Bible Commentaries
Go deeper in Scripture
Browse trusted public-domain commentary alongside DiscipleDeck Bible study. References inside each commentary open Bible previews in place.
27,299 commentary entries
The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:28
And Joshua burnt Ai. He continued the work of destruction which the ambush had begun, until the city was entirely destroyed. The word in verse 19 ( שׂרף) has rather the sense of kindling a fire; the word here ( יצת( ere…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:30-35
The fruits of victory. "Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord.… And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses … And he read all the words of the law." There is always danger in the moment after victor…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:30-35
EXPOSITION THE COPY OF THE LAW.—
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:30
Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal. This passage has been pronounced to be an interpolation by Meyer, De Wette, Maurer, Rosenmuller, Knobel, and others. The LXX. does not introduce it h…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:30-35
Sacrifice and law. This religious solemnity is a fulfilment of the command given by Moses in Deuteronomy 27:1-26. It is expressive of the fidelity of Joshua to the sacred traditions of the past, and his loyalty to the D…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:30-35
The setting up the law. The provision for the due observance of God's law was one of the most remarkable features of the invasion of Canaan by Joshua. Twice was the command given in Deuteronomy by Moses (Deuteronomy 11:…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:30-35
The altar on Ebal, and the reading and recording of the law. We come on this scene unexpectedly. War, with its stratagems, its carnage, its inversion of ancient order, was filling our mind. But suddenly, instead of the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:31
As Moses the servant of the Lord commanded (see Exodus 20:25; Deuteronomy 27:4, Deuteronomy 27:5). Here, and in Joshua 8:33, we find the writer making an extract from the Book of Deuteronomy. As has been before said, th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:32
And he wrote there upon the stones; i.e; upon the plaster, as we read in Deuteronomy 27:2, Deuteronomy 27:4. "The wall destined to receive the picture," and it was just the same with inscriptions—was covered with a coat…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:33
And all Israel (see Joshua 23:2; Joshua 24:1, Joshua 24:2). The word כל is used very loosely in Hebrew (see Genesis 4:14). We need not, therefore, assume as a matter of course that the whole people, men, women, and chil…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:34
All the words of the law, the blessings and the curses. The form of this expression, combined with the words of the next verse, seems to include not only the special curses in Deuteronomy 27:1-26; but Deuteronomy 28:1-6…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 8:35
That were conversant with them. Literally, who were going in the midst of them; i.e; the strangers who had attached themselves to them, either at their departure from Egypt, or since their conquest of Eastern Palestine.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:1-27
EXPOSITION THE GIBEONITES.—
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:1
And it came to pass, when all the kings. According to the explanation given above (Joshua 6:5, Joshua 6:15) of the particle כwith the infinitive, this must mean immediately. We must therefore suppose that the distance a…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:1-27
God's people off their guard. This chapter contains the record of a venial sin; an act, that is, which was rather one of thoughtlessness than of deliberate intention to offend. It is one thing to forget for a moment God…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:2
With one accord. One mouth, according to the Hebrew, referring not merely to their opinions, but to the expression of them. "O that Israel would learn this of Canaanites, to sacrifice private interests to the public wel…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:3
The inhabitants of Gibeon. That is, of a confederation of cities (see Joshua 9:17), of which Gibeon was the head. Gibeon was a city of some importance (Joshua 10:2). Though it was for size and importance "as one of the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:3-27
The submission of the Gibeonites. According to the explicit law of Moses (in Deuteronomy 20:10-18), there were three courses which Israel might pursue towards the cities they besieged: 1. In the event of a city refusing…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:4
They did work wilily. Rather, and they worked—they also—with craft. The reference, no doubt, is to the confederacy of the other kings. The Gibeonites also acted upon what they had heard, but they preferred an accommodat…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:5
Shoes. Literally, things tied on; i.e; sandals, attached with straps to the sole of the foot. Clouted, i.e; patched. The intensive Pual suggests that they were very much patched. The participle Kal is translated "spotte…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:6
To the camp at Gilgal. Many commentators, among whom we may number Vandevelde and the recent Palestine Exploration Expedition, suppose that the Gilgal mentioned here is another Gilgal, and certainly the supposition deri…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:7
And the men of Israel said. The Keri here has the singular number instead of the Chethibh plural, in consequence of Israel speaking of itself collectively in the word בְּקִרְבִּי and of the singular אִישׁ. But this last…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:8
We are thy servants. This does not mean altogether, as Joshua 9:9 shows, that the Gibeonites intended by this embassy to reduce themselves to servitude. Their object, as Grotius remarks, was rather to form an alliance o…
The Pulpit Commentary on Joshua 9:9
And they said unto him. "I commend their wisdom in seeking peace; I do not commend their falsehood in the manner of seeking it. Who can looke for any better in pagans?" (Bp. Hall) It is worthy of the craft of the Gibeon…