore himself

    negdoH5048 →151 times

  • וַֽיִּלְכְּד֖וּand they captured

    vaiyilkeduH3920 →121 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הָעִֽיר׃the city

    hairH5892 →1090 times

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

Related verses

16 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.

Hebrews 11:30By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.17 works2 Corinthians 10:4The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.15 worksJoshua 6:5And when there is a long blast of the ram’s horn and you hear its sound, have all the people give a mighty shout. Then the wall of the city will collapse and all your people will charge straight into the city.”8 worksPsalms 111:6He has shown His people the power of His works by giving them the inheritance of the nations.6 worksExodus 34:10And the LORD said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will perform wonders that have never been done in any nation in all the world. All the people among whom you live will see the LORD’s work, for it is an awesome thing that I am doing with you.6 worksJudges 7:22And when the three hundred rams’ horns sounded, the LORD set all the men in the camp against one another with their swords. The army fled to Beth-shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.4 works
The other 10 cross-references, with their words ▾
Judges 7:20The three companies blew their horns and shattered their jars. Holding the torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands, they shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!”3 worksNumbers 20:8“Take the staff and assemble the congregation. You and your brother Aaron are to speak to the rock while they watch, and it will pour out its water. You will bring out water from the rock and provide drink for the congregation and their livestock.”3 works1 Samuel 4:5When the ark of the covenant of the LORD entered the camp, all the Israelites raised such a great shout that it shook the ground.2 worksEzekiel 21:22In his right hand appears the portent for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to call for the slaughter, to lift a battle cry, to direct the battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to erect a siege wall.2 worksJudges 7:8So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred men, who took charge of the provisions and rams’ horns of the others. And the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley.2 worksJeremiah 50:15Raise a war cry against her on every side! She has thrown up her hands in surrender; her towers have fallen; her walls are torn down. Since this is the vengeance of the LORD, take out your vengeance upon her; as she has done, do the same to her.2 worksJoshua 2:15Then Rahab let them down by a rope through the window, since the house where she lived was built into the wall of the city.2 worksExodus 32:17When Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “The sound of war is in the camp.”2 works2 Chronicles 13:15and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. And when they raised the cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.2 worksEzekiel 26:10His multitude of horses will cover you in their dust. When he enters your gates as an army entering a breached city, your walls will shake from the noise of cavalry, wagons, and chariots.2 works

The walk

6 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

    Joshua 6:5

    And when there is a long blast of the ram’s horn and you hear its sound, have all the people give a mighty shout. Then the wall of the city will collapse and all…

    it leads to

    • 2 Corinthians 10:4–5

      The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Hebrews 11:30

      By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.

    • Exodus 19:19

      And as the sound of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder.

    • Joshua 6:16

      After the seventh time around, the priests blew the horns, and Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city!

    • 1 Samuel 4:5

      When the ark of the covenant of the LORD entered the camp, all the Israelites raised such a great shout that it shook the ground.

  • Through

    Hebrews 11:30

    By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.

    it leads to

    • Joshua 6:3–20

      March around the city with all the men of war, circling the city one time. Do this for six days.

Where this verse is studied

About Joshua

The Walls of Jericho Fall Down — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Walls of Jericho Fall Down — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Joshua: the study guide →Read Joshua 6 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Ambrose of Milan, Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.10.126; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Joshua 6 →