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Joshua 5 · a question people ask

Why hadn't the sons been circumcised in the wilderness?

In the text

The chapter doesn't say why. It says only that "they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them on the way" (5:7). The reason it does give, "because they didn’t listen to the LORD’s voice" (5:6), is about the fathers: why the men of war died before they could see the land, as the LORD had sworn (5:6; Numbers 14:29-30). About the sons it says what happened, not why. Then it gives what the LORD said: "Make flint knives, and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time" (5:2).

The verses

“At that time, the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives, and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time.””
Joshua 5:2 · World English Bible
“For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness until all the nation, even the men of war who came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they didn’t listen to the LORD’s voice. The LORD swore to them that he wouldn’t let them see the land which the LORD swore to their fathers that he would give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. Their children, whom he raised up in their place, were circumcised by Joshua, for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them on the way.”
Joshua 5:6-7 · World English Bible
“Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness; and all who were counted of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, who have complained against me, surely you shall not come into the land concerning which I swore that I would make you dwell therein, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.”
Numbers 14:29-30 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Joshua 5

Joshua 5: 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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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions