Jehoshua (i.e. Joshua) · proper noun, a man's name
built
יִבְנֶ֤הyiv.Neh
H1129
to build (literally and figuratively) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
altar
מִזְבֵּ֔חַmiz.Be.ach
H4196
an altar · noun, common masculine singular absolute
LORD
לַֽיהוָ֖הla.Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · preposition + proper noun, a title
God
אֱלֹהֵ֣י'e.lo.Hei
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
mount
בְּהַ֖רbe.Har
H2022
a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
Ebal
עֵיבָֽל'ei.Val
H5858
Ebal · 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
Deuteronomy 27:4-6 Therefore it shall be when ye be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in mount Ebal, and thou…
Genesis 8:20 And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Genesis 12:7-8 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared u…
Exodus 20:24 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine ox…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Joshua 8:30–end
This religious solemnity of which we have here an account comes in somewhat surprisingly in the midst of the history of the wars of Canaan. After the taking of Jericho and Ai, we should have expected that the next news would be of their taking possession of the country, the pushing on of their victories in other cities, and the carrying of the war into the bowels of the nation, now that they had made themselves masters of these frontier towns. But here a scene opens of quite another nature; the camp of Israel is drawn out into the field, not to engage the enemy, but to offer sacrifice, to hear the law read, and to say Amen to the blessings and the curses. Some think this was not done till af…
JOSHUA BUILDS AN ALTAR. (Jos 8:30-31)
Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel in mount Ebal--(See on Deu 27:11). This spot was little short of twenty miles from Ai. The march through a hostile country and the unmolested performance of the religious ceremonial observed at this mountain, would be greatly facilitated, through the blessing of God, by the disastrous fall of Ai. The solemn duty was to be attended to at the first convenient opportunity after the entrance into Canaan (Deu 27:2); and with this in view Joshua seems to have conducted the people through the mountainous region that intervened though no details of the journey have been recorded. Ebal was on the north, oppo…
Then Joshua built an altar - This was done in obedience to the express command of God, Deu 27:4-8 (note).
John Gill on Joshua 8:30
Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal. As was commanded, Deuteronomy 27:5. The Samaritan Chronicle says, it was built in Mount Gerizim; but there is a difficulty arises, when this was done by Joshua; it should seem by inserting the account here, that it was done immediately after the destruction of Ai; and Mercator endeavours to prove that Ebal was near to Ai, but what he has said does not give satisfaction; for certain it is, that Ebal and Gerizim were near Shechem in Samaria, at a great distance from Ai, see Judges 9:6. The Jews (a) generally are of opinion, that this was done as soon as Israel, even the very day, they passed over Jordan, which they think the…
The Church Fathers
After Jesus had overthrown Ai, that is, chaos, and had removed all its inhabitants, it was fitting that he should offer to God, the Most High over all, some gift worthy of so great and mighty a victory. Let us see, then, what this is that he does after the victory: "Jesus," it says, "built an altar to the Lord God of Israel on Mount Ebal, and he made it just as Moses the servant of the Lord commanded the children of Israel. Now it is written in the law of Moses that the altar should be made of whole stones, on which no iron has been laid." And after "Jesus made the altar," he placed "there whole burnt offerings to the Lord and offered a sacrifice of salvation," and after the sacrifice "Jesus wrote upon the stones the Deuteronomy, the law of Moses, and he wrote it in the presence of the children of Israel. And all the elders of Israel and the judges and their scribes went before, on this side and on that, the ark of the covenant of the Lord." Let us see, then, what is indicated in all these things, and what edification the present reading may gain for us. All of us who believe in Christ Jesus are called "living stones," according to what Scripture declares, saying: "But you are living stones, built up into a spiritual house in a holy priesthood, that you may offer spiritual victims, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Now, just as we know it is observed among these earthly stones that those stones which are stronger and more powerful are laid first in the foundations, so that the weight of the whole building may be entrusted to them and set upon them, while others which follow, that is, a little inferior to those, are arranged next to those which are in the foundation; and those which are still lower are set a little above the foundations, and then in turn those which are weaker, in comparison to those stones, are placed in the upper parts and now near the very peaks of the roof — so now understand also concerning the "living stones," that some of them are in the foundations of this spiritual building. But who are these that are placed in the foundations? "The apostles and prophets." For thus Paul speaks, teaching this very thing: "built," he says, "upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus our Lord himself being the cornerstone." But that you may prepare yourself more readily, O hearer, for the construction of this building, so…
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
Ebal — Stony. (1.) A mountain 3,076 feet above the level of the sea, and 1,200 feet above the level of the valley, on the north side of which stood the city of Shechem (q.v.). On this mountain six of the…
Gerizim — A mountain of Samaria, about 3,000 feet above the Mediterranean. It was on the left of the valley containing the ancient town of Shechem (q.v.), on the way to Jerusalem. It stood over against Mount…
Heap — When Joshua took the city of Ai (Josh. 8), he burned it and “made it an heap [Heb. tel] for ever” (8:28). The ruins of this city were for a long time sought for in vain. It has been at length,…
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.…
Altar · Built by Joshua — Built by Joshua
Altars · Mentioned in scripture: Of Joshua — Mentioned in scripture: Of Joshua
Commandments · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Curse · CURSES OF THE MOSAIC LAW — CURSES OF THE MOSAIC LAW
Ebal · .Altar built on — .Altar built on
Law · .Engraved upon mo — .Engraved upon mo
Pillar · By Joshua, the crossing of the Jordan River — By Joshua, the crossing of the Jordan River
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).
Joshua 8:30-35
30. Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in mount Ebal,
30. Tunc aedificavit Josue altare Jehovae Deo Israel in monte Ebal,
31. As Moses the servant of the LORD commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which no man has lift up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.
31. Quemadmodum praeceperat Moses servus Jehovae filiis Israel: sicut scriptum est in libro legis Mosis, altare ex lapidibus integris, super quos non levaverant ferrum: et immolaverunt super illud holocausta Jehovae, et sacrificaverunt hostias prosperitatum.
32.…
Blessings and Curses upon Gerizim and Ebal. - After the capture of Ai, Israel had gained so firm a footing in Canaan that Joshua was able to carry out the instructions of Moses in Deut 27, that, after crossing the Jordan, he was to build an altar upon Mount Ebal for the setting up the covenant. The fulfilment of these instructions, according to the meaning of this solemn act, as a symbolical setting up of the law of the Lord to be the invariable rule of life to the people of Israel in the land of Canaan (see at Deut 27), was not only a practical expression of thanksgiving on the part of the covenant nation for its entrance into this land through the almighty assistance of its God, but also a…
Archaeologists have recently discovered an altar . . . on Mount Ebal built of uncut stones and not shaped with iron tools. However, no inscription was found with it (8:32). • Burnt offerings and peace offerings were prescribed in the laws of sacrifice that God gave Moses while Israel was still at Mount Sinai (Lev 1, 3). Moses gave specific commands for this ceremony (see Deut 11:26-32; 27:1–28:68).
Rashi on Joshua 8:30
Then [Yehoshua] built. This parasha is not in chronoligical order, [for Yehoshua built the altar] on the day they crossed the Jordan river.8Since the following verse states that he built the altar as Moshe had commanded them, we must conclude that this verse describes events that occured before the conquest of Yericho.
