Joshua 6
1 Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the children of Israel. No one went out, and no one came in. 2 Yahweh said to Joshua, “Behold, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the mighty men of valor. 3 You shall march around the city, all the men of war, going around the city once. You shall do this six days. 4 Seven 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. 5 It 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 will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, every man straight before him.”
6 Joshua 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.” 7 They said to the people, “Advance! March around the city, and let the armed men go before the ark of Yahweh.”
8 It was so, when Joshua had spoken to the people, that the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before Yahweh advanced and blew the trumpets, and the ark of Yahweh’s covenant followed them. 9 The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard went after the ark, the priests blowing the trumpets as they went. 10 Joshua commanded the people, saying, “You shall not shout, nor let your voice be heard, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.”
11 So he caused the ark of Yahweh to go around the city, going about it once. They came into the camp, and lodged in the camp. 12 Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of Yahweh. 13 The 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; and the rear guard came after the ark of Yahweh, the priests blowing the trumpets as they went.
14 The second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. So they did six days. 15 On 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. 16 It happened at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout; for Yahweh has given you the city! 17 The city shall be devoted, even 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. 18 But 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. 19 But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are holy to Yahweh. They shall come into Yahweh’s treasury.”
20 So 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. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. 21 They 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.
22 Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house, and bring out there the woman, and all that she has, as you swore to her.” 23 The young men who were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brothers, and all that she had. They also brought out all her relatives, and they set them outside of the camp of Israel. 24 They burned the city with fire, and all that was in it; only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of Yahweh’s house. 25 But Rahab the prostitute, and her father’s household, and all that she had, Joshua saved alive. She lived in the middle of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
26 Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, “Cursed be the man before Yahweh, who rises up and builds this city Jericho. With the loss of his firstborn shall he lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son shall he set up its gates.”
27 So Yahweh was with Joshua; and his fame was in all the land.
Joshua 6 Commentary
Overview
Joshua 6 records the fall of Jericho, the first fortified city Israel faces after crossing the Jordan. Jericho is shut tightly because its people have heard what Yahweh did at the Red Sea and the Jordan, yet the city’s walls appear humanly secure. God announces the outcome before Israel acts: “I have given Jericho into your hand.” The battle plan that follows is deliberately unlike ordinary siege warfare. For six days the army circles the city once, while seven priests carry ram’s-horn trumpets before the ark of the covenant. On the seventh day they circle seven times, the priests sound a prolonged blast, the people shout, and the wall collapses.
The repeated presence of the ark shows that the chapter is not mainly celebrating Israel’s military skill. Yahweh, the covenant King whose presence is represented by the ark, leads the procession. Israel’s silence, patience, and exact obedience make the victory unmistakably God’s work. At the same time, the chapter describes Jericho as placed under the ban, or devoted to destruction. This severe judgment must be read within the specific covenant setting of Canaan, where God had patiently delayed judgment and now commissioned Israel for a unique historical task. It does not give later readers permission to imitate Israel’s conquest or declare their own enemies devoted to God.
Judgment is not the chapter’s only word. Rahab and everyone gathered in her house are rescued because she protected the spies and confessed faith in Israel’s God in Joshua 2. Her deliverance demonstrates that Canaanite identity alone did not place someone beyond mercy. The chapter closes by warning Israel not to take what belongs to God and by recording Joshua’s curse on anyone who rebuilds Jericho’s defenses. Victory therefore brings responsibility: Israel must trust God’s method, honor what He has declared holy, and remember that the Judge who brings down the city also keeps His promise to save those who seek refuge in Him.
Key Themes
1. God gives the victory before Israel can claim the credit. Yahweh speaks of Jericho as already delivered into Joshua’s hand, even while the walls remain standing. The statement grounds Israel’s confidence in God’s promise rather than in appearances. Their actions matter, but those actions receive and display a victory God alone can give.
2. God’s presence, not military technique, stands at the center. The ark is mentioned repeatedly and occupies the heart of the procession. Priests and trumpets normally associated with worship accompany the soldiers. Jericho falls in a way that makes the campaign resemble a solemn liturgical procession more than a conventional siege, emphasizing that Yahweh is Israel’s true commander.
