Глава 3

1. Going from Shittim to the Jordan. 3. Preparing the people for this. 7. Divine revelation to Joshua. 8. A new order for the priests and an explanation of the future event to the people. 14. Parting of the waters of the Jordan. Ch. 3–4. They contain an image of an event marked by a miraculous manifestation of divine omnipotence. In accordance with the importance of the event, the biblical narrator presents it with special detail and according to a special plan. After indicating preliminary orders concerning the entire people and in particular the priests (Joshua 3:2-6), the sacred writer successively depicts three special phenomena that marked the passage of the Israelites across the Jordan. The first refers to the beginning of the event (Joshua 3:7–17), the second occurred after the people crossed the Jordan (Joshua 4:1–4), and the third marked the end of the event (Joshua 4:15–24). The depiction of each of these significant phenomena begins with a statement of the divine command (Joshua 3:7–8,4:1–3,15–16), followed by the transmission of the latter to the people (Joshua 3:9–13,4:4–7,17) and its execution (Joshua 3:14–17,4:8–14,18–20), which at the same time serves as a narrative of how the event itself took place. The conclusion of the entire narrative is the explanation given by Joshua himself of the purpose for which this event is perpetuated as having great importance for the people of Israel and all the nations of the earth (Joshua 4:21–24). As a result of such a separate overlap of phenomena that marked the crossing of the Jordan, the biblical narrative of this event as accomplished precisely under the action of divine omnipotence is distinguished by its particular completeness, expressiveness and completeness, both as a whole and in parts. But at the same time there are also some repetitions in it, which occurred, one might think, because, depicting the phenomena of one event, the biblical writer, due to the close connection of one phenomenon with another, when presenting the previous one, partly concerns what actually relates to the subsequent one (cf. Joshua 3:6 with Joshua 3:14, Joshua 3:12 with Joshua 4:2, Joshua 4:11 with Joshua 4:18). The next day after the return of the spies, the Israelites moved from Shittim in the direction of the Jordan and stopped on its banks. At this time, the three days that were assigned to the people to prepare them for crossing the Jordan ended. At this time, new orders were issued regarding the order of the procession and the consecration of the people. Joshua 3:1. And Joshua arose early in the morning, and they set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and spent the night there, not yet crossing it. Joshua 3:2. Three days later the guards went around the camp. “We spent the night there” according to the first meaning of the Hebrew verb “lin”, which was also used in the meaning of “stay”, “stay”; in this second meaning it is translated here by LXX (κατέλυσαν) and by Blessed Jerome (morati sunt), and according to this in the Slavic Bible: “stasha”. We have no particular incentive to deviate from this accepted translation. For an explanation of “in three days” see the end of the chapter. Joshua 3:3. and they commanded the people, saying: When you see the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God and the priests [ours and] the Levites carrying it, then you also move from your place and follow it; Joshua 3:4. however, the distance between you and him should be up to two thousand cubits; do not come close to him, so that you may know the path to follow; for you did not walk this way either yesterday or the day before. When the Israeli camp settled down on the banks of the Jordan, a new series of orders followed related to the crossing of the Jordan itself. The overseers announced to the people that they should set out on a journey following the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, carried by the “Levitical priests,” at a distance of at least 2000 cubits. The words "The Lord your God" constitute a rendering of the Hebrew text and some of the Greek copies; glory translation: "Lord our God" is consistent with most Greek lists. (“Your God” in the Hebrew text is Elohekem, “Our God” is Elogen). Both in this place and in others, the Greek translation of this biblical expression presents the peculiarity that the pronoun “your” in the Hebrew text is replaced by the pronoun “our” (Josh. 8: 7, 10: 19, etc.). When judging which of these pronouns was the original in the biblical text, one must keep in mind that in the book of Joshua the divine name “your God” (Josh. 1:11,13,15,3:9,4:23,22:3–4) is used in a large number