Joshua 6 · WEB
The Fall of Jericho
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Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the children of Israel. No one went out, and no one came in.
2Yahweh said to Joshua, "Behold, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the mighty men of valor.
3All the men of war shall march around the city, going around the city once. You shall do this six days.
4Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. On the seventh day, you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.
5It shall be 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."
6Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of Yahweh."
7They said to the people, "Advance! March around the city, and let the armed men pass on before the ark of Yahweh."
8It was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before Yahweh advanced and blew the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of Yahweh followed them.
9The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the ark went after them. The priests continued to blow the trumpets.
10Joshua commanded the people, saying, "Don't shout, don't let your voice be heard, and don't let a word proceed out of your mouth until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout."
11So he caused the ark of Yahweh to go around the city, going about it once. Then they came into the camp and lodged in the camp.
12Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of Yahweh.
13The seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of Yahweh went on continually, and blew the trumpets; and the armed men went before them. The rear guard came after the ark of Yahweh. The priests continued to blow the trumpets.
14The second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. They did this six days.
15On the seventh day, they rose early at the dawning of the day, and marched around the city in the same way seven times. Only on that day they marched around the city seven times.
16At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, "Shout, for Yahweh has given you the city!
17The city shall be devoted to destruction, it and all that is in it, to Yahweh. Only Rahab the prostitute shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.
18But as for you, only keep yourselves from the devoted thing, lest when you have devoted it, you take of the devoted thing; so you would make the camp of Israel accursed and trouble it.
19But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron are holy to Yahweh. They shall come into Yahweh's treasury."
20So the people shouted, and the priests blew the trumpets. When the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
21They utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, both young and old, and ox, and sheep, and donkey, with the edge of the sword.
22Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute's house, and bring the woman and all that she has out from there, as you swore to her."
23The young men who were spies went in and brought out Rahab with her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. They also brought out all her relatives, and they set them outside of the camp of Israel.
24They burned the city with fire, and all that was in it. Only the silver, the gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron they put into the treasury of Yahweh's house.
25But Rahab the prostitute, her father's household, and all that she had, Joshua saved alive. She lives in the middle of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
26Joshua commanded them with an oath at that time, saying, "Cursed is the man before Yahweh who rises up and builds this city Jericho. At the cost of his firstborn he shall lay its foundation, and at the cost of his youngest son he shall set up its gates."
27So Yahweh was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land.
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Summary
God gives Joshua an unusual battle plan for Jericho: march around the city once a day for six days, then seven times on the seventh day, and when the priests blow the trumpets and the people shout, the walls will collapse. Israel obeys precisely, and on the seventh day the walls of Jericho fall flat. The city is placed under the ban of total destruction (herem), with all its inhabitants and livestock killed and its metals consecrated to God's treasury — except for Rahab and her household, who are rescued as promised. Joshua pronounces a curse on anyone who rebuilds Jericho.
Themes
- Victory through obedience rather than military strategy — God's ways confound human wisdom
- The herem (devoted destruction) — the seriousness of God's holiness and judgment
- Grace preserved amid judgment — Rahab saved by the scarlet cord
- God's faithfulness to His promises — both to Israel and to the spies' oath to Rahab
Key verses
- Josh 6:16 — “At the seventh time...Joshua said to the people, 'Shout, for Yahweh has given you the city!' ”
- Josh 6:2 — “Yahweh said to Joshua, 'Behold, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the mighty men of valor.' ”
- Josh 6:25 — “But Rahab the prostitute, her father's household, and all that she had, Joshua saved alive. She lives in the middle of Israel to this day.”
Context & background
Ancient Jericho (Tell es-Sultan) sits in the Jordan Valley in the modern West Bank, about 8 miles north of the Dead Sea and 15 miles northeast of Jerusalem. Archaeological excavations have found extensive evidence of destruction and abandonment at Bronze Age Jericho, though the dating remains debated among scholars. The city's walls, likely mudbrick construction on a stone foundation, collapsing "flat" (literally "under itself") is consistent with seismic activity in this geologically active rift zone. The curse Joshua pronounces in verse 26 was fulfilled five centuries later when Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho and lost two sons in the process (1 Kings 16:34).
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 16:34 — Hiel rebuilds Jericho; the curse of verse 26 is fulfilled literally
- Hebrews 11:30 — "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been encircled for seven days"
- Hebrews 11:31 — Rahab saved by faith
- Numbers 18:14 — The principle of herem (devoted things belonging to Yahweh) established in the law
- Revelation 8:6-11 — Seven trumpets blown by seven angels echo the pattern of Jericho's fall