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Joshua 5:1

in Joshua 5

Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and their spirits failed for fear of the Israelites.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, that were beyond the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, that were by the sea, heard how that Jehovah had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.

KJV

And it came to pass, when all 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, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.

This verse in Joshua 5

Commentary

8 notes on this verse
The Amorites were the principal of those nations which occupied the hill country of Judaea (Gen 10:16 note); the Canaanites of those that dwelt on the coast and low lands. These words are therefore equivalent to “all the kings of the highlanders, and all the kings of the lowlanders:” i. e. the kings of all the tribes of the country. Until we were passed over - The use of the first person has been noted here, and in Jos 5:6 (compare Act 16:10), as suggesting the hand of one who himself shared in what he describes.

This site's exposition

Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan

The kings hear what happened and lose heart before a sword is drawn. Rahab had reported this fear in chapter 2, so a Canaanite told the reader first. The Hebrew puts the crossing in the first person, and commentators take it as the writer placing himself among those who crossed.

The record, by era

The Reformation1 voice

A commentator

John Calvin

1509–1564

Commentaries (1554)

proposed

Thus God spared their weakness, as if he had opened up the way by removing obstacles, because they had already proved themselves to be otherwise more sluggish and cowardly than was meet. The substance then is, that before the conflict commenced, the enemy were already routed by the terror which the fame of the miracle had inspired.

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward,.... On the side the Israelites were now on; and this is observed, to distinguish them from the other kings of the Amorites beyond Jordan, on the eastern side, who were already conquered by the Israelites, Sihon and Og, who seem to be a colony that went over from the Amorites in Canaan, and possessed themselves of that part of the land of Moab.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

How fair and clear she was made in the eyes of her friends, by the rolling away of the reproach of Egypt, we are told in the following verses. Here is the fright which the Canaanites were put into by their miraculously passing over Jordan,

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The news of it was soon dispersed all the country over, not only as a prodigy in itself, but as an alarm to all the kings and kingdoms of Canaan. Now, as when Babylon was taken, One post runs to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to carry the amazing tidings to every corner of their land, Jer. li.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

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.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The Amorites which were on the side of Jordan westward - It has already been remarked that the term Amorite is applied sometimes to signify all the nations or tribes of Canaan. It appears from this verse that there were people thus denominated that dwelt on both sides of the Jordan. Those on the east side had already been destroyed in the war which the Israelites had with Sihon and Og; with those on the west side Joshua had not yet waged war. It is possible however that the Amorites of whom we read in this verse, were the remains of those who dwelt on the east side of the Jordan, and who had taken refuge here on the defeat of Og and Sihon.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

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.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Joshua 5:1:1, via Sefaria, The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997

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

37 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.

  • וַיְהִ֣יand it was

    vayhiH1961 →3559 times

  • כִשְׁמֹ֣עַwhen heard

    khishmoa'H8085 →1159 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • מַלְכֵ֣י[the] kings of

    malkheiH4428 →2525 times

  • הָאֱמֹרִ֡יthe Amorite[s]

    haemoriH567 →87 times

  • אֲשֶׁר֩who

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • בְּעֵ֨בֶר[were] on [the] other side of

    beeverH5676 →90 times

  • הַיַּרְדֵּ֜ןthe Jordan

    haiyardenH3383 →182 times

  • יָ֗מָּהwest -ward

    yamahH3220 →396 times

  • וְכָל־and all

    vekholH3605 →5413 times

  • מַלְכֵ֤י[the] kings of

    malkheiH4428 →2525 times

  • הַֽכְּנַעֲנִי֙the Canaanite[s]

    hakenaaniH3669 →73 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwho

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • עַל־[were] at

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הַיָּ֔םthe sea

    haiyamH3220 →396 times

  • אֵ֠ת<obj.>

    ʾetH853 →10935 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־[they heard] this:

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • הוֹבִ֨ישׁhe had dried up

    hovishH3001 →59 times

  • יְהוָ֜הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • מֵ֧י[the] waters of

    meiH4325 →581 times

  • הַיַּרְדֵּ֛ןthe Jordan

    haiyardenH3383 →182 times

  • מִפְּנֵ֥יfrom before

    mipeneiH6440 →2123 times

  • בְנֵֽי־[the] people of

    venei-H1121 →4930 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • עַד־until

    ʾad-H5704 →1261 times

  • עָבְרָ֑םpassing over they

    averamH5674 →556 times

  • וַיִּמַּ֣סand it melted

    vaiyimasH4549 →21 times

  • לְבָבָ֗םheart their

    levavamH3824 →252 times

  • וְלֹא־and not

    velo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • הָ֨יָהit was

    hayahH1961 →3559 times

  • בָ֥םin <the> them

    vam

  • עוֹד֙still

    ʾodH5750 →490 times

  • ר֔וּחַspirit

    ruachH7307 →

  • מִפְּנֵ֖י<from> because of

    mipeneiH6440 →2123 times

  • בְּנֵֽי־[the] people of

    benei-H1121 →4930 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ סIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

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

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

    Ezra 9:1

    After these things had been accomplished, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the surrounding peoples whose abominations are like…

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 18:24–30

      Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves.

    • Nehemiah 9:2

      Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all the foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

    • Ezra 10:10–11

      Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women, adding to the guilt of Israel.

  • Through

    Genesis 48:22

    And to you, as one who is above your brothers, I give the ridge of land that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”

    it leads to

    • John 4:5

      So He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

    • Joshua 24:32

      And the bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up out of Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the plot of land that Jacob had purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father,…

  • Through

    Numbers 13:29

    The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.”

    it leads to

    • Numbers 14:43

      For there the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you, and you will fall by the sword. Because you have turned away from the LORD, He will not be with you.”

    • Judges 6:3

      Whenever the Israelites would plant their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and other people of the east would come up and invade them,

  • Through

    1 Kings 10:5

    the food at his table, the seating of his servants, the service and attire of his attendants and cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he presented at the house of the LORD, it took her…

    it leads to

    • 1 Chronicles 26:16

      The lots for the West Gate and the Shallecheth Gate on the ascending highway fell to Shuppim and Hosah. There were guards stationed at every watch.

Where this verse is studied

About Joshua

Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon, John Martin, 1816, National Gallery of Art. Public domain.
Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon, John Martin, 1816, National Gallery of Art. Public domain.

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.