of places, equally in the Hebrew text and the Greek-Slavic translation, than the name “our God” ( Joshua 22:19,29,24:17–18,24 ). The predominant use of the first of these expressions and its accurate rendering in most places in the Greco-Slavic translation give some right to look at the few places in the Greco-Slavic translation, in which a deviation in this respect is made from the Hebrew text, as exceptions to the general rule, probably depending on the unclear outline of the pronominal ending. In particular, that in Joshua 3:9, where the words of Joshua addressed to the people are conveyed, the name “your God” is used, according to the Hebrew text and the Slavic translation, in accordance with some Greek copies and the Aldin Bible, one is inclined to think that the same divine name was read in Joshua 3:3, where the words of the overseers are stated, also addressed to the people. The words “ours and” are read in the most ancient and very many later copies of the LXX translation with isolated exceptions, and according to this in the Slavic Bible, but they are not read in the Hebrew text, the translation of Blessed Jerome, as well as in the Complutensian Polyglot. The inclusion or exclusion of the word “ours” from the text does not change its meaning, since priests (“gakkoganim” - with a qualifying member) mean, in any case, Israeli priests from the clan of Aaron; but the conjunction “and” introduced here is important for understanding this passage. According to the Hebrew text: “when you see the Ark and the Levitical priests (“hakkoganim galeaviim”) carrying it” (Joshua 3:3). The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, when crossing the Jordan, was carried by priests from the sons of Levi (Deut. 31:9) or the tribe of Levi (Deut. 10:8). According to the Greco-Slavic translation, the Ark was carried by “both our priests and the Levites,” who did not have the priesthood. Which of these translations represents an accurate rendering of the original biblical text is sufficiently clear in other places in the book of Joshua. Thus, in Joshua 3:6, according to the Hebrew text and the Greek-Slavic translation, Joshua tells the “priests,” without mentioning the Levites, to lift up the Ark of the Covenant. Joshua 4:9 speaks of the place in the Jordan where the feet of the “priests” who carried the Ark of the Covenant stood, without mentioning the Levites. According to Joshua 4:16–17, Joshua conveys the divine command to “the priests bearing the Ark of the Testimony” to come out of the Jordan. The complete lack of mention in these places, depicting the very completion of the transition across the Jordan, about the Levites, as participating together with the priests in carrying the Ark of the Lord, shows that in Joshua 3:3, according to the original biblical text, only “Levitical priests” are spoken of, and not about priests and Levites. The correctness of this explanation is also evident from the fact that in Deut. 17:18,24:8 the same Hebrew expression “Levitical priests” is conveyed in the LXX with the words (οἱ ἱερεῖς οἱ Λευῖται) - “Levitical priests”, without the conjunction “and”. In view of this, the Greco-Slavic translation of this expression in Joshua 3:3,8:33, where the conjunction “and” is also introduced into this name of the Old Testament priests, must be viewed as an exceptional phenomenon characteristic of the Greek translator of this book 26 . Following the Ark of the Covenant, which was the most sacred place of divine presence (Ex. 25:22) and during the wandering from Sinai through the desert “walked” ahead of the people (Num. 10:33), when crossing the Jordan, the Israelis had to not come close to it, but go at a considerable distance from it so that the Ark of the Covenant, parting the waters of the Jordan and paving the way for them, would constantly was before their eyes and through this it became obvious to them that the miracle had taken place, the extraordinary, unprecedented path along the drained bed of the river, which had just previously been full-flowing, was imprinted more powerfully and indelibly. The distance between the Ark and the people is determined “up to two thousand cubits by measure” 27. Joshua 3:5. And Jesus said to the people, Sanctify yourself [by morning], for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. Just as Moses prepared the people for the Epiphany on Sinai for two days through their sanctification, which consisted of washing their clothes and protecting themselves from bodily uncleanness (Ex. 19:10,14,15), so Joshua, on the eve of the day on which the miraculous draining of the Jordan was to take place, commands the people to sanctify, or