Joshua 3:15
in Joshua 3Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and when they that bare the ark were come unto the Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (for the Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest),
KJV
And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)
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This verse in Joshua 3
Commentary
12 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Jordan overfloweth all his banks - Rather “is full up to all his banks,” i. e. “brim-full.” This remark strikingly illustrates the suddenness and completeness, not less than the greatness, of the marvel. The Jordan River flows at the bottom of a deep valley, which descends to the water’s edge on either side in two, occasionally in three, terraces. Within the lowest of these the stream, ordinarily less than 100 feet wide in this lower part of its course, is confined.
This site's exposition
when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan
on Joshua 3:14-16
The water stops at a named place, Adam. Some readers point to bank collapses that blocked the river there in 1267 and 1927 and read one timed to the priests’ step. Others read a direct holding of the water, and the text names the place and hour without a mechanism.
This site's exposition
overflows its banks
Barnes renders the phrase as full up to all its banks, within the lowest terrace where the stream is usually under a hundred feet wide. Clarke answers readers who thought the river easily forded. He cites 1 Chronicles 12:15 and traces the rise to snow melting on Lebanon.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
And do not imagine that these deeds are only in former times and nothing so great as this is brought forth in you who are now the hearer of them. For all things are fulfilled in you according to a mystical reckoning. Indeed you who long to draw near to the hearing of the divine law have recently forsaken the darkness of idolatry and are now for the first time forsaking Egypt.
A commentator
Gregory of NyssaTHE LIFE OF GREGORY THE WONDERWORKER 7.55 · Written before 395.
proposed
Joshua son of Nun made the Jordan River stop, but only as long as the ark was in the water. As soon as the people had crossed to the other side and the ark had come through, he gave the river back its usual flow again. The bottom of the deep in the Red Sea was denuded of water when the sea was driven back to either side by the Spirit, but the duration of the marvel was the passage of the army through the deep on the dry strip. But after that the surface of the sea became one again, and the temporary gap was flooded over. So this remains a unique event which occurred in such a way that the marvel did not lose credibility because of the passage of time, since it continues to be testified to by visible traces.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
All the time of harvest - This is meant not of wheat-harvest, but of the barley-harvest, as is manifest from their keeping the passover at their first entrance, chap. v, 10, which was kept on the fourteenth day of the first month, when they were to bring a sheaf of their first-fruits, which were of barley.
5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the L ORD will do wonders among you. 6 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.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:96%@v5-6
3 ), how the floods lifted up their voice, the floods lifted up their waves, while the Lord on high showed himself mightier than the noise of these many waters, Ps. xciii. With reference to this the prophet asks, Was the Lord displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? No, Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan,....
Note, Though the opposition given to the salvation of God's people have all imaginable advantages, yet god can and will conquer it. Let the banks of Jordan be filled to the brink, filled till they run over, it is as easy to Omnipotence to divide them, and dry them up, as if they were ever so narrow, ever so shallow; it is all one with the Lord.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
But as seen in harvest, it is twice as broad; and in ancient times, when the hills on the right and left were much more drenched with rain and snow than since the forests have disappeared, the river must, from a greater accession of water, have been broader still than at harvest-time in the present day.
