Before you read on, I strongly urge you to read the short essay at this link in full. It provides background information from accredited university scholars; without it, you will simply think that this amateur is "up to his usual fantasy commentaries" which I am sure is how you have dismissed much of what has come before. In response I will simply note that I was surprised to find Yerach as the male moon-god and Chamash as the female sun, rather than the other way around, though on reflection the double-meaning of Yerach (moon, and "thigh") makes much more sense this way around; and also point out once again that the sacred number for YHVH is seven, and that seven is written in the Yehudit manner, of using letters as numbers, as Zayin, which is less euphemistic than "thigh". For Keret, who figures predominantly at the link, see also my notes at Genesis 34:1ff.
וִירִיחֹו סֹגֶרֶת וּמְסֻגֶּרֶת מִפְּנֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֵין יֹוצֵא וְאֵין בָּא
BN (BibleNet translation): Now Yericho was locked and bolted because of the Beney Yisra-El: no one went out, and no one came in.
Which is a lovely was of describing a state of siege without actually using the word. Presumably this state of siege has been in place since the time the spies went in, and so now we can understand how they got their corn for Pesach - they plundered the fields which the good citizens of Yericho had been planning to harvest.
Though it does send us back to the end of the previous chapter (5:13ff), to ask again how Yehoshu'a managed to get into the city, and meet the "angel" of YHVH Tseva'ot.
samech break
6:2 VA YOMER YHVH EL YEHOSHU'A RE'EH NATATI VE YADCHA ET YERICHO VE ET MALKAH GIBOREY HE CHAYIL
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל יְהֹושֻׁעַ רְאֵה נָתַתִּי בְיָדְךָ אֶת יְרִיחֹו וְאֶת מַלְכָּהּ גִּבֹּורֵי הֶחָיִל
BN: And YHVH said to Yehoshu'a: See, I have given Yericho into your hand , and her king, and her glorious men of war.
No, he has not. The city is closed, but has not yet surrendered. It is under a siege. This is a prophesy, not a statement of facts.
MALKAH: Which makes this city feminine, which some cities are, while others are masculine (MALKO, מלכו = "his king"). Is that because it's a moon city, sacred to a goddess (in this case Rachav)? And indeed, it could also mean "her queen" rather than "her king". And if it did... but let's hold on that for a moment (and yes, I am keeping in mind my link at the top of this page; I simply need convincing, from inside the text, that it is right: so far I am not convinced!).
6:3 VE SABOTEM ET HA IR KOL ANSHEY HA MILCHAMAH HAKEYPH ET HA IR PA'AM ECHAT KOH TA'ASEH SHESHET YAMIM
וְסַבֹּתֶם אֶת הָעִיר כֹּל אַנְשֵׁי הַמִּלְחָמָה הַקֵּיף אֶת הָעִיר פַּעַם אֶחָת כֹּה תַעֲשֶׂה שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים
BN: And you shall surround the city, all your men of war, and circumambulate around the city once. This you shall do for six days.
HAKEYPH: This needs detailed explanation, for which see the notes to the number 7. Six circulations of the city (the 7th is implicit, and the Sabbath multiplies it - see verse 4: 7 times) reflects the 7 circumambulations of the bride accompanied by 7 blessings at the wedding ceremony (Nisu'in), all part of an ancient ceremony that long pre-dates the Beney Yisra-El, and was connected with the honouring of the fertility goddess - who is of course the moon-goddess, who is Rachav in the case of Yericho.
(As a parenthesis, the custom of breaking a glass by treading on it originates here too - a pomegranate was smashed in this way to send its hundreds of seeds flying, a confetti of seeds, quite literally, with the spectators fluttering the orange blossom to accompany the ceremony: the bride throwing the bouquet into the assembled guests has the same intention.)
Muslims circumambulate the Ka'aba in Mecca 7 times as part of the Hajj pilgrimage (click here), as do Jews the Bimah, carrying the Torah scrolls, for the "hakafot" of Simchat Torah.
And as an addendum, because I have waited for the appropriate place to note this: Yehoshu'a is always referred to by his full name and patronymic, which is unusual for the heroes of these stories; we get told who their father was, and then just their given name. But he is always Yehoshu'a bin Nun. And Nun means "fish". And Rachav... go and look again at the link to her name, and see the fish-connections staring you in the gills (the same ones that you will find with Jonah and John the Baptist - click here for them). This is his shrine just as much as it is hers!
6:4 VE SHIV'AH KOHANIM YIS'U SHIVAH SHOPHROT HA YOVELIM LIPHNEY HA ARON U VA YOM HA SHEVIYI TASOBU ET HA IR SHEVA PE'AMIM VE HA KOHANIM YITKE'U BA SHOPHAROT
וְשִׁבְעָה כֹהֲנִים יִשְׂאוּ שִׁבְעָה שֹׁופְרֹות הַיֹּובְלִים לִפְנֵי הָאָרֹון וּבַיֹּום הַשְּׁבִיעִי תָּסֹבּוּ אֶת הָעִיר שֶׁבַע פְּעָמִים וְהַכֹּהֲנִים יִתְקְעוּ בַּשֹּׁופָרֹות
BN: And seven Kohanim shall carry before the Ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and on the seventh day you shall circumambulate the city seven times, and the Kohanim shall blow the trumpets.
The ram's horn in this case should surely be the CHATSOTSRAH, not the SHOPHAR - a military trumpet: see my notes, starting at Numbers 10:2). Yet the text clearly states SHOPHAROT (though the first mention, at the top of the verse, also states SHOPHROT, and it is unclear why there are these variations). Which confirms that this is a religious ceremony and not a military event.
YOVEL: Not the jubilee, but the word is connected, through the horn. Or perhaps this was indeed a jubilee celebration. At every verse remind yourself that Yericho is the moon as well as being the name of a town. And we have just celebrated the eve of Passover, which takes place at the full moon.
So I am already beginning to suspect that there never was a siege of Yericho, but only a ceremony to celebrate the arrival in Kena'an, taking place at the central moon-shrine, because where else would you do it, especially if you were Yehoshu'a bin Nun? And the siege is described the way it is in verse 1, because it wasn't a siege, but NE'ILAH, "the locking of the gates" at the climax of a religious ceremony. And that the two men who went to see Rachav were simply making the arrangements, and the "angel" was the third - they usually come in threes - who was handling Yehoshua's side of the planning in the camp. But this needed to be part of history, and the conquest of Kena'an by Ach-Mousa didn't fit the needs of the newly reborn Yehudah (in Ezra's time, I mean, when this was written down); though quite probably Ach-Mousa did besiege and conquer Yericho, so there may have been some history to work with.
6:5 VE HAYAH BIMSHOCH BE KEREN HA YOVEL BA SHAM'ACHEM ET KOL HA SHOPHAR YARIYU CHOL HA AM TERU'AH GEDOLAH VE NAPHLAH CHOMAT HA IR TACHTEYHA VE ALU HA AM ISH NEGDO
וְהָיָה בִּמְשֹׁךְ ׀ בְּקֶרֶן הַיֹּובֵל [בְּשָׁמְעֲכֶם כ] (כְּשָׁמְעֲכֶם ק) אֶת קֹול הַשֹּׁופָר יָרִיעוּ כָל הָעָם תְּרוּעָה גְדֹולָה וְנָפְלָה חֹומַת הָעִיר תַּחְתֶּיהָ וְעָלוּ הָעָם אִישׁ נֶגְדֹּו
BN: And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall go up, every man straight before him.
More echoes of the New Year with each verse that passes. Echoes of the pillar of fire by night and the pillar of smoke by day as well; these latter clearly the consequences of a volcanic eruption at Chorev or at Sinai. Was it in fact an earthquake that brought the walls down, and the need to attribute it to YHVH provided the tale later?
Or have three different tales been condensed into one: an earthquake (possibly volcanic), a siege and conquest, a pilgrimage to the moon-shrine.
TERU'AH GEDOLAH: New Year is brought in, today, and Yom Kippur finally "closed", with a Teki'ah Gedolah rather than a Teru'ah Gedolah, though a Teru'ah Ragilah immediately precedes it. Details here.
Or have three different tales been condensed into one: an earthquake (possibly volcanic), a siege and conquest, a pilgrimage to the moon-shrine.
TERU'AH GEDOLAH: New Year is brought in, today, and Yom Kippur finally "closed", with a Teki'ah Gedolah rather than a Teru'ah Gedolah, though a Teru'ah Ragilah immediately precedes it. Details here.
6:6 VA YIKRA YEHOSHU'A BIN NUN EL HA KOHANIM VA YOMER ALEYHEM SE'U ET ARON HA BERIT VE SHIV'AH KOHANIM YIS'U SHIV'AH SHOPHROT YOVLIM LIPHNEY ARON YHVH
KJ: And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD.
BN: So Yehoshu'a bin Nun called the Kohanim, and said to them: Take up the Ark of the Covenant, and let seven Kohanim carry seven Shopharim before the Ark of YHVH.
6:7 VA YOMRU EL HA AM IVRU VE SOBU ET HA IR VE HE CHALUTS YA'AVOR LIPHNEY ARON YHVH
וַיִּקְרָא יְהֹושֻׁעַ בִּן נוּן אֶל הַכֹּהֲנִים וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם שְׂאוּ אֶת אֲרֹון הַבְּרִית וְשִׁבְעָה כֹהֲנִים יִשְׂאוּ שִׁבְעָה שֹׁופְרֹות יֹובְלִים לִפְנֵי אֲרֹון יְהוָה
BN: So Yehoshu'a bin Nun called the Kohanim, and said to them: Take up the Ark of the Covenant, and let seven Kohanim carry seven Shopharim before the Ark of YHVH.
6:7 VA YOMRU EL HA AM IVRU VE SOBU ET HA IR VE HE CHALUTS YA'AVOR LIPHNEY ARON YHVH
ויאמרו (וַיֹּאמֶר) אֶל הָעָם עִבְרוּ וְסֹבּוּ אֶת הָעִיר וְהֶחָלוּץ יַעֲבֹר לִפְנֵי אֲרֹון יְהוָה
KJ: And he said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let him that is armed pass on before the ark of the LORD.
BN: And they said to the people: Pass on, and surround the city, and let the soldiers parade past the Ark of YHVH.
VA YOMRU: Another error in the original text? Should this be VA YOMER, singular? Or is the instruction being given now by the Kohanim, not by Yehoshu'a? The verse that follows asserts that it was Yehoshu'a, but YOMRU at the beginning of the verse, and IVRU aterwards, are both plural. As I have not done above, most Jewish versions of the text do not add Nekudot (pointing) to the word, but offer their preference in parenthesis; the parenthesis above is in the singular.
IVRU: Yet another instance of that word, the one that leads to IVRIM as "Hebrews". But only in this book, when exile and slavery are over and the nation is restored in its homeland, do we get this repeated and repeated: it makes me think they were doing what several of my "black" friends did in America, using the "N" word to address each other, and the same at White Hart Lane, where the Spurs fans, tired of years of anti-Semitic abuse from the fans of away teams, now sing out triumphantly "We are the Y...s". Take a word that has been used to abuse and derogate you, and strip it off of its negatives by transforming it into something that you use positively: all power to wound with it is neutralised. Is this then a justification for saying "Hebrew" Bible and "Hebrew" nation after all, and not, as I have done throughout this work, prohibiting the word?
HE CHALUTS: An unusual form of the definite article, but my friends who are grammar scholars tell me it is abslutely correct, the variations caused by the consonant at the start of the noun. See also verses 9 and 13.
But my grammar scholars cannot answer a secondary question about CHALUTS, which is "how does it get to mean soldiers, when all modern Israelis know the word means 'pioneers'" - were it not for the Chalutsim, there would be no modern Israel? Fortunately Rabbi Julian Sinclair can explain it - click here.
6:8 VA YEHI KE EMOR YEHOSHU'A EL HA AM VE SHIV'AH HA KOHANIM NOS'IM SHIV'AH SHOPHAROT HA YOVELIM LIPHNEY YHVH AVRU VE TAKU BA SHOPHAROT VE ARON BRIT YHVH HOLECH ACHAREYHEM
6:8 VA YEHI KE EMOR YEHOSHU'A EL HA AM VE SHIV'AH HA KOHANIM NOS'IM SHIV'AH SHOPHAROT HA YOVELIM LIPHNEY YHVH AVRU VE TAKU BA SHOPHAROT VE ARON BRIT YHVH HOLECH ACHAREYHEM
וַיְהִי כֶּאֱמֹר יְהֹושֻׁעַ אֶל הָעָם וְשִׁבְעָה הַכֹּהֲנִים נֹשְׂאִים שִׁבְעָה שֹׁופְרֹות הַיֹּובְלִים לִפְנֵי יְהוָה עָבְרוּ וְתָקְעוּ בַּשֹּׁופָרֹות וַאֲרֹון בְּרִית יְהוָה הֹלֵךְ אַחֲרֵיהֶם
KJ: And it came to pass, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns passed on before the LORD, and blew with the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them.
BN: And it came to pass, when Yehoshu'a had spoken to the people, that the seven Kohanim carrying the seven trumpets of rams' horns passed before YHVH, and blew with the trumpets: and the Ark of the Covenant of YHVH followed them.
SHOPHAROT: I am still puzzling over SHOPHAROT versus SHOPHROT, here and in the next verse. I think it's an error by the Masoretic pointer.
LIPHNEY YHVH: If this is a physical circumambulation of a town, rather than a physical circumambulation of the inner sanctuary of a shrine, how do you pass "before YHVH", unless it means the Aron Ha Berit has been positioned for the purpose, positioned like the Ark in synagogue no doubt, to enable the hakafot. And if the town is under siege, is there nobody on the walltop, pouring boiling oil down on the Kohanim, or firing primitive arrows at the trumpeters? I would love to have seen the British dealing with the same strategy at Mafeking, say, or the Crusaders of 1099, hoping to take Jerusalem in this manner. Or imagine the nwspaper headline: "Hitler's trumpetwaffe takes Stalingrad".
6:9 VE HE CHALUTS HOLECH LIPHNEY HA KOHANIM TAK'U HA SHOPHAROT VE HA ME'ASEPH HOLECH ACHAREY HA ARON HALOCH VE TAKO'A BA SHOPHAROT
וְהֶחָלוּץ הֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵי הַכֹּהֲנִים תָּקְעוּ (תֹּקְעֵי) הַשֹּׁופָרֹות וְהַמְאַסֵּף הֹלֵךְ אַחֲרֵי הָאָרֹון הָלֹוךְ וְתָקֹועַ בַּשֹּׁופָרֹות
BN: So the soldiers marched ahead of before the Kohanim who were blowing the trumpets, and those at the rear came after the Ark, the Kohanim going on, still blowing the trumpets.
TAK'U: Again a textual error. Again the parenthesis provides the correct form.
6:10 VE ET HA AM TSIVAH YEHOSHU'A LEMOR LO TARIY'U VE LO TASHMIY'U ET KOLCHEM VE LO YETS'E MI PIYCHEM DAVAR AD YOM AMRI ALEYCHEM HARIY'U VA HARIY'OTEM
וְאֶת הָעָם צִוָּה יְהֹושֻׁעַ לֵאמֹר לֹא תָרִיעוּ וְלֹא תַשְׁמִיעוּ אֶת קֹולְכֶם וְלֹא יֵצֵא מִפִּיכֶם דָּבָר עַד יֹום אָמְרִי אֲלֵיכֶם הָרִיעוּ וַהֲרִיעֹתֶם
BN: And Yehoshu'a had instructed the people, saying: You shall not shout, nor make any sound with your voices, nor shall any word proceed out of your mouths, until the day when I call on you to shout; then you shall really shout.
AD YOM: By which he means the seventh day, the Jubilee day, so to speak, and not the dawn, even though this is a moon ritual (verse 12 may dispute this however).
6:11 VA YASEV ARON YHVH ET HA IR HAKEPH PA'AM ECHAT VA YAVO'U HA MACHANEH VA YALIYNU BA MACHANEH
וַיַּסֵּב אֲרֹון יְהוָה אֶת הָעִיר הַקֵּף פַּעַם אֶחָת וַיָּבֹאוּ הַמַּחֲנֶה וַיָּלִינוּ בַּמַּחֲנֶה
BN: So the Ark of YHVH was circumambulated around the city, making a single circuit; and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.
HAKEPH: As in verse 3, the key word that I have been alluding to in several notes, once again used explicitly (though why the verse 3 version has a Yud but this one doesn't is beyond my capacity to explain: an error, in whichever case you prefer).
6:12 VA YASHKEM YEHOSHU'A BA BOKER VA YIS'U HA KOHANIM ET ARON YHVH
וַיַּשְׁכֵּם יְהֹושֻׁעַ בַּבֹּקֶר וַיִּשְׂאוּ הַכֹּהֲנִים אֶת אֲרֹון יְהוָה
BN: And Yehoshu'a rose early in the morning, and the Kohanim took up the Ark of YHVH.
As per my bracketed note to verse 10: early in the morning is of course essential, if you wish to catch the moon before she disappears behind the Parochet, the "veil" of the sun. Is the play on words here accidental or deliberate? If deliberate, then Yehoshu'a is himself the sun (Shemesh, whence Shimshon/Samson); which of course, given that YHVH has also now evolved into the sun-deity (Deuteronomy, last chapter), and Yehoshu'a is his earthly representative, he is. Does this provide support for the thesis at the link at the top of the page? A marriage of Yehoshu'a and Rachav perhaps?
6:13 VE SHIV'AH HA KOHANIM NOS'IM SHIV'AH SHOPHAROT HA YOVLIM LIPHNEY ARON YHVH HOLCHIM HALOCH VE TAK'U BA SHOPHAROT VE HE CHALUTS HOLECH LIPHNEYHEM VE HA ME'ASEPH HOLECH ACHAREY ARON YHVH HOLECH VE TAKO'A BE SHOPHAROT
וְשִׁבְעָה הַכֹּהֲנִים נֹשְׂאִים שִׁבְעָה שֹׁופְרֹות הַיֹּבְלִים לִפְנֵי אֲרֹון יְהוָה הֹלְכִים הָלֹוךְ וְתָקְעוּ בַּשֹּׁופָרֹות וְהֶחָלוּץ הֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵיהֶם וְהַמְאַסֵּף הֹלֵךְ אַחֲרֵי אֲרֹון יְהוָה הֹולֵךְ (הָלֹוךְ) וְתָקֹועַ בַּשֹּׁופָרֹות
BN: And seven priests carrying seven trumpets of rams' horns before the Ark of YHVH went on continually, blowing the trumpets. And the soldiers marched in front of them; but those in the rear stayed behind the Ark of YHVH, the Kohanim going on, blowing the trumpets.
HOLECH: Still more textual errors. Nor should we be surprised. This is being written down in Yehudit by the Ezraic scribe, a century and a half since Yehudit ceased to be the mother-tongue, with Nechem-Yah complaining that he can barely find a soul in Yehudah who speaks it correctly (Nehemiah 13:24), and himself making spelling and grammatical errors throughout his book, and Ezra the same in his.
6:14 VA YASOBU ET HA IR BA YOM HA SHENI PA'AM ACHAT VA YASHUVU HA MACHANEH KOH ASU SHESHET YAMIM
וַיָּסֹבּוּ אֶת הָעִיר בַּיֹּום הַשֵּׁנִי פַּעַם אַחַת וַיָּשֻׁבוּ הַמַּחֲנֶה כֹּה עָשׂוּ שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים
BN: And on the second day they circumambulated the city once, and returned to camp: so they did for six days.
6:15 VA YEHI BA YOM HA SHEVIY'I VA YASHKIMU KA'ALOT HA SHACHAR VA YASOBU ET HA IR KA MISHPAT HA ZEH SHEVA PE'AMIM RAK BA YOM HA HU SAVEVU ET HA IR SHEVA PE'AMIM
וַיְהִי בַּיֹּום הַשְּׁבִיעִי וַיַּשְׁכִּמוּ כַּעֲלֹות הַשַּׁחַר וַיָּסֹבּוּ אֶת הָעִיר כַּמִּשְׁפָּט הַזֶּה שֶׁבַע פְּעָמִים רַק בַּיֹּום הַהוּא סָבְבוּ אֶת הָעִיר שֶׁבַע פְּעָמִים
BN: And it came to pass, on the seventh day, that they rose with the dawn, and circumambulated the city in the same manner seven times; only on that day did they circumambulate the city seven times.
The seventh day is the Shabat, on which they should be "resting", according to one version of the law, or "observing it with deep sincerity and intensity", according to the other - Kavanah, for which see my notes at Joshua 5:5). There is only one excuse for their not resting - that they are engaged in a religious act which deeply consecrates the Shabat; again demonstrating that this is pilgrimage, not war. Seven hakafot on the seventh day gives 49; hints of Shavu'ot as well. And of the Jubilee - the Yovel: did we note that the trumpets in use here were the Yovelim (sometimes the Yovlim, the text is full of these errors)? I believe we did.
HA SHACHAR: One again at dawn - see my note to verse 12. We are at the birth of the nation after all, so dawn is the appropriate time, or moonrise in the evening (but they celebrated that at Passover, last chapter).
6:16 VA YEHI BA PA'AM HA SHEVIY'IT TAK'U HA KOHANIM BA SHOPHAROT VA YOMER YEHOSHU'A EL HA AM HARIY'U KI NATAN YHVH LACHEM ET HA IR
וַיְהִי בַּפַּעַם הַשְּׁבִיעִית תָּקְעוּ הַכֹּהֲנִים בַּשֹּׁופָרֹות וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹושֻׁעַ אֶל הָעָם הָרִיעוּ כִּי נָתַן יְהוָה לָכֶם אֶת הָעִיר
KJ: And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city.
BN: And it came to pass on the seventh occasion, when the Kohanim blew the trumpets, that Yehoshu'a said to the people: Shout; for YHVH has given you the city.
I think we should probably translate this as "cheer" rather than "shout", but either way a big hurrah is the intention.
But what precisely would they have shouted? Hallelu-Yah would have been reserved for the "siege" of Chevron, because that was Yah's city. A shame we are not told, because it would reveal much about the nature of the cult in this place.
6:17 VE HAYETAH HA IR CHEREM HI VE CHOL ASHER BAH LA YHVH RAK RACHAV HA ZONAH TICHEYEH HI VE CHOL ASHER ITAH BA BAYIT KI HECHBE'ATAH ET HA MAL'ACHIM ASHER SHALACHNU
6:17 VE HAYETAH HA IR CHEREM HI VE CHOL ASHER BAH LA YHVH RAK RACHAV HA ZONAH TICHEYEH HI VE CHOL ASHER ITAH BA BAYIT KI HECHBE'ATAH ET HA MAL'ACHIM ASHER SHALACHNU
וְהָיְתָה הָעִיר חֵרֶם הִיא וְכָל אֲשֶׁר בָּהּ לַיהוָה רַק רָחָב הַזֹּונָה תִּחְיֶה הִיא וְכָל אֲשֶׁר אִתָּהּ בַּבַּיִת כִּי הֶחְבְּאַתָה אֶת הַמַּלְאָכִים אֲשֶׁר שָׁלָחְנוּ
BN: And the city shall be [subjected to total genocide and ethnic cleansing, a veritable holocaust indeed] dedicated to YHVH, both it, and all its inhabitants: only Rachav the hierodule shall be left alive, she and all who are with her in the shrine, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
CHEREM: See my notes on this word above and previously, but now it needs reviewing. Most translations give "accursed", but some, especially orthodox Jewish ones, give "devoted", which is a very different concept. Part of the difficulty lies in LA YHVH - you cannot "curse" something, or "destroy" something "to YHVH"; in the name of, yes, but not "to". Cherem is the word used for excommunication, but, as per the link, it originally meant what I have put in square brackets in my translation.
And now look at the next verse, and especially at verse 21.
MAL'ACHIM: Note that they now turn out to have been "messengers", or even "angels", given that the same word is used for both! But not spies, as the commentary demonstrated earlier (see my notes to 2:4 and 5:14, and the parallel with Sedom). What we are witnessing is not the physical destruction of Yericho however, but the reconsecration of Yericho as a shrine to - not YHVH in fact, or not in the original version... The hakafot, as noted above, echo Nisu'in, but on this occasion the bride is the moon-goddess (the sacred marriage will be reflected later, when the cult of the Beney Yisra-El becomes entirely patriarchal, in Lecha Dodi Likrat Kalah and in the Song of Songs), who is presumably being either restored or established. From this text we now have to go back and look at the consecration of previous shrines again, especially Gil-Gal.
SHALACHNU: Once again the 1st person plural; most odd.
6:18 VE RAK ATEM SHIMRU MIN HA CHEREM PEN TACHARIYMU U LEKACHTEM MIN HA CHEREM VE SAMTEM ET MACHANEH YISRA-EL LE CHEREM VA ACHARTEM OTO
וְרַק אַתֶּם שִׁמְרוּ מִן הַחֵרֶם פֶּן תַּחֲרִימוּ וּלְקַחְתֶּם מִן הַחֵרֶם וְשַׂמְתֶּם אֶת מַחֲנֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל לְחֵרֶם וַעֲכַרְתֶּם אֹותֹו
KJ: And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.
BN: But only you will be protected against the accursed thing, lest you make yourselves accursed, when you take of the accursed thing, and bring the curse upon the camp of Yisra-El, and make trouble for it.
CHEREM: The same word, but what was "devoted" or "dedicated" in the previous verse is now "the accursed thing" in this one. What is being described is most likely the statue of an unnamed god, and we can deduce quite easily who it must have been. When David took Yeru-Shala'im he also had "the accursed thing" torn down - on that occasion it was a vast statue of Moloch, to whom children were sacrificed in the valley of Hinnom. Had Yericho become a shrine to Moloch in the same way, or was it - most likely - a different abomination? Either way, Yehoshu'a is restoring it to whoever was the local moon-god/dess and/or sun-god/dess, by cleansing it. And so we can say, finally, that it was both a military conquest and a religious ceremony - in much the same manner as the conquest of Mecca by Muhammad.
However, as we shall now see, there is also another "accursed thing" - booty.
6:19 VE CHOL KESEPH VE ZAHAV U CHLEY NECHOSHET U VARZEL KODESH HU LA YHVH OTSAR YHVH YAVO
6:19 VE CHOL KESEPH VE ZAHAV U CHLEY NECHOSHET U VARZEL KODESH HU LA YHVH OTSAR YHVH YAVO
וְכֹל כֶּסֶף וְזָהָב וּכְלֵי נְחֹשֶׁת וּבַרְזֶל קֹדֶשׁ הוּא לַיהוָה אֹוצַר יְהוָה יָבֹוא
KJ: But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.
BN: But all the silver, and gold, and the vessels of brass and iron, are sacred to YHVH; they shall come into the treasury for YHVH.
Evidently it was not just another shrine to Moloch, or whoever, but a particularly wealthy one, as rich in adornments as the Beney Yisra-El who went to Sinai to build a Golden Calf. Clearly taking Yericho was key to the campaign to reclaim all the land for the Trinity.
HU LA YHVH: See Numbers 31:25, but also Deuteronomy 2:35, 3:7 and 20:13-15.
6:20 VA YAR'A HA AM VA YITKE'U BA SHOPHAROT VA YEHI CHISHMO'A HA AM ET KOL HA SHOPHAR VA YARIY'U HA AM TERU'AH GEDOLAH VA TIPOL HA CHOMAH TAHCTEYHA VA YA'AL HA AM HA IRAH ISH NEGDO VA YILKEDU ET HA IR
וַיָּרַע הָעָם וַיִּתְקְעוּ בַּשֹּׁפָרֹות וַיְהִי כִשְׁמֹעַ הָעָם אֶת קֹול הַשֹּׁופָר וַיָּרִיעוּ הָעָם תְּרוּעָה גְדֹולָה וַתִּפֹּל הַחֹומָה תַּחְתֶּיהָ וַיַּעַל הָעָם הָעִירָה אִישׁ נֶגְדֹּו וַיִּלְכְּדוּ אֶת הָעִיר
BN: So the people cheered when the Kohanim blew the trumpets; and it happened that, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people cheered an enormous Hurrah!, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
If it was indeed a military siege, and not (or as well as) a religious pilgrimage, and if what just happened was not an earthquake, then we have to presume that some sort of siege-weaponry would have been involved as well. What evidence have the archaeologists found, besides those ascribed to the Pelishtim of the time of Sha'ul?
6:21 VA YACHARIYMU ET KOL ASHER BA IR ME ISH VE AD ISHAH MI NA'AR VE AD ZAKEN VE AD SHOR VA SEH VA CHAMOR LE PHI CHAREV
וַיַּחֲרִימוּ אֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר בָּעִיר מֵאִישׁ וְעַד אִשָּׁה מִנַּעַר וְעַד זָקֵן וְעַד שֹׁור וָשֶׂה וַחֲמֹור לְפִי חָרֶב
KJ: And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.
BN: And they completely destroyed everything that was in the city, both men and women, young and old, even the oxen, the sheep, the donkeys, with the edge of the sword.
YACHARIMU: Any further doubts about the meaning of CHEREM are now dissolved; any more gasps about my "disgraceful" square bracket in verse 17, should now be immediately withheld. This is the part we moderns find difficult and distasteful; the need to burn, rape, raze and obliterate. The alternative, of course, is to conquer and suppress, which leaves the victims alive and angry, yearning for freedom, and plotting their turn next.
6:22 VE LI SHENAYIM HA ANASHIM HA MERAGLIM ET HA ARETS AMAR YEHOSHU'A BO'U BEIT HA ISHAH HA ZONAH VE HOTSIY'U MI SHAM ET HA ISHAH VE ET KOL ASHER LA KA ASHER NISHBA'TEM LAH
וְלִשְׁנַיִם הָאֲנָשִׁים הַמְרַגְּלִים אֶת הָאָרֶץ אָמַר יְהֹושֻׁעַ בֹּאוּ בֵּית הָאִשָּׁה הַזֹּונָה וְהֹוצִיאוּ מִשָּׁם אֶת הָאִשָּׁה וְאֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר לָהּ כַּאֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּעְתֶּם לָהּ
KJ: But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her.
BN: But Yehoshu'a had told the two men who had spied out the country: Go into the women's shrine, to the hierodule, and bring the woman out of there with everything she has, as you promised her.
ANASHIM: Spies (MERAGLIM), or messengers (MEL'ACHIM), or Youths (NE'ARIM), as in the next verse? Very strange to call them ANASHIM here though - the word that is used when the "angels" turned up (Genesis 18:2) to announce the pregnancy of Sarah, and in the Lot story (Genesis 18:16), and in the singular as Ya'akov's adversary at Penu-El (Genesis 32:25). The use of the word appears to confirm again their real role in the tale.
6:23 VA YAVO'U HA NE'ARIM HA MERAGLIM VA YOTSIY'U ET RACHAV VE ET AVIYHA VE ET IMAH VE ET ACHEYHA VE ET KOL ASHER LAH VE ET KOL MISHPECHOTEYHA HOTSIY'U VA YANIYCHUM MI CHUTS LE MACHANEH YISRA-EL
וַיָּבֹאוּ הַנְּעָרִים הַמְרַגְּלִים וַיֹּצִיאוּ אֶת רָחָב וְאֶת אָבִיהָ וְאֶת אִמָּהּ וְאֶת אַחֶיהָ וְאֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר לָהּ וְאֵת כָּל מִשְׁפְּחֹותֶיהָ הֹוצִיאוּ וַיַּנִּיחוּם מִחוּץ לְמַחֲנֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל
BN: And the young men who were spies went in, and brought out Rachav, and her father, and her mother, and her brothers, and everything she had; and they brought out all her family , and left them outside the Yisra-Eli camp.
Interesting again to compare the destruction of Shechem by Levi and Shim'on with this tale; it too began with a mass circumcision and ended with a mass slaughter. It too takes its name from a central feature of the thelogy, the Shechem being the "shoulder" of the sacrificed beast, the "special booty" reserved for the Kohanim.
MI CHUTS LE MACHANEH YISRA-EL: Why outside? Because they were "ritually unclean", presumably, having been in a shrine dedicated to the "wrong" gods, or at the very least in a town which did not allow them to worship their gods in the "proper manner".
6:24 VE HA IR SARPHU VA ESH VE CHOL ASHER BAH RAK HA KESEPH VE HA ZAHAV U CHELEY HA NECHOSHET VE HA BARZEL NATNU OTSAR BEIT YHVH
וְהָעִיר שָׂרְפוּ בָאֵשׁ וְכָל אֲשֶׁר בָּהּ רַק הַכֶּסֶף וְהַזָּהָב וּכְלֵי הַנְּחֹשֶׁת וְהַבַּרְזֶל נָתְנוּ אֹוצַר בֵּית יְהוָה
KJ: And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD.
BN: And they set the city on fire, with everything that was in it. Only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron were spared; these they put into the treasury of the house of YHVH.
SARPHU: I mentioned the sacrificial beast a moment ago; on this occasion it is the city itself which is being sacrificed to the newly crowned deity, while the city is left as a Kurban, a "burnt offering".
OTSAR BEIT YHVH: This Treasury does not appear to have existed until this verse; did they then create it only now, because this was the first time they had need of it? What was it like? A wooden box, a metal casket, an entire set of these. Any kind of house to house it is unlikely because they were on the move. Is there any other Biblical reference to this; any archaeological evidence? But note that the word used for it is BAYIT, confirming once again that the word can serve equally well for a domicile or for a shrine.
6:25 VE ET RACHAV HA ZONAH VE ET BEIT AVIYHA VE ET KOL ASHER LAH HECHEYAH YEHOSHU'A VA TESHEV BE KEREV YISRA-EL AD HAYOM HA ZEH KI HECHBIY'AH ET HA MELA'CHIM ASHER SHALACH YEHOSHU'A LERAGEL ET YERICHO
וְאֶת רָחָב הַזֹּונָה וְאֶת בֵּית אָבִיהָ וְאֶת כָּל אֲשֶׁר לָהּ הֶחֱיָה יְהֹושֻׁעַ וַתֵּשֶׁב בְּקֶרֶב יִשְׂרָאֵל עַד הַיֹּום הַזֶּה כִּי הֶחְבִּיאָה אֶת הַמַּלְאָכִים אֲשֶׁר שָׁלַח יְהֹושֻׁעַ לְרַגֵּל אֶת יְרִיחֹו
BN: And Yehoshu'a saved Rachav the hierodule alive, and her father's household, and everything that she had; and she dwells in Yisra-El even to this day; because she hid the messengers, whom Yehoshu'a sent to spy out Yericho.
AD HA YOM HA ZEH: Unless this text was written down within fifty years of the event... the give-away phrase that confirms that Rachav was a cult-priestess, not a mere "harlot". Not she but her cult "dwells...to this day". Take a look at the entry on Rechovot to see where it is that she lives to this day.
The only outstanding question, to which no definitive answer can be given, is: which day? Somewhere around the time of the Redaction anyway, circa 450 BCE.
pey break
6:26 VA YASHBA YEHOSHU'A BA ET HA HI LEMOR ARUR HA ISH LIPHNEY YHVH ASHER YAKUM U VANAH ET HA IR HA ZOT ET YERICHO BIVCHORO YEYASDENAH U VI TSE'IRO YATSIV DELATEYHA
וַיַּשְׁבַּע יְהֹושֻׁעַ בָּעֵת הַהִיא לֵאמֹר אָרוּר הָאִישׁ לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר יָקוּם וּבָנָה אֶת הָעִיר הַזֹּאת אֶת יְרִיחֹו בִּבְכֹרֹו יְיַסְּדֶנָּה וּבִצְעִירֹו יַצִּיב דְּלָתֶיהָ
BN: And Yehoshua adjured them at that time, saying: Cursed be the man before YHVH, who rises up and rebuilds this city Yericho. He shall lay its foundation in his firstborn, and in his youngest son he shall set up its gates.
This needs some work. Clearly some proverb of clichéic proportions existed, which the Redactor felt had to be included. Does this mean "cursed" like Kayin (Cain) or like Lamech - those being complete opposites? Or are we back in Mosheh's closing speech, when he established the curses and blessings of Mounts Eyval and Gerizim (Deuteronomy 11:29 and afterwards)? Or is something else intended. The phrasing appears to confirm the Cherem, which, as noted above and in the link above, was intended in perpetuity. But that explanation is also problematic, because Yericho was rebuilt; see, for example, 1 Kings 16:34, and please do see it, because the wording there is quite remarkably specific: does that put a date on this text as well as tracking down for us the source of the proverb!
6:27 VA YEHI YHVH ET YEHOSHU'A VA YEHI SHAM'O BE CHOL HA ARETS
וַיְהִי יְהוָה אֶת יְהֹושֻׁעַ וַיְהִי שָׁמְעֹו בְּכָל הָאָרֶץ
KJ: So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country.
BN: So YHVH was with Yehoshu'a; and his fame was trumpeted noisily throughout the land.
My translation here is not literally accurate, but the word-play is irresistible. We are given the story through the lens of the victor, who has "God on his side", and is therefore right and justified in everything he does; we also have to imagine the Kena'ani newspaper editors and politicians of the day, for whom this "warlord" Yehoshu'a is simply a "terrorist", and his "so-called" Beney Yisra-El are the ISIS, the al-Qaeda, the Boko Haram, the PLO, of that day; the Irgun Zvei Le'umi and the Stern Gang too, of course.
And in the end, after the religious rite, this is what it is really about, not just destroying one heathen city, but using it as a warning to all the others - this is a religious crusade on which Yehoshu'a is embarked. This is the Yisra-Eli version of Muhammad setting out to bring the entire world to Islam, or Richard the Jew-Killer setting out lion-heartedly to massacre his way to Jerusalem in the name of Jesus; and it echoes the religious cult being established by Ezra and Nechem-Yah (Nehemiah) at the time that these stories were redacted for precisely that purpose.
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