cleanse themselves (the Hebrew verb “Kadash” - “to be separated, holy" is used here in a reflexive form and means to cleanse, to sanctify oneself) through the performance of those purification rites that were used at that time and which could be performed in the remaining insignificant time, until the morning of the next day, such as washing the body, changing clothes (Gen. 35:2). The performance of external cleansing rites, in accordance with their general symbolic meaning, should, of course, remind the Israelites of internal cleansing from everything that disagrees with the will of God, and of turning them to God in faith and obedience to His commandments. Both purifications were supposed to elevate the minds and hearts of the Israelites above everyday reality and make them more capable of understanding and feeling the miraculous power of God. The words "towards the morning" are read in almost all the lists of the LXX translation (with the exception of No. 58), but are absent from the Hebrew text and the Latin translation of Blessed Jerome; the evidence of the latter is especially important here because according to them, the indication of time in two adjacent sentences is done once (“tomorrow will create”), and according to the Greek-Slavic translation - twice (“by morning... tomorrow”), which is not usually in correct speech. Joshua 3:6. Jesus said to the priests, “Take the Ark of the Covenant and go before the people.” The [priests] took the Ark of the Covenant [of the Lord] and went before the people. "Take up the Ark" or "lift up" according to the meaning of the Hebrew verb used here (seu) and the Greek (ἄρατε). The word "[of the Lord's]" in the first and second half of the verse is added by the LXX translation to complete the designation of the Ark of the Covenant and is absent from very few Greek copies. The words “[the priests] took the Ark” set forth what was done the next day when crossing the Jordan. This is reported here, as they say, in advance, i.e. before it happened, in order to finish the speech on this subject and not return in the further narration to who and in what order the Ark of the Covenant was carried. The word "[priests]", implied in the Hebrew text by the verb "took", is introduced by the LXX translation and is read in almost all of its copies. Joshua 3:7. Then the Lord said to Joshua: This day I will begin to glorify you in the sight of all [the sons of] Israel, so that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; The revelation presented here explains the significance of the miraculous event that was about to take place for Joshua. They will begin his rise in the eyes of all the people as a leader chosen by God, like Moses, close to the Lord and enjoying His all-powerful help. Just as for Moses the power of miracles given to him by the Lord (Exodus 4:1–8), especially manifested at the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21), served as evidence of his divine mission, so for Joshua the draining of the Jordan bed had the meaning of the same evidence. Joshua 3:8. and you give a command to the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant, and say: as soon as you enter the waters of the Jordan, stop in the Jordan. The command to the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant to stop when they approach the edge of the Jordan was given for the purpose that the miraculous power of God emanating from the Ark of the Covenant would be clearly revealed from the extraordinary effect on the Jordanian water that would follow this stop. Under Moses, the symbol of the miraculous power of God was the rod given to him. Under Joshua, the place of the rod was taken by the Ark of the Covenant, which served as the throne of the Lord (Ex. 25:22). “When there are established means of grace, then the Lord combines grace-filled actions with them, for He is a God of order, who does not act arbitrarily in choosing his means” 28 . “As soon as you enter the waters of the Jordan”; in the Slavic Bible: “when you come out to part of the water of the Jordan,” which serves as a transfer of the reading of most of the Greek lists. translation: ἐπὶ μέρους τοῦ ὕδατος (in the Vatican and some others, instead of μέρους it is read μέσου - “in the middle”). The expression “to a part of the water” serves as a translation of the Hebrew words “ad ketze mei,” which literally means “to the end or edge of the water,” i.e. when the priests enter the water at the edge or bank of the Jordan, which idea is more clearly expressed further in Joshua 3:13,15. Joshua 3:9. Jesus said to the children of Israel, Come here and hear the words of the Lord your God. Joshua 3:10. And