Joshua 6:1
in Joshua 6Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.
KJV
Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.
⋯
This verse in Joshua 6
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
This verse is strictly parenthetical. It is inserted to explain the declaration commenced Jos 5:14, and interrupted by Joshua’s question and obeisance Jos 5:14-15, but resumed in Jos 6:2. Straitly shut up - See the margin, i. e., not only shut, but barred and bolted.
This site's exposition
Jericho was tightly shut up
on Joshua 6:1-2
Verse 1 stands outside the action: the city is barred from within. Barnes reads it as a parenthesis resuming the Commander’s word of 5:14. The promise is past tense, “I have delivered Jericho into your hand”, and Joshua repeats that tense at verse 16 while the wall still stands.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It did shut up, and it was shut up (so it is in the margin); it did shut up itself, being strongly fortified both by art and nature, and it was shut up by the obstinacy and resolution of the inhabitants, who agreed never to surrender nor so much as sound a parley; none went out as deserters or to treat of peace, nor were any admitted in to offer peace.
Now Jericho was straitly shut up, because of the children of Israel,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Now Jericho was straitly shut up--This verse is a parenthesis introduced to prepare the way for the directions given by the Captain of the Lord's host.
Now Jericho was straitly shut up - The king of Jericho, finding that the spies had escaped, though the city was always kept shut by night, took the most proper precaution to prevent every thing of the kind in future, by keeping the city shut both day and night, having, no doubt, laid in a sufficiency of provisions to stand a siege, being determined to defend himself to the uttermost.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Shut and barred. [Lit. closed and closed] Targum translates: ‘Closed with iron gates and reinforced with bars of copper.’
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. 4 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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וִֽירִיחוֹ֙ | viricho | and Jericho | H3405 → | 57 times |
| סֹגֶ֣רֶת | sogeret | [was] shutting | H5462 → | 91 times |
| וּמְסֻגֶּ֔רֶת | umesugeret | and shut up | H5462 → | 91 times |
| מִפְּנֵ֖י | mipenei | <from> because of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֵ֥ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| יוֹצֵ֖א | yotze' | [was one] going out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| וְאֵ֥ין | veein | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| בָּֽא׃ ס | ba' | [was one] coming | H935 → | 2568 times |
וִֽירִיחוֹ֙and Jericho
virichoH3405 →57 times
סֹגֶ֣רֶת[was] shutting
sogeretH5462 →91 times
וּמְסֻגֶּ֔רֶתand shut up
umesugeretH5462 →91 times
מִפְּנֵ֖י<from> because of
mipeneiH6440 →2123 times
בְּנֵ֣י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֵ֥יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
יוֹצֵ֖א[was one] going out
yotze'H3318 →1067 times
וְאֵ֥יןand there not
veeinH369 →789 times
בָּֽא׃ ס[was one] coming
ba'H935 →2568 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
Psalms 127:1Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:9
A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
- 1 Corinthians 3:7
So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
- Proverbs 21:30–31
There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.
- 1 Corinthians 3:9–15
For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
- Psalms 33:16–18
No king is saved by his vast army; no warrior is delivered by his great strength.
- Proverbs 16:9
Through
Joshua 2:24“The LORD has surely delivered the entire land into our hands,” they said to Joshua. “Indeed, all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of us.”
it leads to
- Exodus 23:31
And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you…
- Joshua 21:44–45
And the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the LORD delivered all their enemies into their…
- Exodus 23:31
Through
Joshua 2:7So the king’s men set out in pursuit of the spies along the road to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as they had gone out, the gate was shut.
it leads to
- Judges 3:28
“Follow me,” he told them, “for the LORD has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they followed him down and seized the fords of the Jordan leading to Moab, and did…
- Judges 3:28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies11
On this verse
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; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.