{"id":52958,"date":"2019-04-03T11:39:43","date_gmt":"2019-04-03T08:39:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=52958"},"modified":"2022-10-27T09:20:28","modified_gmt":"2022-10-27T06:20:28","slug":"a-miraculous-story-with-a-miraculous-ending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-miraculous-story-with-a-miraculous-ending\/","title":{"rendered":"A Miraculous Story With A Miraculous Ending"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[384,806,471],"acf":{"old_id":"52958","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":52021,"related_cahpter":"190","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Practical, theological and literary answers to the question: why the detailed description of crossing the river?","content":"

In Joshua 2:1, we read that \u201cJoshua the son of Nun secretly sent two men as spies from Shitim\u201d in order to collect intelligence about the land of Israel. The text does not mention how these men were able to cross the Jordan River. This unexciting description of the spies\u2019 travels from one side of the Jordan to the other is just a single word, <\/span>vayelchu<\/span><\/i>, \u201cthey went.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This brief description of the spies\u2019 journey in Joshua 2 stands in contrast to the dramatic crossing of the Jordan river by the people of Israel in Joshua 3. Almost an entire chapter is devoted to this second crossing. Joshua 3 explains in tremendous detail the many steps it took to cross the river. First, the people of Israel encamped next to the Jordan river for three days. Then, they were given elaborate directions for following the ark of the covenant. Next, they were instructed to make themselves holy so that they would be ready for the wondrous feats that would happen the following day. God assures Joshua that the miracles that will transpire will demonstrate to the people of Israel that God supports Joshua as their leader, just as God supported Moses before him. <\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, Joshua predicts that as soon as the soles of the priests\u2019 feet will enter the water, the river will split, so the people of Israel can cross on dry land. After all this preparation and fanfare, they do. The text even tells us the following spectacular detail: \u201c<\/span>While all Israel were crossing over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the <\/span>Lord<\/span> stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, until the entire nation finished crossing over the Jordan\u201d (Joshua 3:17).<\/span><\/p>\n

Why is there such a discrepancy between the one-word first crossing of the river in Joshua 2, and the chapter-long second crossing of the river in Joshua 3?<\/span><\/p>\n

One answer is practical. Perhaps the spies crossed the river at the end of the summer, when the waters were low and the river was easier to cross. By the time the Israelites were ready to cross as a nation, it might have already been winter, when the river was high and they couldn\u2019t cross easily without divine intervention. Likewise, it\u2019s a lot easier for two people to cross the river undercover, than it is for an entire nation to march through, and so the nation\u2019s crossing was a bigger feat. <\/span><\/p>\n

Theologically, the miracle of crossing perhaps wasn\u2019t a practical necessity, but a way of demonstrating to the people God\u2019s power and reassuring them that God would assist them. <\/span><\/p>\n

Or literarily: the nation\u2019s crossing of the Jordan into the land of Canaan mirrors the nation\u2019s crossing of the Red Sea out of the land of Egypt. This crossing of a river marks the ending of a journey that began with a crossing forty years earlier. <\/span><\/p>\n

It is a nice way to conclude a miraculous story with a miraculous ending. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Written by Sophie Gribetz together with Sarit Kattan Gribetz<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: from <\/span>Joshua Passing The River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant<\/span><\/i>, 1800, by Benjamin West \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":52959,"id":52959,"title":"jo3-crossing-West","filename":"jo3-crossing-West.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo3-crossing-West.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-miraculous-story-with-a-miraculous-ending\/jo3-crossing-west\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jo3-crossing-west","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":52958,"date":"2019-04-03 08:39:28","modified":"2019-04-03 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