to grave · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
stones
הָאֲבָנִ֑יםha.'a.va.Nim
H68
a stone · definite article + noun, common feminine plural absolute
copy
מִשְׁנֵה֙mish.Neh
H4932
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
law
תּוֹרַ֣תto.Rat
H8451
a precept or statute · noun, common feminine singular construct
Moses
מֹשֶׁ֔הmo.Sheh
H4872
Mosheh · proper noun, a man's name
wrote
כָּתַ֔בka.Tav
H3789
to grave · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
presence
לִפְנֵ֖יlif.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
children
בְּנֵ֥יbe.Nei
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵֽלYis.ra.'El
H3478
Jisrael · 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 27:2-3 And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up grea…
Deuteronomy 27:8 And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly.
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…
he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses--(See on Deu 27:2-3, Deu 27:5); that is, the blessings and curses of the law. Some think that the stones which contained this inscription were the stones of the altar: but this verse seems rather to indicate that a number of stone pillars were erected alongside of the altar, and on which, after they were plastered, this duplicate of the law was inscribed.
Adam Clarke on Joshua 8:32
A copy of the law of Moses - משנה תורת mishneh torath, the repetition of the law; that is, a copy of the blessings and curses, as commanded by Moses; not a copy of the Decalogue, as some imagine, nor of the book of Deuteronomy, as others think; much less of the whole Pentateuch; but merely of that part which contained the blessings and curses, and which was to be read on this solemn occasion. See the note on Deu 27:3.
John Gill on Joshua 8:32
And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses,.... Not upon the stones of which the altar was made, though some have so thought; but upon other stones erected in the form of a pillar, and plastered over, Deuteronomy 27:4; which copy of the law was not the whole book of Deuteronomy, as some, at least only an abstract of the laws in it; but rather the decalogue, as Abarbinel; or the blessings and curses later read, as Ben Gersom:
which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel: they being witness of it, that he did what was enjoined.
The Church Fathers
But the adornment of the altar is not yet complete, even if it be built "of whole stones," even if "iron" and "the dart of the evil one" be not found "laid" upon them, but there is still something lacking, and there is still what Jesus may add to all these. What is it? "Jesus wrote," it says, "upon the stones of the altar the Deuteronomy, the law of Moses, and he wrote it in the sight of the children of Israel." As for the "writing" — however the son of Nave was then able to inscribe "the law upon the stones of the altar," and, as far as he was able, to sketch out the types: let us for our part see how our Jesus "wrote the Deuteronomy on the living and whole stones." Deuteronomy is so called as it were a second legislation. If, then, you wish to see how, the first law having been weakened, Jesus writes a second law, hear him saying in the Gospels: "It was said to the men of old: You shall not kill. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother is a murderer"; and again: "It was said to the men of old: You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, if anyone looks upon a woman to lust after her, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart"; and "It was said to the men of old: You shall not swear falsely. But I say to you: Do not swear at all." You see the "Deuteronomy" which "Jesus wrote on the living and whole stones," "not on tablets of stone, but on the fleshly tablets of the heart, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God." But if you wish to know more clearly on which hearts "Jesus has written the law" and on which he has not written it, this too I will make plain to you from the authority of the Scriptures, that you who have been called from the Gentiles may take consolation, and may not fear the boasting of those who glory that they have received the law of Moses written on tablets or "little scrolls." Hear, then, in whose hearts the Lord Jesus has written the law. Paul says: "For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature the things which are of the law, these, not having the law, are a law unto themselves. They show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness to them." If, then, you see Gentiles coming to Jesus and believing in him and fulfilling the work of the law, which those who had received the law cannot fulfill, do not hesitate to say of them that "Jesus…
I am indeed moved by what Scripture added in what follows. "And Jesus wrote," it says, "upon the stones the Deuteronomy in the presence of the children of Israel." How he could have "inscribed" so great a book while the "children of Israel" were standing by and remaining there, so that they did not depart until the writing of so many lines was finished, or even how the stones of the altar could have borne the contents of so great a book — let these Jewish defenders of the letter, who are ignorant of the spirit of the law, tell me. How is the truth of the history demonstrated in this? But among them "to this very day, when Moses is read, a veil is placed over their heart." But for us, "having turned to the Lord" Jesus, "the veil is taken away," because "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" of understanding. Our Lord Jesus, then, does not need much time to write the Deuteronomy, to fix the second law in the hearts of believers, and to seal the law of the spirit in the minds of those who are worthy to be chosen for the construction of the altar. For as soon as anyone has believed in Jesus Christ, the law of the Gospel is inscribed in his heart, and inscribed "in the sight of the children of Israel." For there were present, when the sacrament of faith was being handed over to you, the heavenly powers, the ministries of angels, "the church of the firstborn." For if we rightly understand Israel to mean "a mind seeing God," this is most rightly said rather of the ministering angels, according to the saying of the Lord, who says of the little ones — and you too were a little one in baptism — that "their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven." "In the presence," therefore, of these "children of Israel," who were present at that time when the sacraments of faith were being handed over to you, "seeing the face of God," "Jesus wrote the Deuteronomy" in your heart. Do you wish that we prove this to you still more clearly from the holy Scriptures, that "in the presence of the children of Israel Jesus wrote the second law"? The Apostle to the Hebrews plainly designates it, saying: "For you have not come to the sound of the trumpet and the burning mountain, but you have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and the church of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and a multitude of angels praising God…
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,…
Pentateuch — The five-fold volume, consisting of the first five books of the Old Testament. This word does not occur in Scripture, nor is it certainly known when the roll was thus divided into five portions…
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
Commandments · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Curse · CURSES OF THE MOSAIC LAW — CURSES OF THE MOSAIC LAW
Government · Closely as — Closely as
Law · .Engraved upon mo — .Engraved upon mo
Stones · The law of Moses written upon — The law of Moses written upon
Strangers In Israel · Laws respecting: To have the law read to them
Joshua 8:32 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
John Calvin on Joshua 8:30–end
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…
Joshua fulfilled Moses’ command to set up stones and coat them with plaster (Deut 27:2-8). After the plaster hardened, the instructions (Hebrew torah) would permanently be on public display at the first location where Israel formally worshiped the Lord after entering the land. The public display of laws occurred in other places; the best-known example is the famous Code of Hammurabi, which that king set up in Babylon.
Rashi on Joshua 8:32
And there he wrote on the stones.9There are different opinions as to what Yehoshua wrote on the stones. Some say that he wrote only Seifer Devorim which is itself the repetition of the Torah, as Moshe taught the Bnei Yisroel in the last year of the forty years in the wilderness—Seifer Devorim is referred to as מִשְׁנֵה תּוֹרָה, which means the repetition or copy of the Torah, which are the exact words used in this verse. Others say that he only wrote the Ten Commandments as they are recorded in Seifer Devorim (5:6-18). Most commentators maintain that Yehoshua wrote the entire Torah from beginning to end, and that it was a literal copy of the Torah. There are the same stones mentioned above.(…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
— Laws respecting: To have the law read to them
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).
