Vital Stats:
Verses: 27
Is It Read At Synagogue?: The first and last verses of this chapter make up the final two verses of the Haftarah of the first day of Passover.
Famous Quotes/Phrases: There are several references to “חרם” (cherem), which has various meanings, all of which describe banishment or destruction — a complete one, at that. This sense of total annihilation is uncomfortable for many, and it won’t be the last time we’ll confront it in the book of Joshua.
Basic Plot: The time has come: the Israelites conquer and destroy Jericho, but not without a dramatic build-up. Our ancestors march around the city with the Holy Ark once a day for six consecutive days. Then, on the seventh day, they march around the city seven times, after which the shofar is sounded. Joshua instructs the people that when they lay waste to the city, they must reserve the most valuable items for the ritual treasury. What’s more, they’re told that Rahab — the woman who protected the Israelite spies in Chapter Two — must be spared, along with her family and possessions. The people shout upon hearing the shofar blast, causing the city walls to collapse, and they then faithfully follow Joshua’s instructions.
What’s Strange: Ten years ago, the Pontifical Biblical Commission cited this story as an example of how we need to see the Bible in metaphorical terms. It wrote in its book The Inspiration and Truth of Sacred Scripture, “From the outset, it is necessary to note that these narratives do not have the characteristics of a historical account: in a real war, in fact, the walls of a city do not come crashing down at the sound of trumpets.”
It’s curious that, of all biblical events, the fall of Jericho would be singled out as the ultimate example of something so fantastical that it can only be understood as something other than factual. After all, another event later in the book of Joshua seems to be even more unbelievable, not to mention the many astounding events in other biblical books. Does the collapse of Jericho’s walls seem less conceivable than the splitting of the Red Sea? The time when Korach and his followers are swallowed up by the earth? What is it about Jericho that makes it seem like the most absurd event?
What’s Spectacular: I wonder whether Jericho stands out because the wall’s collapse feels, at least from the text, to be more of a human achievement than the other examples. True, God foretells Joshua that the walls will fall once the people shout. But — and maybe this is just me — there is more of a sense that the people are impacting God’s miracles than in the other examples I mentioned. That the Red Sea would split when Moses simply raises his staff feels like something that pretty much comes from God’s effort rather than Moses’s. The deaths of Korach and his followers take place after Moses suggests that the earth should swallow them up; that it happens at all is up to God entirely.
In other words, we should be awed, but not shocked, when God makes miracles happen. What’s more surprising are scenarios in which people impact the miracle as much as they seem to in Jericho’s case. Maybe this is why we have to remind ourselves that, for many people, the text doesn’t appeal to many readers as a literal account of history but rather as a sacred myth.
With all that said, have you ever been in a stadium or an arena in which the crowd makes so much noise that the earth shakes? I remember a National Football League game in Seattle years ago that featured an astounding touchdown run by Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch, and the fans’ reaction was so strong that their reverberations literally registered on the Richter Scale. So maybe the events of this chapter are not quite as far-fetched as they seem …
Shabbat Shalom!