Jesus said, By this you will know that there is a living God among you, who will drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites: Joshua 3:11. Behold, the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go before you through the Jordan; Joshua 3:12. And take unto you twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man per tribe; Joshua 3:13. and as soon as the feet of the priests carrying the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, step into the water of the Jordan, the water of the Jordan will dry up, and the water flowing from above will stop like a wall. In order for the extraordinary work of divine omnipotence to have its full effect on the people of Israel, Joshua publicly announces it in advance and explains its meaning. The latter for the people of Israel is to assure them that the “living God” is present among them, i.e. God, manifesting His existence in divine actions, which nothing in the world can resist (Jer. 10:10), and that He will therefore completely drive out the nations living in Canaan from the Israelites. The people themselves will be convinced of the truth of this when, following the Ark of the Covenant, “the Lord of all the earth,” they see how, when the priests carrying it enter the water of the Jordan, the bottom of the latter will dry up and the water flowing from above will become like a wall. The idea of ​​​​the expulsion of the Canaanite peoples is expressed in Joshua 3:10 according to the Hebrew text and the Greco-Slavic translation in a strengthened form, consisting of the double use here of the verb “to expel” in two different forms, according to which the Slavic Bible says: “he who consumes will consume.” Read in the words to the people (Josh. 3:11,13), when naming the Ark of the Covenant, the divine name “Lord of all the earth” 29 is used for the purpose of reminding of this dominion of the God of Israel to arouse and strengthen the faith of the people in what is foreshadowed to them. Joshua 3:12. At the same time, Joshua commanded the people to take or elect one person from each of the 12 tribes, without indicating the very work that they must perform. Although the latter referred to the end of the crossing of the Jordan (Joshua 4:1-5), the order about this was made before it began, since at this time it was most convenient for the people to make a choice, and the most chosen, remaining close to the Israeli leader, could without delay carry out what was indicated to them. Joshua 3:14. So when the people left their tents to cross the Jordan, and the priests carried the Ark of the Covenant before the people, Joshua 3:15. then, as soon as those carrying the Ark [of the Covenant of the Lord] entered the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the Ark sank into the water of the Jordan - the Jordan protrudes from all its banks all the days of the wheat harvest, Joshua 3:14–17 describes the very crossing of the Jordan, which took place in accordance with the orders made. In addition to fulfilling the latter, the biblical writer introduces some very important details related to it in his presentation of this event. This is the information he provides that “the Jordan... overflows all its banks all the days of the wheat harvest.” The brackets in which these words are enclosed do not mean that they were borrowed from a Slavic or Greek translation. The words cited are found in the Hebrew text, as in all translations, and form a very important part of the biblical text, indicating precisely the supernatural nature of this event. Since at the time when it happened, “the Jordan was full along all its banks” (literally from Hebrew) or “filled to all its edges” (Slavic Bible), the Israeli people, crossing in their entirety, could not cross the river during its high water along one of the fords located near Jericho; and if this transition took place, it was only because the bottom of the Jordan was dried up by the almighty power of the Lord of the whole earth. The Jordan overflows its banks in the spring, during the harvest, in April and early May, when the rainy season ends and the snow on Hermon begins to melt. The increase in water in the Jordan and in the near future is so significant that it fills the deep hollow that serves as the river bed to the very edges and floods the lower bank, covered with dense vegetation. In addition to this lower bank, the Jordan has another, higher-lying, coastline, and in some places a third, which the flood does not currently reach, but which were formed, of course, as a result of stronger floods in ancient times. The biblical writer speaks about such a strong flood, using the expression “The Jordan