3. Faith obeys even when God’s instructions appear unusual. Marching silently around a city for days would not look strategically impressive. Israel is required to follow the command without changing it into something more understandable or efficient. Hebrews 11 later describes Jericho’s walls as falling by faith after the people marched around them seven days.
4. Patient obedience can be part of courageous faith. Israel does not shout on the first day. Six days pass with no visible change, and even on the seventh day the people must complete all seven circuits before the signal is given. Faith is not only bold action at the climactic moment; it is also disciplined perseverance while nothing seems to be happening.
5. Jericho’s destruction is presented as divine judgment. The city is “devoted” to Yahweh, meaning it is removed from ordinary human use and placed entirely under His judgment. The conquest belongs to God’s specific dealings with Canaan, anticipated in Genesis 15 and regulated in Deuteronomy 20. The text does not authorize private revenge, forced conversion, nationalism, or modern religious warfare.
6. God’s patience and judgment must be held together. The fall of Jericho does not occur without warning or immediately after the first Canaanite sin. God had told Abraham that the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet complete, and generations passed before judgment came. Divine patience is real, but patience should not be mistaken for indifference or the cancellation of accountability.
7. Mercy reaches an outsider who responds in faith. Rahab is spared with her household while the city around her falls. Her rescue fulfills Israel’s oath and confirms that faith in Yahweh creates a new future. She later appears in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1 and is commended for active faith in James 2.
8. Holy things cannot be treated as personal profit. The silver, gold, bronze, and iron are assigned to Yahweh’s treasury, while everything else in the city is destroyed. Israel may not turn God’s judgment into an opportunity for enrichment. The warning prepares readers for Joshua 7, where Achan’s secret theft brings guilt and defeat upon the community.
9. God’s word governs both destruction and preservation. The same command that brings down Jericho protects Rahab. Joshua’s authority does not permit improvisation: he must enforce the ban, honor the oath made to Rahab, and pronounce the warning concerning the city’s rebuilding. Biblical faith submits to the whole word of God, not only the parts that serve an immediate goal.
Important Verses Explained
Joshua 6:1–2 — Why does God say, “I have given Jericho,” before the battle? The completed form emphasizes the certainty of God’s promise. Jericho’s locked gates and strong walls do not make the outcome uncertain to Yahweh. Israel must act, but it acts from trust in what God has declared rather than attempting to manufacture victory by its own confidence.
Joshua 6:3–5 — Why did Israel march around the city? The text presents the march as God’s direct strategy, not as a psychological trick or a repeatable formula for overcoming every obstacle. Its unusual character strips Israel of normal grounds for boasting. The procession publicly displays the ark, the priests, the trumpets, and the obedient nation until God brings the wall down.
Joshua 6:4 — What is significant about the number seven? Seven appears throughout the instructions: seven priests, seven trumpets, seven days, and seven circuits on the final day. In Scripture, seven often conveys completeness or a divinely ordered whole. Here the repetition gives the event a solemn, ritual character and highlights that every stage unfolds according to God’s appointed pattern.
Joshua 6:4 — What were the “ram’s-horn trumpets”? These were curved horns, often called shofars, used to signal, assemble, celebrate, or accompany worship. Their use here differs from ordinary metal war trumpets. The sound announces Yahweh’s action and gives the final signal, reinforcing the chapter’s connection between worship, divine presence, and victory.
Joshua 6:6–9 — Why is the ark so prominent? The ark represented Yahweh’s covenant throne and had just led Israel through the Jordan in Joshua 3. Its central position shows that God goes before His people. Israel is not carrying a magical object that automatically guarantees success; the later defeat at Ai proves that the nation must remain obedient to the God whose presence the ark signifies.
Joshua 6:10 — Why were the people commanded to remain silent? The silence creates disciplined attention to Joshua’s command and prevents the march from becoming chaotic self-expression. It also heightens the contrast with the final united shout. Scripture does not state that silence itself weakened the walls; it was one part of the precise obedience God required for this event.
