Joshua 6:5 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Joshua 6:5
And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
to draw · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
ram’s
הַיּוֹבֵ֗לhai.yo.Vel
H3104
the blast of a horn (from its continuous sound) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
horn
בְּקֶ֣רֶןbe.Ke.ren
H7161
a horn (as projecting) · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
hear
כְּשָׁמְעֲכֶם֙ke.sha.me.'a.khem
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine plural
sound
ק֣וֹלKol
H6963
a voice or sound · noun, common masculine singular construct
trumpet
הַשּׁוֹפָ֔רha.sho.Far
H7782
a cornet (as giving a clear sound) or curved horn · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
people
הָעָ֖םha.'Am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
shout
יָרִ֥יעוּya.Ri.'u
H7321
to mar (especially by breaking) · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
great
גְדוֹלָ֑הge.do.Lah
H1419
great (in any sense) · adjective, feminine singular absolute
shout
תְּרוּעָ֣הte.ru.'Ah
H8643
clamor · noun, common feminine singular absolute
wall
חוֹמַ֤תcho.Mat
H2346
a wall of protection · noun, common feminine singular construct
city
הָעִיר֙ha.'Ir
H5892
a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
down
וְנָ֨פְלָ֜הve.Na.fe.Lah
H5307
to fall · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
flat
תַּחְתֶּ֔יהָtach.Tei.ha
H8478
the bottom (as depressed) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
people
הָעָ֖םha.'Am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
up
וְעָל֥וּve.'a.Lu
H5927
to ascend · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
man
אִ֥ישׁ'ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
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
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
Hebrews 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.
Exodus 19:19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
Joshua 6:16 And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath give…
1 Samuel 4:5 And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.
2 Chronicles 13:14-15 And when Judah looked back, behold, the battle was before and behind: and they cried unto the LORD, and the priests sounded with the trumpet…
Joshua 6:20 So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the…
Judges 7:20-22 And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right h…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Joshua 6:1-5
We have here a contest between God and the men of Jericho, and their different resolutions, upon which it is easy to say whose word shall prevail.
I. Jericho resolves Israel shall not be its master, Jos 6:1. It was straitly shut up, because of the children of Israel. 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. Thus were they infatuated, and their hearts hardened to their own destruction…
ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war. . . . Thus shalt thou do six days, &c.--Directions are here given as to the mode of procedure. Hebrew, "horns of jubilee"; that is, the bent or crooked trumpets with which the jubilee was proclaimed. It is probable that the horns of this animal were used at first; and that afterwards, when metallic trumpets were introduced, the primitive name, as well as form of them, was traditionally continued. The design of this whole proceeding was obviously to impress the Canaanites with a sense of the divine omnipotence, to teach the Israelites a memorable lesson of faith and confidence in God's promises, and to inspire sentiments of respect and reverence f…
The wall of the city shall fall down flat - Several commentators, both Jews and Christians, have supposed that the ground under the foundation of the walls opened, and the wall sunk into the chasm, so that there remained nothing but plain ground for the Israelites to walk over. Of this the text says nothing: - ונפלה חומת העיר תחתיה venaphelah chomath hair tachteyha, literally translated, is, The wall of the city shall fall down Under Itself; which appears to mean no more than, The wall shall fall down From Its Very Foundations. And this probably was the case in every part, though large breaches in different places might be amply sufficient to admit the armed men first, after whom the whole h…
The Church Fathers
The walls of Jericho fell down on account of the priestly trumpets because they contained within themselves a sinful people. A battering ram did not strike it, nor did a machine of war storm it, but—what is remarkable—the terror of the priestly sound brought it down. The walls that had stood impervious to iron collapsed at the sacred voice of the trumpets. Who would not be amazed that when the sound had been made, stones were broken to pieces, foundations were shattered by the noise, and everything collapsed in such a way that, although the conquerors did not injure their own forces, nonetheless among the enemy nothing remained standing? But although no one touched those walls, still they were taken from without at the sound of the righteous while sinners dwelled within. For this reason, then, they gave way, lest they offer resistance to the ones or somehow protect the others. To the righteous they opened a path and to the faithless they denied protection. Therefore, brothers, if the sound of the priestly voice was so powerful at that time, such that its blast in the air announced a certain confusion, how much more do we believe that that priestly voice is living now, which shows forth something magnificent when it speaks Christ in words!… Or how could feeling creatures resist when even unfeeling ones were unable to endure the sacred dread? For we believe that hearts can more easily be softened than rocks at the words of the priests and that sins can be forgiven in a shorter time than those stones were split asunder. For the voice of the Spirit, when it comes, destroys the stain of sin more easily than it breaks apart a tangible fortification of rock.
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
Horn — Trumpets were at first horns perforated at the tip, used for various purposes (Josh. 6:4, 5). Flasks or vessels were made of horn (1 Sam. 16:1, 13; 1 Kings 1:39). But the word is used also…
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…
Music, Instrumental — Among instruments of music used by the Hebrews a principal place is given to stringed instruments. These were, (1.) The kinnor, the “harp.” (2.) The nebel, “a skin bottle,” rendered “psaltery.” (3.)…
Communion · .Joshua — .Joshua
Horns · Were used: As musical instruments — Were used: As musical instruments
Sieges · Mentioned in scripture: Jericho — Mentioned in scripture: Jericho
Trumpet · Ma — Ma
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn,.... Continue blowing, and protracting, and drawing out the sound a long time; which they did only on the seventh day; on the other days it was but a short blast they made at a time; so that this being different, it would be a good sign and token to the people to do what they are next directed to:
and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet; drawn out to a great length:
all the people shall shout with a great shout; at once, as when an onset is made in battle, or a victory is obtained:
and the wall of the city shall fall down flat; or "under itself" (a); which Jarchi interprets, in its place; that is, where it s…
Joshua 6:1-19
1. Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.
1. Jericho autem erat clausa, et claudebatur propter filios Israel, nec poterat quisquam egredi, vel ingredi.
2. And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor.
2. Dixitque Jehova ad Josuam, Ecce tradidi in manum tuam Jericho, et regem ejus, et virtute praestantes.
3. And you shall compass the city, all you men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shall thou do six days.
3. Circuibitis itaque urbem, omnes viri bellatores, circundando eam semel: sic facies sex diebus.
4. And seven pr…
When Joshua had taken off his shoes, the prince of the army of God made known to him the object of his coming (Jos 6:2-5). But before relating the message, the historian first of all inserts a remark concerning the town of Jericho, in the form of an explanatory clause, for the purpose of showing the precise meaning of the declaration which follows.
(Note: If there is any place in which the division of chapters is unsuitable, it is so here; for the appearance of the prince of the angels does not terminate with Jos 5:15, but what he had come to communicate follows in Jos 6:2-5, and Jos 6:1 merely contains an explanatory clause inserted before his message, which serves to throw light upon the s…
Seven is a biblical number of perfection. • The seven priests were to precede the Ark, the emblem of God’s presence, at the head of Israel’s forces. This arrangement symbolized that God himself fought against the town. Israel had only to march and observe, then shout and observe, and finally mop up after God delivered the town into their hands. • The ram’s horn (Hebrew shofar) could sound several pitches to signal either battle or worship. In battle, the shofar alerted troops or townsfolk to an enemy’s approach or sounded the call to advance or retreat.
Rashi on Joshua 6:5
A long blast. When the final blast is sounded, and the blower extends the sound.
In its very place [Lit. under itself] In its place.