came out from all its banks,” i.e. filled to the brim not only its usual channel, but also its overlying banks. And at present, during floods, the depth of the water reaches up to one and a half fathoms (from 10 to 12 feet) with a strong current of 30. With such a rise in water, the use of fords was completely unthinkable, and if the spies and some others in subsequent times, of course, sometimes swam across the Jordan “in the first month, when it overflows its banks,” then this was so remarkable that the writer Prince. Chronicles (1 Chronicles 12:15) mentions this when depicting the courage of David's companions. “On all the days of the wheat harvest” according to the Greek-Slavic translation: ὡσεὶ ἡμέραι θερισμοῦ πυρῶν. In the Hebrew text, the last two words correspond to one thing: “katzir”, meaning “harvest”, without designating the type of grain plants, as in other places this is translated in the LXX, for example in Gen. 8:22, Lev. 19:9, etc. When the harvest of wheat is meant, “hittim” - “wheat” is added to the word “katzir”, for example in Gen. 30:14, Ruth. 2:23. In this place in the book of Joshua there is no this addition, and at the same time there is no reason to see here an indication of the harvest of wheat. The idea of the latter is all the less appropriate here since the crossing of the Jordan took place on the 10th day of the first month (Josh. 4:19), generally corresponding to April, and the wheat harvest in Palestine begins generally later than this - in May 31, which is fully consistent with the biblical instructions (see above, comments on Joshua 2:6), according to which this harvest followed the barley harvest (for example, Ruth. 2:23: “until the harvest of barley and the harvest of wheat were finished”), and the harvest of barley was generally the beginning of the harvest: “in the first days of the harvest, at the beginning of the harvest of barley” (2 Samuel 21:9). Based on this, by all the days of the harvest we must mean the entire time of the harvest. Joshua 3:16. the water flowing from above stopped and became a wall for a very long distance, to the city of Adam, which is near Tsartan; and the plain that flows into the sea, into the Salty Sea, has gone and dried up. “The water became a wall for a very long distance, to the city of Adam, which is near Tsartan.” In what place in the Jordan Valley, upstream the sacred river, was the city of Adam, or Adom, according to the translation of Symmachus and Blessed Jerome, undoubtedly different from the city of the same name in the tribe of Naphtali (Joshua 19:36), it is not known with certainty. From the biblical instructions regarding Tsartan, near which the city of Adam was located, it is clear that the first was not far from the famous Bethsan: “and in all Beth-san, which is near Tsartan” (1 Kings 4:12), which lay on the western side of the Jordan Valley, 1 1/2 hours from the Jordan. It can be further seen that it was located in the vicinity of Jordan, where King Solomon’s foundry was established between Succoth and Tsartan (1 Kings 7:46; 2 Chronicles 4:17). Based on these indications and the features of the area, it was assumed that Tsartan corresponds to Mount Kurn Sartabeh, which rises on the West Jordan side at a distance of 20 versts from Jericho, reaches almost to Tsartan itself and, apparently, has a continuation in the opposite mountains, on the eastern side of the Jordan. The city of Adam, or Adom, is located near Sartabe, upstream of the Jordan on its eastern side, near Damie 32. The basis for this assumption is partly some similarity of names: Tsartan and Sartabe, partly the property of the area: Sartabe, like Tsartan, is located in the same general area in which Bethsan lies; Sartabe is 20 miles away from Jericho, which generally corresponds to the biblical indication “a very long distance” or “very far”; The position of the Jordan bed at Sartabe, covered on both sides by mountains, was most consistent with the Jordan’s flow stopping at this point. Although this stop occurred through the supernatural action of the divine will, this action does not exclude the use of natural means. Just as the Lord used a strong east wind to dry up the Red Sea, so when stopping the flow of the Jordan, a place could be chosen whose features could serve as a means of fulfilling the divine will. In the Greco-Slavic translation, instead of Tsartan, it reads “Karyafyarim”: “from the city of Adam even to the country of Karyafyarim” (Slavic Bible), which serves as a transfer of the reading of the Complutensian Polyglot: ἀπὸ Ἀδαμὶ τῆς πόλεως ἕως μέρους Καριαθιαρίμ 33. The city of Kariathyarim, named in these words of the Greek-Slavic