Joshua 3:16

That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
waters	הַמַּיִם֩ ha.ma.Yim	H4325	water · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
down	הַיֹּרְדִ֨ים hai.yo.re.Dim	H3381	to descend (literally · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
above	מִלְמַ֜עְלָה mil.Ma'.lah	H4605	properly · preposition + preposition + cardinal number, both genders singular absolute + directional suffix
stood	וַיַּעַמְד֡וּ vai.ya.'am.Du	H5975	to stand · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
up	קָ֣מוּ Ka.mu	H6965	to rise (in various applications · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
an	אֶחָ֗ד 'e.Chad	H259	properly · cardinal number, feminine singular absolute
heap	נֵד ned-	H5067	a mound · noun, common masculine singular absolute
very	מְאֹ֜ד me.'Od	H3966	properly · cardinal number, masculine singular absolute
far	הַרְחֵ֨ק har.Chek	H7368	to widen (in any direction) · verb, hiphil infinitive absolute
city	הָעִיר֙ ha.'Ir	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Adam	מֵֽאָדָ֤ם me.'a.dam	H121	Adam the name of the first man · preposition + proper noun, a place name
beside	מִצַּ֣ד mi.Tzad	H6654	a side · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Zaretan	צָֽרְתָ֔ן tza.re.Tan	H6891	Tsarethan · proper noun, a place name
down	וְהַיֹּרְדִ֗ים ve.hai.yo.re.Dim	H3381	to descend (literally · conjunction + definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
sea	יָ֧ם yam	H3220	a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · noun, common masculine singular construct
plain	הָעֲרָבָ֛ה ha.'a.ra.Vah	H6160	a desert · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
salt	הַמֶּ֖לַח ha.Me.lach	H4417	properly · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
sea	יָם yom-	H3220	a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · noun, common masculine singular construct
failed	תַּ֣מּוּ Ta.mu	H8552	to complete · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
off	נִכְרָ֑תוּ nikh.Ra.tu	H3772	to cut (off · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person common plural
people	וְהָעָ֥ם ve.ha.'Am	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
over	עָבְר֖וּ 'a.ve.Ru	H5674	to cross over · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
Jericho	יְרִיחֽוֹ ye.ri.Cho	H3405	Jericho or Jerecho · proper noun, a place name

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Joshua 3:13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall r…
Genesis 14:3 All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.
1 Kings 4:12 Baana the son of Ahilud; to him pertained Taanach and Megiddo, and all Beth-shean, which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Beth-shean to…
1 Kings 7:46 In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarthan.
Numbers 34:3 Then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the coast of Edom, and your south border shall be the outmost coast of…
Deuteronomy 1:1 These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red sea, between P…
Psalms 114:3 The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.
Deuteronomy 3:17 The plain also, and Jordan, and the coast thereof, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, under Ashdoth-pisgah e…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Joshua 3:14–end

Here we have a short and plain account of the dividing of the river Jordan, and the passage of the children of Israel through it. The story is not garnished with the flowers of rhetoric (gold needs not to be painted), but it tell us, in short, matter of fact. I. That this river was now broader and deeper than usually it was at other times of the year, Jos 3:15. The melting of the snow on the mountains of Lebanon, near which this river had its rise, was the occasion that at the time of harvest, barley-harvest, which was the spring of the year, Jordan overflowed all his banks. This great flood, just at that time (which Providence might have restrained for once, of which he might have ordered t…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Joshua 3:16

the waters which came down from above--that is, the Sea of Galilee stood and rose up upon a heap--"in a heap," a firm, compact barrier (Exo 15:8; Psa 78:13); very far--high up the stream; from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan--near mount Sartabeh, in the northern part of the Ghor (Kg1 7:46); that is, a distance of thirty miles from the Israelitish encampment; and those that came down toward the sea of the desert--the Dead Sea--were cut off (Psa 114:2-3). The river was thus dried up as far as the eye could reach. This was a stupendous miracle; Jordan takes its name, "the Descender," from the force of its current, which, after passing the Sea of Galilee, becomes greatly increased…

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Adam Clarke on Joshua 3:16

Rose up upon a heap - That is, they continued to accumulate, filling up the whole of the channel toward the source, and the adjacent ground over which they were now spread, to a much greater depth, the power of God giving a contrary direction to the current. We need not suppose them to be gathered up like a mountain, instar montis, as the Vulgate expresses it, but that they continued to flow back in the course of the channel; and ere they could have reached the lake of Gennesareth, where they might have been easily accumulated, the whole Israelitish army would have all got safely to the opposite side. Very far from the city Adam - beside Zaretan - Where these places were it is difficult to s…

