(Josuva x. 12—14.) MANCHESTER: PRINTED ‘FOR, ‘AND PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, - Ewrernp at Sravioners’ Haxt, 1861. . 1 ars Pav ek. OT So much has been written pro and con about Joshua, chap. x. verse 12; and this Scriptural narrative is as yet so unsatis- factorily defended, that I deem it a duty to give to the world a definition which I find in my manuscript JIpw ja wip upon this subject, not so much to satisfy the reviler of the Scrip- tures, as to gratify the religionist himself, and to strengthen his faith in the word of God; but more so for the truly conscientious but. scientific man to whom this curious nar- ration of Joshua is indeed a mystery, and so perplexing that it bewilders his mind; for him also who is really wishing to know its real signification and true meaning. I therefore trust that my definition of this most difficult sentence will be found perfectly to agree with reason, and is according to the science of the day. _The only philosophical definition of the word “sun” is to be found in a Lecture delivered some years ago (Dec. 23, — 1830,) by a young man, Mr. Arthur Lumley Davids, at the B eae iv ae * London Tavern, which I find- recorded by the Rev. Dr. » 3 Raphall in his Hebrew Review, vol. i. pp. 148-9. I quote it here :— ‘We will now, gentlemen, proceed to investigate another most important point of this period of Jewish philosophy ; one » which, through the ignorance of translators and commentators, has bid fair to eclipse its whole system, and to throw all the science of the ancient Hebrews into shade; it is no less than _ the Sun, according to our translators, standing still at the command of Joshua. I shall proceed to shew you, that the text of this important passage says no such thing; and that the error has crept in through the unphilosophical conceptions which its translators have formed of their original. ; ‘The passage in Hebrew is thus :— 2) MONT ON AYP on opr ano pep tat Is my) DWT pyar wow Oru ory) aoxn Ox ws 3 PIS MOP IY Wy mY wows OM spPPS pova M2 wow Tay que jap DY ADIN. ST NINA POYON OND NIA? PRN DOWN “Our translators have expressed this:—‘ Then spake Joshua to the Lord, in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel; and he said, In the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still wpon Gibeon ; and thou moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the Sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the Sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.’ “Now, it is essential to our rightly understanding this passage, to examine both the Hebrew and the English word for Sun. The Hebrew language, in accordance with strict philosophical principles, has three names for Sun. The English has also three, but they are compound terms, thus— Solar orb, Solar flame, Solar light; yet we unphilosophically use the word Suz in all these senses: we say, the Sun is round, the Sun is powerful, the Sun is obscured, though we mean, ; the Solar orb is round, the Solar flame is powerful, the Solar light is obscured. This philosophical accuracy exists, however, primarily in the Hebrew. “The Solar orb is expressed by no compound term: the word DM expresses this signification; so MM the Solar flame or fire; so likewise WiDW, the word used by Joshua, the Solar light. This is also extended, as far as philosophical propriety demands, to the Moon. We find in Hebrew two names applied to this planet, m2 the disc or orb, and Mm the light reflected from it; heat not being one of its qualities, we find no word expressive of the Lunar flame or fire. That the sense of WOW and M7 is Solar and Lunar light, is not only evident froma multitude of places in Scripture where these words occur, but also from the passage of Joshua itself; for if we translate wHY Solar orb, Solar Jiame, or Sun, or 7) lunar orb, or Moon, the one must have rested upon Gibeon, the other in the valley of Ajalon. This indeed would be an extraordinary system of philosophy—the Sun resting upon a mountain, and the Moon in a valley. All this, however, is fully explained by following the philosophical idea of the original, in which the solar and lunar Light is stayed from advancing and receding upon the opposite hemis- pheres of the globe, not by the agency