Joshua 6:15 — Why did the seventh day require seven circuits? The intensified final day brings the divinely ordered sequence to completion. Israel must continue marching longer than on any previous day before seeing a result. The pattern teaches that God’s timing, not Israel’s impatience, determines when the promised breakthrough occurs.
Joshua 6:17 — What does it mean that Jericho was “devoted to Yahweh”? The Hebrew idea often translated “devoted” or “under the ban” refers to something irrevocably assigned to God, in this case through destruction rather than ordinary possession. Jericho’s people and goods were not spoils for Israel’s private use. The command marks the city’s fall as judgment belonging to God, not uncontrolled plunder.
Joshua 6:17–23 — Why was Rahab spared? The spies had sworn to protect her because she hid them, acknowledged Yahweh’s rule, and asked for mercy. Joshua makes Israel honor that promise. Her household remains safe by gathering in the marked house, just as instructed. Rahab’s rescue is therefore both covenant faithfulness on Israel’s part and an example of faith that acts on what it believes.
Joshua 6:20 — Did the shout itself cause the wall to fall? The narrative credits the result to God’s promise and power, while the shout expresses Israel’s obedient participation. Hebrews 11:30 likewise connects the fall with faith rather than with a natural force generated by sound. The command should not be converted into a technique in which volume compels God to act.
Joshua 6:21 — How should readers understand the killing of the city’s inhabitants? This is one of the Bible’s most difficult texts. Joshua presents the event as God’s judicial command in a limited place and period, not as ethnic hatred or a universal pattern. Other passages describe longstanding Canaanite corruption, delayed judgment, and opportunities for outsiders such as Rahab to turn to Yahweh. Readers should neither soften the text into something it does not say nor use it to sanctify modern violence; the passage confronts us with the seriousness of divine judgment and our dependence on mercy.
Joshua 6:26 — What was Joshua’s curse on rebuilding Jericho? Joshua warns that rebuilding Jericho as a fortified city would cost the builder his firstborn at the foundation and his youngest at the gates. The warning is fulfilled centuries later when Hiel rebuilds Jericho during Ahab’s reign in 1 Kings 16:34. People continued to live in the area, so the curse concerns defiant reconstruction of the condemned city’s defenses, not every form of habitation nearby.
Practical Applications
Trust God without turning His commands into formulas. Jericho fell through a unique instruction given to Joshua. Believers may learn obedience, patience, and dependence from the event, but they should not assume that repeating a march, a number, or a shout guarantees a desired outcome. Faith trusts God Himself rather than attempting to control Him through a method.
Continue obeying when progress is not visible. For most of the week, Israel saw the same walls after every circuit. Faithful prayer, repentance, service, and perseverance may also seem uneventful for a time. Joshua 6 encourages steady obedience while leaving the timing and shape of results to God.
Keep worship and God’s presence central. The ark and priests stand at the center of the march, not at its decorative edge. In Christian life, plans and effort should flow from reverence, Scripture, prayer, and dependence on God. Activity without submission can become merely human ambition dressed in religious language.
Receive biblical warnings personally before applying them to others. Jericho’s judgment is not an invitation to identify modern groups as Canaanites. It should first awaken humility about sin, accountability, and the need for grace. Christians are called to love enemies, proclaim the gospel, and leave final judgment to God.
Honor promises even when circumstances change. Israel’s victory did not cancel the oath made to Rahab. Success can tempt people to forget commitments made when they needed help. Godly integrity remembers and fulfills rightful promises, especially toward vulnerable people who trusted our word.
Do not convert spiritual work into personal gain. Jericho’s valuables belonged to Yahweh’s treasury, and the coming story of Achan shows the danger of secretly claiming them. Ministry, leadership, and service should not become excuses for greed, manipulation, or entitlement. What is entrusted for God’s purposes must be handled transparently.
Remember that mercy can create a new identity. Rahab moves from a condemned city into the life of Israel. Her past and background do not have the final word. The chapter encourages those seeking God’s mercy and challenges communities of faith to welcome people whose lives demonstrate genuine trust and allegiance to Him.