translation, which according to their meaning was located near the Jordan, remains completely unknown; and the famous Kiriath-jearim was located away from this valley northwest of Jerusalem (see Joshua 9:17). Therefore, perhaps, in some of the Greek lists this name of the city was changed under the influence of the Hebrew text in Sarfan (Σαρθαν according to book No. 58). In any case, reading this passage from the Hebrew text, despite the presumptive nature of the geographical definition (the cities of Adam and Tsartan), gives a more understandable idea of ​​​​the place where the flow of the Jordan stopped than the Greek translation in most of its lists and the Slavic translation that agrees with it. Joshua 3:17. And the people passed over against Jericho; the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood on dry land in the middle of the Jordan with a firm foot. All the [children of] Israel walked on dry land until all the people had passed over the Jordan. Many people could cross the Jordan River, which had been drained for a long time, at the same time, choosing the best places for this. The main mass of the people moved against Jericho. “The priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood on dry land in the middle of the Jordan with a firm foot.” “In the midst of the Jordan” (in Hebrew “betokh gayarden”) does not necessarily mean that the place where the priests stood was in the middle of a dry riverbed. The Hebrew preposition “betokh” was also used in the sense of “in”, for example, in Genesis 9:21: “in [betokh] house” or “his tent”; Gen. 18:24: “in the city”, etc. 34 That this preposition is used in this particular place in the book. Joshua, as well as in Joshua 4:3,5,9–10, this is clearly seen from the fact that, according to Joshua 3:8,13,15, the priests had to stop with the Ark of the Covenant and actually stopped as soon as they entered the water of the Jordan, i.e. they stood at the shore of the overflowing Jordan. And since the biblical text does not indicate that during the subsequent drying of the bottom of the Jordan, the priests with the Ark of the Covenant moved further to the middle of the river, therefore it is necessary to imagine them remaining during the entire passage of the Israelites across the Jordan at the place where they stopped when they entered the water of the Jordan, i.e. at the bank of a flooded river, and not in the middle of it, and together with these the given Hebrew expression should be translated “in the Jordan” 35. That they remained motionless in this place until the end of the passage of the entire people across the Jordan is indicated, one must think, by the expression read after the above words, “with a firm foot,” in Hebrew “haken,” which is translated by modern Hebraists as “firmly,” “without hesitation.” In the Slavic Bible, this word of the Hebrew text is left without translation, as in the most ancient copies of the LXX translation, with the exception of the Ambrosian, in which it is translated through ἕτοιμη or ἐτοίμως (Swete) - “in readiness”; in other lists, including Lucian's, also through ἐτοιμως; in Aquila and Symmachus - through ἔτοιμοι - “ready”, in Blessed Jerome accincti - “girt”, or “ready”. The general meaning expressed by these ancient translations is that the priests stood on the dry bottom of the Jordan, ready to do what they were told to do, i.e. they stood calmly, and according to the current translation from the Hebrew, they stood “firmly,” without hesitating, with confidence in their safety. “About three days” in Joshua 3:2. Which three days are meant, whether those who were appointed as overseers of the people in Joshua 1:11, or others, as some interpreters suggest, seems unclear. The ancient and most common understanding was that it refers to the end of the three days specified by the overseers. At the same time, a difficulty arises as to how to combine in these three days the time the spies were absent from the camp, who, in addition to the time they spent traveling to Jericho, staying there and returning to the Israeli camp, stayed on the mountain for three more days. This difficulty is usually eliminated by the assumption that in counting the three days spent by the spies on the mountain, partial days must be taken as full, namely: the rest of the day on which the spies from Shittim came to Jericho is taken as the first day on the basis that, according to this assumption, they left Jericho before the beginning of the night; then on the 2nd they spent the whole day on the mountain, and on the 3rd only the first half, and on the second they returned to Shittim. (In Russian literature, this was expressed by