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Joshua 5 Bible study: The reproach rolled away
Gilgal is named for the LORD's own words, "I have rolled away" (5:9). The manna ceased after Israel had eaten of the produce of the land, with the verb of God's rest on the seventh day (5:12; Genesis 2:2). And by Jericho, Joshua heard almost word for word what Moses heard at the bush (5:15; Exodus 3:5).
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“The prince of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals, for the place on which you stand is holy.” Joshua did so.”
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“The words "the next day after the Passover" mark both the day Israel left Egypt and a day at Gilgal.”
Is that in Joshua 5, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
A generation born on the way
The LORD tells Joshua, "circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time" (5:2), and the chapter stops to say why: "This is the reason Joshua circumcised them" (5:4). "All the people who came out were circumcised; but all the people who were born in the wilderness along the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised" (5:5). The men of war who came out of Egypt had died, "because they didn’t listen to the LORD’s voice" (5:6), as the LORD had said at Kadesh: "Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness" (Numbers 14:29), "But I will bring in your little ones" (Numbers 14:31). Now the sons are the nation: "Their children, whom he raised up in their place, were circumcised by Joshua" (5:7). Genesis 17 tells how the sign began, "Every male among you shall be circumcised" (Genesis 17:10) (tap circumcised), and Deuteronomy how Moses spoke of a circumcised heart (Deuteronomy 10:16; 30:6). What this chapter adds is a whole generation that grew up without the sign, and the day it was given to them.
Where it leads to Jesus
Calling him lord, and doing what he says
Joshua 5:14leads toLuke 6:46
Joshua fell on his face and asked the commander of the LORD’s army, "What does my lord say to his servant?" (5:14). He was told, "Take off your sandals", and "Joshua did so" (5:15). Jesus said, "Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46), and "Everyone who comes to me, and hears my words and does them, I will show you who he is like" (Luke 6:47). Jesus doesn’t cite Joshua 5, and this line doesn’t say who the commander was (the honest question sets out how Christians read that). Some set the two side by side, since both join calling someone lord with doing what he says. Others read Jesus’ words within his own teaching, where the one who hears and does is like a man who "laid a foundation on the rock" (Luke 6:48), and don’t look back to Joshua 5.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Joshua 5
That was a taste
The rest of Joshua 5 is waiting in Favor
- First the knives, then the Passover
- The day the manna stopped
- The words Moses heard
- A sword drawn in his hand
- 7 questions as you read
- 12 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Joshua 5 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
גָּלַלgalalsay ga-LAL
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "roll, roll away". Strong's: "to roll (literally or figuratively)". The LORD says, "Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you" (5:9), and the text goes straight on: "Therefore the name of that place was called Gilgal to this day" (5:9). In Hebrew, I have rolled away is galloti, and it sounds like Gilgal; the verse itself makes the link with "Therefore". Strong's connects the name with the Hebrew words for a wheel, which it derives "by reduplication from 1556", this verb. Genesis uses the verb of the stone on a well: "They rolled the stone from the well’s mouth" (Genesis 29:3). Joshua uses it once more: "Roll large stones to cover the cave’s entrance" (10:18).
For your group
Joshua 5 Bible study questions
- 1"Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you" (5:9). Is there something from your past you still carry as a reproach? What would it mean to hear that God has rolled it away?
- 2The manna ceased after Israel had eaten of the produce of the land (5:12). Has the way God provides for you changed from one season of your life to another? What did you learn from the change?
- 3Joshua asked, "Are you for us, or for our enemies?" and heard, "No" (5:13-14). Then he asked, "What does my lord say to his servant?" (5:14). What changes when you ask Joshua's second question instead of his first?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Joshua 5 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Joshua 5 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
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The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home