Josué 5

ARC · Chapter 5/24

1E succedeu que, ouvindo todos os reis dos amorrheos, que habitavam d'esta banda do Jordão, ao occidente, e todos os reis dos cananeos, que estavam ao pé do mar, que o Senhor tinha seccado as aguas do Jordão, de diante dos filhos d'Israel, até que passámos, derreteu-se-lhes o coração, e não houve mais animo n'elles, por causa dos filhos d'Israel.

2N'aquelle tempo disse o Senhor a Josué: Faze facas de pedra, e torna a circumcidar segunda vez aos filhos d'Israel.

3Então Josué fez para si facas de pedra, e circumcidou aos filhos d'Israel no monte dos prepucios.

4E foi esta a causa por que Josué os circumcidou: todo o povo que tinha saido do Egypto, os machos, todos os homens de guerra, eram já mortos no deserto, pelo caminho, depois que sairam do Egypto.

5Porque todo o povo que saira estava circumcidado, mas a nenhum do povo que nascera no deserto, pelo caminho, depois de terem saido do Egypto, haviam circumcidado.

6Porque quarenta annos andaram os filhos d'Israel pelo deserto, até se acabar toda a nação, os homens de guerra, que sairam do Egypto, e não obedeceram á voz do Senhor: aos quaes o Senhor tinha jurado que lhes não havia de deixar ver a terra que o Senhor jurara a seus paes dar-nos; terra que mana leite e mel

7Porém em seu logar poz a seus filhos; a estes Josué circumcidou: porquanto estavam incircumcisos, porque os não circumcidaram no caminho.

8E aconteceu que, acabando de circumcidar a toda a nação, ficaram no seu logar no arraial, até que sararam.

9Disse mais o Senhor a Josué: Hoje revolvi de sobre vós o opprobrio do Egypto; pelo que o nome d'aquelle logar se chamou Gilgal, até ao dia d'hoje.

10Estando pois os filhos d'Israel alojados em Gilgal, celebraram a paschoa no dia quatorze do mez, á tarde, nas campinas de Jericó.

11E comeram do trigo da terra do anno antecedente, ao outro dia depois da paschoa, pães asmos e espigas tostadas, no mesmo dia.

12E cessou o manná no dia seguinte, depois que comeram do trigo da terra do anno antecedente; e os filhos d'Israel não tiveram mais manná: porém no mesmo anno comeram das novidades da terra de Canaan.

13E succedeu que, estando Josué ao pé de Jericó, levantou os seus olhos, e olhou; e eis-que se poz em pé diante d'elle um homem que tinha na mão uma espada nua: e chegou-se Josué a elle, e disse-lhe: És tu dos nossos, ou dos nossos inimigos?

14E disse elle: Não, mas venho agora como principe do exercito do Senhor. Então Josué se prostrou sobre o seu rosto na terra, e o adorou, e disse-lhe: Que diz meu senhor ao seu servo?

15Então disse o principe do exercito do Senhor a Josué: Descalça os sapatos de teus pés, porque o logar em que estás é sancto. E fez Josué assim.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Israel circumcises the new generation at Gilgal, celebrates the Passover, and the manna ceases. Joshua meets the 'captain of the host of the Lord' near Jericho.

Explanation

The generation that left Egypt had not circumcised their sons during the forty years in the wilderness, so before entering the promised land this physical covenant needed to be restored. The manna ending at the very moment the people eat the grain of the land marks a symbolic transition: God provided supernaturally in the wilderness, but now the people begin to live off the land he himself promised. Joshua's encounter with the heavenly commander, who tells him to take off his sandals because he is standing on holy ground, echoes Moses' experience at the burning bush and reminds Joshua that the battle ahead belongs, above all, to the Lord.

Fun facts

  • 'Gilgal' sounds like the Hebrew word for 'to roll' (galal), tied to the phrase 'this day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you' (v.9).
  • The commander's reply - 'Nay, but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come' - is understood by many scholars as a theophany, an appearance of the Lord himself before the incarnation.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Josué 5:1News of the miraculous crossing of the Jordan reaches the neighboring kings and destroys their morale before any battle even begins.
  2. Josué 5:2The command to circumcise again may sound strange, but the text explains right after: an entire generation born in the wilderness had never been circumcised. It is not a second cutting on the same people, it is the rite being performed for the first time on this generation.
  3. Josué 5:3Joshua obeys the command and circumcises the Israelites using knives made of flint, a simple and traditional instrument for this ritual.
  4. Josué 5:4The reason for the mass circumcision is that the entire adult generation that had come out of Egypt had already died during the forty years in the wilderness.
  5. Josué 5:5Those who came out of Egypt had been circumcised, but the children born during the journey through the wilderness had never undergone this rite.
  6. Josué 5:6The text explains why this generation went uncircumcised: the forty years in the wilderness were the punishment for the disobedience of the previous generation, who did not trust God.
  7. Josué 5:7The children, who took their fathers’ place, are now the ones Joshua circumcises, setting right what had been left undone during the journey through the wilderness.
  8. Josué 5:8After the mass circumcision, the people have to stay put in the camp for a while, recovering.
  9. Josué 5:9The name of the place, Gilgal, is linked in the text to the end of an old disgrace, a Hebrew wordplay on the idea of rolling something away. It probably refers to their condition as slaves in Egypt, since the people were now finally free and circumcised in the promised land itself.
  10. Josué 5:10Still recovering, the people take the opportunity to celebrate the Passover, recalling the exodus from Egypt, now already inside the promised land itself.
  11. Josué 5:11Right after the Passover, the people eat for the first time from the local produce: unleavened bread and parched grain from the land of Canaan.
  12. Josué 5:12As soon as they start eating from the land, the manna that had fed them for forty years in the wilderness simply stops falling — the people no longer need it.
  13. Josué 5:13Near Jericho, Joshua meets a mysterious man with a drawn sword and asks which side he is on — a direct way of identifying friend or foe before the war.
  14. Josué 5:14The man identifies himself as the commander of the army of the Lord, and Joshua responds by falling to the ground, realizing he is standing before something more than a simple soldier.
  15. Josué 5:15The commander tells Joshua to take off his sandals because the ground he is standing on is holy — the same order God gave Moses at the burning bush, marking the start of another decisive mission.

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