The Church Fathers

Then there are the deeds of Joshua, who was marked out with Christ's name; under his guidance the Jordan kept its stream stationary and its waters still as it recoiled from the countenance of the divine ark. A strange power divided the river. One section came to a halt, its stream flowing back, while another section hastened in its gliding course to the sea, leaving the river bed exposed. Where the current surged strongly from its source, it held back and piled high its waves, so that a threatening mountain of water hung poised in quivering formation and looked down to see human feet passing across the dry, deep bed, and grimy soles hastening over the congealed mud, dry-footed in mid-river.
— Paulinus of Nola, POEM 27.511

Yet the people is led on by the priests and makes its journey to the land of promise under the tutelage of the priests. And who today among the priests is so great and such a one that he would deserve to be enrolled in that order? For if there be any such, the streams of the Jordan will yield to him and the very elements will stand in awe of him; one part of the river's waters will spring back and be reined in behind, while another part will flee away with a swift gliding into the "salt sea." Yet even this I judge not to have been written apart from the meaning of a mystery — that "part of the waters of the Jordan is plunged into the sea" and flows off into bitterness, while another part continues in sweetness. For if all who are baptized were to guard the sweetness of the heavenly grace they had received, and none turned to the bitterness of sins, it would surely not have been written that a part of the river had been immersed in the whirlpools of the "salt sea." And therefore in these words there seems to me to be signified that variety among the baptized which we ourselves — a thing I recall with grief — often see come to pass: that those who obtain holy baptism, when they again give themselves over to the affairs of the age and the enticements of lusts, and when they drink the salt cup of avarice, are formed in that part of the waters which flows off into the sea and perishes in the salt waves; but that part which remains with steadfastness and keeps its sweetness signifies those who hold the received gift of God without swerving. And rightly there is one part of those who are saved, because there is also one "bread," "which came down from heaven and gives life to this world," and there is "one faith" and "one baptism" and "one spirit," of which all are given to drink in baptism, and "one God, the Father of all."
— Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 4.2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Adam — Red, a Babylonian word, the generic name for man, having the same meaning in the Hebrew and the Assyrian languages. It was the name given to the first man, whose creation, fall, and subsequent…
Adam, the city of — Is referred to in Josh. 3:16. It stood “beside Zarethan,” on the west bank of Jordan (1 Kings 4:12). At this city the flow of the water was arrested and rose up “upon an heap” at the time of the…
Admah — Earth, one of the five cities of the vale of Siddim (Gen. 10:19). It was destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah (19:24; Deut. 29:23). It is supposed by some to be the same as the Adam of Josh. 3:16,…
Arabah — Plain, in the Revised Version of 2 Kings 14:25; Josh. 3:16; 8:14; 2 Sam. 2:29; 4:7 (in all these passages the A.V. has “plain”); Amos 6:14 (A.V. “wilderness”). This word is found in the Authorized…
Ark — Noah’s ark, a building of gopher-wood, and covered with pitch, 300 cubits long, 50 cubits broad, and 30 cubits high (Gen. 6:14-16); an oblong floating house of three stories, with a door in the side…
Jericho — Place of fragrance, a fenced city in the midst of a vast grove of palm trees, in the plain of Jordan, over against the place where that river was crossed by the Israelites (Josh. 3:16). Its site was…
Salt Sea — (Josh. 3:16). See DEAD SEA.
Tabernacle — (1.) A house or dwelling-place (Job 5:24; 18:6, etc.). (2.) A portable shrine (comp. Acts 19:24) containing the image of Moloch (Amos 5:26; marg. and R.V., “Siccuth”). (3.) The human body (2 Cor.…
Zaretan — When the Hebrews crossed the Jordan, as soon as the feet of the priests were dipped in the water, the flow of the stream was arrested. The point of arrest was the “city of Adam beside Zaretan,”…
Zaretan, Or Zarthan — (Joshua 3:16)
Zereda — The fortress, a city on the north of Mount Ephraim; the birthplace of Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:26). It is probably the same as Zaretan (Josh. 3:16), Zererath (Judg. 7:22), Zartanah (1 Kings 4:12), or the…

Joshua 3:16

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Joshua 3:14–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Joshua 3:16

Adam Clarke on Joshua 3:16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Joshua 3:16

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Joshua 3:14–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Joshua 3:16

Adam Clarke on Joshua 3:16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Joshua 3:16

John Calvin on Joshua 3:14–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Joshua 3:14-16

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Joshua 3:16

Rashi on Joshua 3:16