Joshua 3:15

15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge,

Joshua 3:15 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
15 And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)
English Standard Version (ESV)
15 and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest),
New Living Translation (NLT)
15 It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge,
The Message Bible (MSG)
15 When the priests got to the Jordan and their feet touched the water at the edge (the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest),
American Standard Version (ASV)
15 and when they that bare the ark were come unto the Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (for the Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest,)
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
15 (The Jordan overflows all its banks during the harvest season.) When the priests who were carrying the ark came to the edge of the Jordan River and set foot in
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
15 Now the Jordan overflows its banks throughout the harvest season. But as soon as the priests carrying the ark reached the Jordan, their feet touched the water at its edge
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
15 The water of the Jordan was going over its banks. It always does that at the time the crops are being gathered. The priests came to the river. Their feet touched the water's edge.

Joshua 3:15 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 3:15

And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan
Not to the bank, which was overflowed, but to the extremity of the water overflowing:

and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim
of the water;
which was doubtless the first they came to, and not the brim or extremity of it on the other side:

for Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest;
that is, of barley harvest, as appears from the time of year; for it was in the first month, the month Nisan, or Abib, which answers to part of March, and April, it used to overflow, ( 1 Chronicles 12:15 ) ; and it was now the tenth day of that month, ( Joshua 4:19 ) ; on the sixteenth of which, at the time of the passover, the sheaf of the firstfruits of barley harvest was offered up, ( Leviticus 23:10 Leviticus 23:11 ) ; the inundation continued all the time of harvest; and so Aristeas F23 testifies, that

``the river being filled, it overflows as the Nile in the time of harvest, and waters much of the country:''

it overflows its banks both on the one side and on the other, the eastern and western shores. This overflow is supposed to be occasioned either by the latter rains, which fell about this time; or rather by the snow on Mount Lebanon melting at this time of the year, when the sun has great strength in those parts, and which poured down in great quantities into this river, that took its rise from thence. Josephus
FOOTNOTES:

F24 speaks of Mount Lebanon and of the fountains of Jordan together; and says they have their rise from the mountain; and of the snow of Lebanon see ( Jeremiah 18:14 ) . This river continued to overflow at this season in the times of David, ( 1 Chronicles 12:15 ) ; and in the times of Aristeas, who lived in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, as before observed; and some late travellers F25 observe,

``it generally happens in the month Nisan; that is, from the middle of March to the middle of April, the time of the first harvest;''

but Mr. Maundrell F26, who was upon the spot in 1697, and at the proper time of its overflowing, perceived nothing of it. He says,

``there is a small descent, which you may fitly call the, first and outermost bank of Jordan, as far as which it may be supposed the river does, or at least did anciently, overflow; but at present (whether it was because the river has by its rapidity of current worn its channel deeper than it was formerly, or whether because its waters are diverted some other way) it seems to have forgot its ancient greatness; for we could discern no sign or probability of such overflowings when we were there, which was the thirtieth of March, being the proper time for these inundations; nay, so far was the river from overflowing, that it ran at least two yards below the brink of the channel.''

However, at this time of the passage of the children of Israel through it, it was overflowing; which made the miracle the greater.


F23 Hist. de 72. Interpret. p. 41.
F24 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 22.
F25 Egmont and Heyman's Travels, vol. 1. p. 335, 336.
F26 Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 81, 82.

Joshua 3:15 In-Context

13 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.”
14 So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them.
15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge,
16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.

Cross References 3

  • 1. 2 Kings 2:6
  • 2. Joshua 4:18; 1 Chronicles 12:15; Isaiah 8:7
  • 3. S Genesis 8:22
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