Josué 5

BLIVRE · Chapter 5/24

1E quando todos os reis dos amorreus, que estavam da outra parte do Jordão ao ocidente, e todos os reis dos cananeus, que estavam próximos do mar, ouviram como o SENHOR havia secado as águas do Jordão diante dos filhos de Israel até que passaram, desfaleceu seu coração, e não houve mais espírito neles diante dos filhos de Israel.

2Naquele tempo o SENHOR disse a Josué: Faze-te facas afiadas, e volta a circuncidar a segunda vez aos filhos de Israel.

3E Josué se fez facas afiadas, e circuncidou aos filhos de Israel no monte dos prepúcios.

4Esta é a causa pela qual Josué os circuncidou: todo aquele povo que havia saído do Egito, os homens, todos os homens de guerra, haviam morrido no deserto pelo caminho, depois que saíram do Egito.

5Porque todos os do povo que haviam saído, estavam circuncidados: mas todo aquele povo que havia nascido no deserto pelo caminho, depois que saíram do Egito, não estavam circuncidados.

6Porque os filhos de Israel andaram pelo deserto por quarenta anos, até que toda a gente dos homens de guerra que haviam saído do Egito foi consumida, porquanto não obedeceram à voz do SENHOR; pelo qual o SENHOR lhes jurou que não lhes deixaria ver a terra, da qual o SENHOR havia jurado a seus pais que não as daria, terra que flui leite e mel.

7E os filhos deles, que ele havia feito suceder em seu lugar, Josué os circuncidou; pois eram incircuncisos, porque não haviam sido circuncidados pelo caminho.

8E quando acabaram de circuncidar toda a gente, ficaram no mesmo lugar no acampamento, até que sararam.

9E o SENHOR disse a Josué: Hoje tirei de vós a humilhação do Egito: pelo qual o nome daquele lugar foi chamado Gilgal, até hoje.

10E os filhos de Israel assentaram o acampamento em Gilgal, e celebraram a páscoa aos catorze dias do mês, pela tarde, nas planícies de Jericó.

11E ao outro dia da páscoa comeram do fruto da terra os pães sem levedura, e no mesmo dia espigas novas tostadas.

12E o maná cessou o dia seguinte, desde que começaram a comer do fruto da terra: e os filhos de Israel nunca mais tiveram maná, mas sim que comeram dos frutos da terra de Canaã aquele ano.

13E estando Josué próximo de Jericó, levantou seus olhos, e viu um homem que estava diante dele, o qual tinha uma espada nua em sua mão. E Josué indo até ele, lhe disse: És dos nossos, ou de nossos inimigos?

14E ele respondeu: Não; mas sim Príncipe do exército do SENHOR, agora vim. Então Josué prostrando-se sobre seu rosto em terra o adorou; e disse-lhe: Que diz meu Senhor a seu servo?

15E o Príncipe do exército do SENHOR respondeu a Josué: Tira teus sapatos de teus pés; porque o lugar onde estás é santo. E Josué o fez 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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