Archpriest M. Kheraskov in the “Review of Historical Books of the Old Testament.”) Such a reckoning of time seems implausible due to its inconsistency with the biblical text, which makes it quite clear that the spies left Rahab’s house at night: those sent from the king of Jericho in Joshua 2:2 speak of them as having come “that night”; Rahab also speaks of them as leaving the city at dusk before the closing of the city gates (Joshua 3:5); and since in fact they left Raavi’s house after dusk, i.e. when night falls, the first day spent by the spies outside the Israeli camp cannot, obviously, be included in the count of the 3 days they spent in the mountains. Then, if we assume that on the last day they left the mountain and returned to Shittim in the evening, then the absence of the spies from the camp should have lasted about 4 days. This is how some of the Protestant biblical scholars actually determine the amount of this time and at the same time explain the discrepancy between it and the three days in Joshua 1:11 by the fact that Joshua’s hope for the spies to quickly complete the task entrusted to them was not justified due to unforeseen difficulties that they encountered in Jericho. And as for the 3 days indicated in Joshua 3:2, then by them they mean different from the 3 days named in Joshua 1:11, namely, the days spent by the Israelites on the banks of the Jordan, during which various preparations were made for the transition 36. And this explanation cannot be considered satisfactory due to the instability of its foundations. If the calculation of the time spent by the spies outside the Israeli camp at 4 days turns out to be quite plausible, then the same cannot be said regarding Joshua’s supposed hope for the speedy return of the messengers. If such a hope really existed and, under its influence, a three-day period was set for preparing the people to cross the Jordan, and then this hope was not realized, then the writer of the book would have spoken about the delay of the Israelis in Shittim for more than 3 days, and would not have described the circumstances of the return of the spies and the appearance of the people from Shittim as events are depicted in their correct course, alien to unexpected delays. To point out the fallacy of the assumption of the Israeli leader in this case would have been no more difficult for the writer than for the writer of the Pentateuch, who did not keep silent about the sin of Moses (Num. 20:12; Deut. 1:37, etc.). Understanding the words “in three days” in the sense of referring to the special three days spent by the Israelites on the banks of the Jordan is implausible due to the same insufficiency of grounds. It is motivated by the need for new preparations for crossing the Jordan, which at that time had overflowed its banks. But preparations for this had already been made in Shittim, where the flood of the Jordan could not have been unknown to the Israelites. In addition, the new stop of the Israelites for three days is inconsistent with the divine command specifically about crossing the Jordan, which required quick execution: “Arise, cross this Jordan” (Joshua 1:2). If, for all this, the Israelites had stopped for another three days on the banks of the Jordan, the biblical writer would have clearly indicated this, and would not have used such an expression (“in three days”), which assumes that the reader knows about the end of which 3 days are being spoken of here. Undoubtedly, these words have the simplest and most natural meaning if by the three days, the end of which is spoken of here, we mean precisely the days indicated in Joshua 1:11. This understanding is clearly supported by the peculiarity of the biblical narrative that, just as at the beginning of the 3-day period according to Joshua 1:11, the people's overseers announce the order of the Israeli leader, so here (Joshua 3:2) at the end of 3 days they come out with the announcement of a new order. But if, therefore, the opinion that Joshua 3:2 refers to special three days turns out to be implausible, if the same should be considered the opinion about three - no more - days of absence of the spies from the camp in Shittim, then how could the biblical writer, without disagreeing with himself, speak in Joshua 1:11, 3:2 about three days, during which time an event took place that lasted more than three days? The possibility of this lies in the idea that the spies were sent not simultaneously with the order for three days to prepare for the crossing of the Jordan, but earlier than that. The basis for this idea is that the embassy of spies was not a consequence of the divine command to cross the Jordan, but