The Free Thinkers guide to the Bible

Crossing the Jordan

Welcome to the Free Thinkers guide to the bible. I created this series so that ‘anyone’ can explore and understand the bible. You don’t need to be a biblical scholar; all you need is a desire to see what is written. I will present to you several biblical examples and demonstrate the process of sifting the accounts to reveal the hidden. This process is very similar to archeology, where the layers are excavated and analyzed. Just not the dirty part, though you will be digging up some dirt along the way.

Warning:

The series unfolds like a story in a book. Please study the content in the order it is presented in order to have the best learning experience. (The study series begins with Part 1 #1 – The Flood)

This series is not for the faint of heart. Be prepared, as you sift through the layers you will likely find that there is a lot you will need to unlearn. By the time you have completed the studies it will probably have shaken the pillars of your faith and possibly cracked the foundation.

I have decided to deviate from the previous studies and introduce to you this study which is outside of the first five books. This study is related to the recent study that I presented to you regarding the Ark.

The information in this study will provide you with more evidence for you to consider the questions I posed at the end of the previous study.

Preface

This study is the account of the children of Israel crossing the Jordan River in the Joshua scroll. It is easy to read the account and take at face value. But as with many biblical stories; this account has dual layers that need to be dug up and sifted to reveal their true nature.

I want you to be cognizant of the fact that the “A” writers did not stop editing and inserting material with the first five books. Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings have all had generous scribal manipulation. Please be aware of this so you can apply the detective skills you have learned when reading these and other biblical accounts.

To begin, please read Joshua chapters three and four. Look for inconsistencies and anything that seems out of place. Can you identify the scribal insertions and additions to the original story? If you have participated in the studies from the beginning this may be an easy exercise for you…

There are quite a few “A” writer insertions in this account and it is somewhat complicated to sift through it and extract the original story. Hopefully you identified the “A” writer key words and found the inconsistencies that allowed you to separate the original story from the “A” writers additions.

After reading the account you should have one key question that needs to be answered in this account that will help differentiate between the “B” story from the “A” insertions…

'Did Joshua set up the stones in Gilgal, in the midst of the Jordan River’ or both?

Verses common to both accounts are highlighted: And Joshua rose early

*** indicates breaks where verses are used in the opposite account

Crossing Jordan - The “B” story

Jos 3:1 And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. *** 9 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God. 10 And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail 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. *** 13a And it shall come to pass, *** 13c that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.

14a And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, *** 16 that the waters which came down from above*** were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho. ***

Jos 4:1 And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying, 2 Take you twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man, 3a And command ye them, saying, Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, *** 3c twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you , and leave them in the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night. 4 Then Joshua called the twelve men, whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man: 5 And Joshua said unto them, *** 5c take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: 6 That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? 7 Then ye shall answer them, that the waters of Jordan were cut off *** 7c and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. 8 And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the LORD spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there. *** 20 And those twelve stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua pitch in Gilgal. 21 And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, when your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, what mean these stones? 22 Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. 23 For the LORD your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over: 24 That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the LORD your God for ever

This is a typical “B” writer story. The Children of Israel camped near the Jordan River. Joshua told the people that the Creator would drive out the inhabitants of the land. The river splits in a manner similar to the splitting of the water in the Sea of Reeds account. Once the people had all passed over Joshua chose twelve men to take stones from the midst of the river and carry them to the camp. Joshua set the stones up in Gilgal as a memorial of the event.

I now present to you the “A” account with its additions and scribal insertions.

“A” writer key words are highlighted in red - The Ark of the Covenant

Scribal insertions are highlighted in orange - they are there unto this day

Crossing Jordan – The “A” writers account and additions

Jos 3:1 And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. 2 And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host; 3 And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. 4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore. 5 And Joshua said unto the people, sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you. 6 And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the Ark of the Covenant, and pass over before the people.

And they took up the Ark of the Covenant, and went before the people. 7 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. 8 And thou shalt command the priests that bear the Ark of the Covenant, saying, when ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan. ***11 Behold, the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan. ***13a And it shall come to pass, 13b as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, 13c that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap. *** 15 And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,) 16a That the waters which came down from above 16b stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed,

17 And the priests that bare the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.

4:9 And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bare the Ark of the Covenant stood: and they are there unto this day. 10 For the priests which bare the ark stood in the midst of Jordan, until everything was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to speak unto the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua: and the people hasted and passed over. 11 And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the LORD passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people. 12 And the children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses spake unto them: 13 About forty thousand prepared for war passed over before the LORD unto battle, to the plains of Jericho. 14 On that day the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life. 15 And the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying, 16 Command the priests that bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of Jordan. 17 Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan. 18 And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before 19 And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho.

The “A” account is centered on the Ark of the Covenant and the Priests that were carrying it. The writer(s) also focus on Joshua as the leader of the people. They tell the reader that the people were instilled with awe/fear of Joshua as they were with Moses.

3:7 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.

4:14 On that day the LORD magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life.

Was Moses feared? It definitely didn’t seem like it in the “B” stories. If you have participated in the studies, you know that Moses was not feared or held in awe and that he was constantly battling against the grumbling, complaining and the rebellion of the people.

Note: as well as the rebellion of Aaron and Miriam against his leadership/authority.

Summary

In the “B” story Joshua chooses twelve men, one from each tribe to take stones from the Jordan and carry them to the resting rest place in Gilgal, Joshua then sets them up for a memorial. In the “A” account Joshua set up the remembrance stones in the midst of the Jordan River.

If you have been participating in the studies you will notice that the “A” writer additions are not as refined as the majority of the “A” accounts. This difference needs to be noted. Our thoughts may be drawn to the possibility that a group of scribes participated in the process of adding priestly matters into the “B” writer’s stories. Some “A” additions are works of marvelously talented scribes who almost seamlessly integrated their accounts and others that lacked the sophistication; and their works are easily spotted and separated from the original “B” stories.

I leave this for you to ponder.

Key “A” Words

The ark/of the Lord/of the covenant/of the testimony – 15X

Priests – 14X

Joshua 3:12 is not included in either account I present to you. If you were reading through the full account and paused at this verse your powers of observation are very good. This verse doesn’t seem to belong in that portion of the story in either account.

There is the possibility that these words may have been connected to an event that was removed from the account or it was an “A” writer scribal error.

Note: These words are almost identical to the chapter 4:2 wording.

The ‘Likely’ “A” scribal Insertions

12 Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man. (Scribal insertion – mistake? – see 4:2)

3:14b and the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant before the people; (likely insertion)

4:3b out of the place where the priests' feet stood firm, (likely insertion)

4:5b Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and (likely insertion)

4:7b before the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: (likely insertion)

Please continue with us in the next portion of the series:

Part #5 - The Perpetual Priesthood