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Joshua 5:5

in Joshua 5

Though all who had come out were circumcised, none of those born in the wilderness on the journey from Egypt had been circumcised.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

For all the people that came out were circumcised; but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, they had not circumcised.

KJV

Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised.

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This verse in Joshua 5

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

John Damascene

ORTHODOX FAITH 4.25 · Written before 749.

The circumcision was given to Abraham before the law, after the blessings and after the promise, as a sign to set him and those born of him and those of his household apart from the Gentiles in whose midst he was living. And this is obvious, because, when Israel spent forty years alone by themselves in the desert without mixing with any other nation, all those who were born in the desert were not circumcised. However, when Joshua brought them across the Jordan, they were circumcised and a second law of circumcision was made.

This site's exposition

Make flint knives

on Joshua 5:2-7

The covenant sign had lapsed through the wilderness. The generation that carried the sign died in the desert, and the one that lacked it is taking the land. So the first act inside the country is to put the mark of Genesis 17 back on the people.

This site's exposition

none of those born in the wilderness

Barnes and Clarke both qualify the none. Boys born in the first year out of Egypt would have been circumcised before the passover in Numbers 9:1-5, since Exodus 12:48 required it. The lapse belongs to the years of wandering after that.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

Rather, it was a continued token of God's displeasure against them, for their unbelief and murmuring: a token that they should never have the benefit of that promise, whereof circumcision was the seal.
Now all the people that came out were circumcised,....

The words behind it

15 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.

  • כִּֽי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • מֻלִ֣יםcircumcised

    mulimH4135 →37 times

  • הָי֔וּthey had been

    hayuH1961 →3559 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • הָעָ֖םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • הַיֹּֽצְאִ֑יםwhich came out

    haiyotzeimH3318 →1067 times

  • וְכָל־and all

    vekholH3605 →5413 times

  • הָ֠עָםthe people

    haomH5971 →1873 times

  • הַיִּלֹּדִ֨ים<the> born

    haiyilodimH3209 →

  • בַּמִּדְבָּ֥רin the wilderness

    bamidbarH4057 →270 times

  • בַּדֶּ֛רֶךְon the way

    baderekhH1870 →707 times

  • בְּצֵאתָ֥םwhen went out they

    betzetamH3318 →1067 times

  • מִמִּצְרַ֖יִםfrom Egypt

    mimitzrayimH4714 →641 times

  • לֹא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • מָֽלוּ׃people had circumcised

    maluH4135 →37 times

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

Related verses

7 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.

Hosea 6:6–7For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.2 worksGalatians 6:15For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation.2 works1 Corinthians 7:19Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commandments is what counts.2 worksMatthew 12:7If only you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.2 worksGalatians 5:6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith, expressed through love.2 worksDeuteronomy 12:8–9You are not to do as we are doing here today, where everyone does what seems right in his own eyes.2 works
The other 1 cross-references, with their words ▾
Romans 2:26If a man who is not circumcised keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?2 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

    Matthew 12:7

    If only you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

    it leads to

    • Hosea 6:6

      For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

    • Matthew 9:13

      But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

    • Micah 6:6–8

      With what shall I come before the LORD when I bow before the God on high? Should I come to Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves?

  • Through

    Galatians 5:6

    For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith, expressed through love.

    it leads to

    • Galatians 6:15

      For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Galatians 6:15

    For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation.

    it leads to

    • Galatians 5:6

      For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith, expressed through love.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 2 Corinthians 5:17

      Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!

    • Colossians 3:10–11

      and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

    • Ephesians 2:10

      For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.

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.
Joshua: the study guide →Read Joshua 5 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Damascene, ORTHODOX FAITH 4.25; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Joshua 5 →