Joshua 5 · a question people ask
What was "the reproach of Egypt"?
The LORD said, "Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you" (5:9) (tap rolled away and reproach), and the place was named for it. The verse doesn't say what the reproach was. Among the word's senses Brown-Driver-Briggs gives the "taunt of enemy" and the "reproach which rests upon one, condition of shame, disgrace". Christians read it here in two main ways. Both agree that the LORD rolled it away "Today" (5:9), at Gilgal, right after the men were circumcised (5:8).
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
Egypt's taunt, answered
Those who hold this view hear the words Moses feared Egypt would say. After the golden calf he prayed, "Why should the Egyptians talk", saying that the LORD "brought them out for evil, to kill them in the mountains" (Exodus 32:12). In Deuteronomy he feared that "the land you brought us out from" would say, "Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which he promised to them" (Deuteronomy 9:28). Now Israel is in the land and eats its fruit (5:12). On this view, the reproach of Egypt was that taunt, and it is gone.
Exodus 32:12 · Deuteronomy 9:28 · Joshua 5:12
The shame of the uncircumcised, removed
Those who hold this view read the reproach with what comes just before it, the circumcision (5:2-8). Genesis uses the same word of it: Jacob's sons said that to give their sister "to one who is uncircumcised" would be "a reproach to us" (Genesis 34:14). On this view, the sons born on the way from Egypt (5:5) were uncircumcised (5:7), and when they were circumcised, the LORD rolled that reproach away.
Joshua 5:2-8 · Genesis 34:14
The verses
“When they were done circumcising the whole nation, they stayed in their places in the camp until they were healed. The LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” Therefore the name of that place was called Gilgal to this day.”