And the feet of the priests - were dipped in the brim of the water - Thus we find that every thing occurred exactly in the way in which Joshua had foretold it. This must have greatly increased his credit among the people. For Jordan overfloweth all his banks, etc. - It has often been remarked that there was no need of a miracle in crossing Jordan, as it is but an inconsiderable stream, easily fordable, being but about twenty yards in breadth. But the circumstance marked here by the sacred historian proves that there was a time in the year, viz., in the harvest, that this said river overflowed its banks; and this is confirmed by another place in Scripture, 1Ch 12:15. As the miracle reported here took place about the beginning of April, a time in which rivers in general are less than in winter, it may be asked how there could be such an increase of waters at this time? The simple fact is, that the Jordan, as we have already seen, has its origin at the foot of Mount Lebanon, which mountain is always covered with snow during the winter months; in those months therefore the river is low: but when the summer’s sun has melted these snows, there is consequently a prodigious increase of waters, so that the old channel is not capable of containing them; this accounts for the statement in the text that the Jordan overfloweth his banks all the time of harvest; and this was the time which God chose they should pass over it, that a miraculous interposition might be necessary, and that by the miracle they should be convinced of his omnipotence, who was not only their guide, but had promised to put them in possession of this good land.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּכְב֞וֹא | ukhevo' | and just as came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| נֹשְׂאֵ֤י | noseei | [the] bearers of | H5375 → | 656 times |
| הָֽאָרוֹן֙ | haaron | the ark | H727 → | 202 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הַיַּרְדֵּ֔ן | haiyarden | the Jordan | H3383 → | 182 times |
| וְרַגְלֵ֤י | veraglei | and [the] feet of | H7272 → | 247 times |
| הַכֹּֽהֲנִים֙ | hakohanim | the priests | H3548 → | 750 times |
| נֹשְׂאֵ֣י | noseei | [the] bearers of | H5375 → | 656 times |
| הָֽאָר֔וֹן | haaron | the ark | H727 → | 202 times |
| נִטְבְּל֖וּ | nitbelu | they were dipped | H2881 → | |
| בִּקְצֵ֣ה | biktzeh | in [the] edge of | H7097 → | 97 times |
| הַמָּ֑יִם | hamayim | the waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| וְהַיַּרְדֵּ֗ן | vehaiyarden | and the Jordan | H3383 → | 182 times |
| מָלֵא֙ | male' | it is full | H4390 → | 249 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| גְּדוֹתָ֔יו | gedotav | banks its | H1415 → | |
| כֹּ֖ל | kol | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יְמֵ֥י | yemei | [the] days of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| קָצִֽיר׃ | katzir | harvest | H7105 → |
וּכְב֞וֹאand just as came
ukhevo'H935 →2568 times
נֹשְׂאֵ֤י[the] bearers of
noseeiH5375 →656 times
הָֽאָרוֹן֙the ark
haaronH727 →202 times
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
הַיַּרְדֵּ֔ןthe Jordan
haiyardenH3383 →182 times
וְרַגְלֵ֤יand [the] feet of
veragleiH7272 →247 times
הַכֹּֽהֲנִים֙the priests
hakohanimH3548 →750 times
נֹשְׂאֵ֣י[the] bearers of
noseeiH5375 →656 times
הָֽאָר֔וֹןthe ark
haaronH727 →202 times
נִטְבְּל֖וּthey were dipped
nitbeluH2881 →
בִּקְצֵ֣הin [the] edge of
biktzehH7097 →97 times
הַמָּ֑יִםthe waters
hamayimH4325 →581 times
וְהַיַּרְדֵּ֗ןand the Jordan
vehaiyardenH3383 →182 times
מָלֵא֙it is full
male'H4390 →249 times
עַל־over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
גְּדוֹתָ֔יוbanks its
gedotavH1415 →
כֹּ֖לall
kolH3605 →5413 times
יְמֵ֥י[the] days of
yemeiH3117 →2304 times
קָצִֽיר׃harvest
katzirH7105 →
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
Jeremiah 12:5“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, how will you do in the thickets…
it leads to
- 1 Peter 4:12
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you.
- Proverbs 24:10
If you faint in the day of distress, how small is your strength!
- Hebrews 12:3–4
Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
- Jeremiah 50:44
Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture. For in an instant I will chase Babylon from her land. Who is the chosen one…
- Psalms 42:7
Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and waves have rolled over me.
- 1 Peter 4:12
Through
Jeremiah 49:19Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture. For in an instant I will chase Edom from her land. Who is the chosen one…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 12:5
“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, how will you do in the thickets…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 12:5
Through
Joshua 3:13When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—touch down in the waters of the Jordan, its flowing waters will be cut off and will…
it leads to
- Exodus 15:8
At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up; like a wall the currents stood firm; the depths congealed in the heart of the sea.
- Psalms 78:13
He split the sea and brought them through; He set the waters upright like a wall.
- Exodus 15:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
On this chapter
About Joshua
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Gregory of Nyssa, THE LIFE OF GREGORY THE WONDERWORKER 7.55; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 4.1.