was inspired by other considerations. This command, coupled with the promise of divine help, was supposed to instill in Joshua full confidence in the conquest of the land of Canaan, despite the opposition of the enemy. Meanwhile, the secret embassy of spies reveals a different mood. It shows some uncertainty about the occupation of the country, fears for the success of further movement. If the promise of divine help in the conquest of Canaan did not exclude efforts on the part of the leader and the people to achieve the goal, it certainly excluded doubt about the success of the enterprise, which prompted them to resort to a secret, without the knowledge of the people, embassy of spies so that in the event of unfavorable news the people would not become despondent. Joshua could have had such an uncertain, anxious mood only before receiving the divine command and the promise associated with it, and not after. In view of this, it seems plausible that the rather long-standing 37 opinion that the spies were sent before receiving the divine command (Joshua 1:1-9), and at the same time before the appointment of three days for preparing food. If the biblical narrator presented information about the embassy of spies after this divine command and the associated assignment of a three-day period, it was because he was guided not only by the order of their sequence in time, but by their importance and significance for a coherent, consistent presentation of events. At their head he placed the divine command, then the two orders that followed from it, and, finally, information about the embassy of spies, whose return served as the beginning of further events, which are set out after the information about this embassy 38. And if the latter was sent before the promulgation of the order for three days of preparation for crossing the Jordan, then the four days used by the spies to travel to Jericho and stay in the mountains are not in conflict with the three-day period indicated in Joshua 1:11. Likewise, there is no incentive to abandon the ancient understanding that in Joshua 3:2 the end of the same three-day period is understood, and not the new three days spent by the Israelites on the banks of the Jordan. It is known that the Greek translation of LXX in various books of the Old Testament has its own characteristics, explained by the fact that it was made by different persons. See Korsun translation LXX, p. 56. The book of Joshua does not belong to those sacred books, the Greek translation of which is distinguished by accuracy and fidelity (ibid., p. 88). The Hebrew cubit is approximately defined as 483.9 millimeters (see for example Schenkel Bibel-lexieon. Vat. 4:129), which almost corresponds to 11 vershoks; while 2000 cubits are equal to 150 fathoms. According to the Hebrew text, the same word is used in both verses: “adon” - “lord”, as it is conveyed in Russian in Nav.3:13; instead, in Joshua 3:11 it is translated by the word “Lord”, according to the Greco-Slavic translation. Information about this is taken from Cook, Commentary 11, 24 and Keil - Iosua, 29-30. Tristram. The Natural history of the Bible. 1880, p. 488: “The wheat harvest,” it says here, “begins about a month after the barley harvest, usually in May, although it can begin somewhat earlier in the Jordan Valley” - due to the latter’s tropical climate. The time of wheat harvest is also determined by other researchers. See, for example, Biehm. Handworterbuch des Biblischen Altertums, 1:21. Keil. Iosua. 30. Cook. Commentary 11, 24. Riehim. Handworkerbuch, p. 25, 1786. This Greek translation is not the original translation of the LXX: in the oldest Greek copies, instead of the given words, it reads ἕως μέρους Καθιαριν, according to the Vatican list - “to the part of Kafierin”, or ἕως μέρους Καριαθιαρίμ, according to the Alexandrian list; in others, later: ἀπὸ Ἀδαμὶ (or Δαμιν, Δαμμιμ) τῆς πόλεως ή ἔστιν ἕως μέρους Καριαθιαρίμ (Field). These discrepancies in the Greek copies show how in later times the original Greek translation was corrected with the help of the Hebrew text, under the influence of which the words "Αδάμ" or Δαμιν appeared, according to the Hebrew "until the city of Adam." See the Hebrew dictionaries "Gesenia" or "Fürst". For further confirmation of this understanding, see the explanation of 4:9. C. F. Keil. Iosua, p. 17, 25. It was expressed by Buddha in his “Historia Ecclesiastica”, 1719, vol. I, p. 810. In the domestic literature, the given understanding of the order of events set out in Chapters I-II was briefly expressed by Arch. M. Kheraskov in “Review of Historical Books of the Old Testament,” 1879, p. 9. You might be interested in: