Joshua 3:13

 

And it shall come to pass, 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, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.

 

a. NLT: The priests will carry the Ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth. As soon as their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up like a wall.”

 

b. NIV: And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.”

 

c. YLT: and it hath been, at the resting of the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of Jehovah, Lord of all the earth, in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan are cut off -- the waters which are coming down from above -- and they stand -- one heap.'

 

d. Amplified Bible Classic: When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord of all the earth shall rest in the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan coming down from above shall be cut off and they shall stand in one heap.

 

e. Septuagint: And it shall come to pass, when the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth rest in the water of Jordan, the water of Jordan [below] shall fail, and the water coming down from above shall stop.

 

f. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: It shall happen, just as the soles of the feet of the Kohanim, the bearers of the Ark of HASHEM,  Master of the entire earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off—the waters that descend from upstream—and they will stand as one column.”

 

1. “And it shall come to pass…”

 

a. it shall come to pass [Strong: 1961 * hayah haw-yaw a primitive root (Compare 1933); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):--beacon, X altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-)self, require, X use.]

 

2. “…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…”

 

a. as soon as the soles [Strong: 3709 * kaph kaf from 3721; the hollow hand or palm (so of the paw of an animal, of the sole, and even of the bowl of a dish or sling, the handle of a bolt, the leaves of a palm-tree); figuratively, power:--branch, + foot, hand((-ful), -dle, (-led)), hollow, middle, palm, paw, power, sole, spoon.]

 

b. of the feet [Strong: 7272 * regel reh'-gel from 7270; a foot (as used in walking); by implication, a step; by euphem. the pudenda:--X be able to endure, X according as, X after, X coming, X follow, ((broken-))foot((-ed, -stool)), X great toe, X haunt, X journey, leg, + piss, + possession, time.]

 

c. of the priests [Strong: 3548 * kohen ko-hane' active participle of 3547; literally, one officiating, a priest; also (by courtesy) an acting priest (although a layman):--chief ruler, X own, priest, prince, principal officer.]

 

d. that bear [Strong: 5375 * nasa' naw-saw' or nacah (Psalm 4 : 6 (7)) {naw-saw'}; a primitive root; to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absol. and rel. (as follows):--accept, advance, arise, (able to, (armor), suffer to) bear(-er, up), bring (forth), burn, carry (away), cast, contain, desire, ease, exact, exalt (self), extol, fetch, forgive, furnish, further, give, go on, help, high, hold up, honorable (+ man), lade, lay, lift (self) up, lofty, marry, magnify, X needs, obtain, pardon, raise (up), receive, regard, respect, set (up), spare, stir up, + swear, take (away, up), X utterly, wear, yield.]

 

e. the ark [Strong: 727 * 'arown aw-rone' or laron {aw-rone'}; from 717 (in the sense of gathering); a box:--ark, chest, coffin.]

 

f. of the LORD [Strong: 3068 * Yhovah yeh-ho-vaw' from 1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God:--Jehovah, the Lord.]

 

g. the Lord [Strong: 113 * 'adown aw-done' or (shortened) adon {aw-done'}; from an unused root (meaning to rule); sovereign, i.e. controller (human or divine):-- lord, master, owner.]

 

h. of all [Strong: 3605 * kol kole or (Jer. 33:8) kowl {kole}; from 3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):--(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-)thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

 

i. the earth [Strong: 776 * 'erets eh'-rets from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land):--X common, country, earth, field, ground, land, X natins, way, + wilderness, world.]

 

j. shall rest [Strong: 5117 * nuwach noo'-akh a primitive root; to rest, i.e. settle down; used in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, intransitive, transitive and causative (to dwell, stay, let fall, place, let alone, withdraw, give comfort, etc.):--cease, be confederate, lay, let down, (be) quiet, remain, (cause to, be at, give, have, make to) rest, set down.]

 

k. in the waters [Strong: 4325 * mayim mah'-yim dual of a primitive noun (but used in a singular sense); water; figuratively, juice; by euphemism, urine, semen:--+ piss, wasting, water(-ing, (-course, -flood, -spring)).]

