ToC | Reading the Old Testament. . . Chapter 6. Joshua | ToC

     2. Jericho's Walls Fall Down

The story of the famous fight against Jericho does not detail the military side of things. It does not describe the armor of the Israelites or any siege devices. Rather, the account describes the battle as a sacred event. Notice the centrality of the ark of the covenant, the sacred storage box for the covenant documents, which doubles as God's throne and marks the location of his presence.

1 Jericho was closed and inaccessible because of the Israelites. No one came out and no one went in. 2 YHWH said to Joshua, "See, I have given you control of Jericho, including its king and soldiers. 3 Have all the men of the camp walk around the city. Circle the city one time. Do this for six days. 4 Seven priests will carry seven ram's horn trumpets before the ark. On the seventh day you will circle the city seven times, and the priests will blow the trumpets. 5 When the ram's horn sounds, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, let the people shout loudly. Then the wall of the city will fall down, and each person can go straight in." (6:1-5)

    Notice the repeated use of the number seven. This stamps the event as priestly and holy. The number seven is associated with the divinely ordained structure of the week. Remember the priestly account of creation in Genesis 1:1-2:3. The seventh day, the day the walls fell, would naturally be considered the Sabbath, although this is not stated in so many words. The fall of the city, taking place on the seventh day, Israel's holy day, marks the victory as the work of Yahweh. Remember that this story would have taken its final shape in the exilic community for whom circumcision and the Sabbath were central to their sense of identity.
ToC | Reading the Old Testament. . . Chapter 6. Joshua | ToC