 

l. of Jordan [Strong: 3383 * Yarden yar-dane' from 3381; a descender; Jarden, the principal river of Palestine:--Jordan.]

 

3. “…that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.”

 

a. that the waters [Strong: 4325 * mayim mah'-yim dual of a primitive noun (but used in a singular sense); water; figuratively, juice; by euphemism, urine, semen:--+ piss, wasting, water(-ing, (-course, -flood, -spring)).]

 

b. of Jordan [Strong: 3383 * Yarden yar-dane' from 3381; a descender; Jarden, the principal river of Palestine:--Jordan.]

 

c. shall be cut off [Strong: 3772 * karath kaw-rath' a primitive root; to cut (off, down or asunder); by implication, to destroy or consume; specifically, to covenant (i.e. make an alliance or bargain, originally by cutting flesh and passing between the pieces):--be chewed, be con-(feder-)ate, covenant, cut (down, off), destroy, fail, feller, be freed, hew (down), make a league ((covenant)), X lose, perish, X utterly, X want.]

 

d. from the waters [Strong: 4325 * mayim mah'-yim dual of a primitive noun (but used in a singular sense); water; figuratively, juice; by euphemism, urine, semen:--+ piss, wasting, water(-ing, (-course, -flood, -spring)).]

 

e. that come down [Strong: 3381 * yarad yaw-rad' a primitive root; to descend (literally, to go downwards; or conventionally to a lower region, as the shore, a boundary, the enemy, etc.; or figuratively, to fall); causatively, to bring down (in all the above applications); -X abundantly, bring down, carry down, cast down, (cause to) come(-ing) down, fall (down), get down, go(-ing) down(-ward), hang down, X indeed, let down, light (down), put down (off), (cause to, let) run down, sink, subdue, take down.

 

f. from above [Strong: 4605 * ma`al mah'al from 5927; properly, the upper part, used only adverbially with prefix upward, above, overhead, from the top, etc.:-- above, exceeding(-ly), forward, on (X very) high, over, up(-on, -ward), very.]

 

g. and they shall stand [Strong: 5975 * `amad aw-mad' a primitive root; to stand, in various relations (literal and figurative, intransitive and transitive):--abide (behind), appoint, arise, cease, confirm, continue, dwell, be employed, endure, establish, leave, make, ordain, be (over), place, (be) present (self), raise up, remain, repair, + serve, set (forth, over, -tle, up), (make to, make to be at a, with-)stand (by, fast, firm, still, up), (be at a) stay (up), tarry.]

 

h. upon a [Strong: 259 * 'echad ekh-awd' a numeral from 258; properly, united, i.e. one; or (as an ordinal) first:--a, alike, alone, altogether, and, any(-thing), apiece, a certain, (dai-)ly, each (one), + eleven, every, few, first, + highway, a man, once, one, only, other, some, together,]

 

i. heap [Strong: 5067 * ned nade from 5110 in the sense of piling up; a mound, i.e. wave:--heap.]

 

1). This miracle was different than the parting of the Red Sea in that the Red Sea was parted completely before they even began to walk through it.

 

a). Exodus 14:21, 22 And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

14:22 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

 

2). In the case of the Jordan river though, it was not that way.

 

a).  “…that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.”

 

b). What we see is the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant toward a river overflowing its banks and the current is not slow. Every river I have seen that was flooded was moving a whole lot faster than when it is not flooded. As the priests get 25 feet to the river nothing changes, 20, 15 ten and nothing changes. They are 5 feet from the river and nothing changes. It was not parted until the soles of the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark hit the water. Saints, that took faith, it took faith for Joshua who received the direct word from God than anyone else; and it took faith for the priests carrying the Ark. Nothing happened until they obeyed God.

 

c). Remember that the passage begins in Joshua 3:9 when Joshua is telling the people that the evidence that God is going to be faithful to His word is He is going to part the Jordan river so that they may walk across it.

 

d). Note in Amplified Bible:  The city of Adam has been placed 16 miles up the river from Jericho, and it seems probable that a stretch of 20 or 30 miles of the riverbed was left dry.