of the sun, but by that of the earth itself.” In support of this opinion he adds the subjoined erudite remarks :— ; “The texts to which I alluded are those: Psa. xix. 5, oma Das oi wow ‘In them [the heavens] hath he placed a tent or receptacle for the Shemesh, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber.’ wydU here cannot mean the Sun, surely ; there is no receptacle for that, without vi we conceive it fixed in a socket; nor does it come out of its chamber; but translate Ww solar light, and you will make ' sense of the passage: ‘In the heavens hath’ he placed a receptacle for the solar rays,’ namely, the D1M or orb of the Sun. Exodus xvi. 21: WOWM DM ‘And the Shemesh became hot.’ I cannot imagine how the orb of the Sun grew hot. Jonah iy. 8, ‘ And the Shemesh beat upon the head of Jonah.’ But the most conclusive is that of Psalm cxxi. 6: ‘ And the Shemesh Ww shall not smite thee by day, nor the Yareach 7} by night.’ Was this intended, that, the orb of the Sun and the orb of the Moon should not descend from heaven to smite? or was it, that their rays and beams should not descend from heaven and affect those spoken of in the text? I need not trouble you with more examples on this subject, though I could produce at least ten times as many proofs. But I think it unnecessary to produce any further evidence than the passage of Joshua itself; for the Sun can only be said to rest on a mountain by its rays, the Moon in a valley by its beams. If it were the Sun, the orb or body of the Sun, here spoken of, and not its light, we prove this, that the Sun had a motion given to it which it never had before, co-instantaneous with a cessation of that motion; or, in other words, that it moved, and was in a state of rest, at one and the same time,—which reduces this argument ad absurdum. ‘“‘ The passage quoted from the Book of Jasher throws con- siderable light on the subject, for it explains the relative _ position of the Sun. It says, ‘the WSU stood still *YNI _ Ow in the Horizon.’ Thus it appears that the Sun was — sinking in the West, casting its last rays on Gibeon, when Joshua, perceiving the near termination of the day, requested its prolongation, &c. The Chinese have preserved a confused account, in their annals, of the ‘Sun not going down during the space of ten days.’ This happened in the time of Yan (their seventh monarch from Fohi), who was contemporary with Joshua. Herodotus says, (lib. ii. cap. 142.) ‘Ev roww vii —Tovr@ t@ xpov@ Tetpraxis edeyov €€ nOewv Tov mAtoy avareAat evOa Te yuy Kara Serta; evOevrev Sis emravreiAa Kat evOev vuy avreddAet evOavra dts xaraBnvau.’ He*was told by the Egyptian priests, that from the reign of their first king to that of Sethon, the Sun had risen four times in an unusual manner; that he had twice risen where he now sets; and had twice set where he now rises. This, though corrupted by its passage through the hands of the Egyptian priests and the wonder-telling Herodotus, may still be traced to a traditionary relation of the miracle of Joshua. ““We are not prepared to say, that without further ex- amination we adopt this Exposition. Nevertheless, we are bound to respect this ingenious effort to reconcile the truth of Scriptural narrative with the lights of modern science, &c.” Thus far the Hebrew Review. One word to the critics. I solicit you most respectfully to examine the body of this Pamphlet, and be merciful when you scrutinize its robes—the language in which it is clothed; take the kernel, and never mind the shell. Aad =. _ + . , : - “ wv: ° ‘ . . hed -* . . , . 7 . . - " »! 1 4 x ‘ . - Beet wigen r; = 7 ; Tm t . INTRODUCTION. ¢ READER, Before I commence the main subject, it is requisite for you to know the difficulties these few passages present. 1. The inconsistency of Joshua commanding the Sun,—a lifeless body, at such a distance from him, to stand still! 2. The Sun—which is in the centre of the Solar system, surrounded by about thirty bodies called planets and satellites, and the centre of attraction of those bodies that revolve con- stantly—if it stood still, would have deranged and perhaps destroyed the whole system !! 3. Why arrest the motion of the Moon at day-time? of what use or to what purpose? It gives no light to the Earth at day-time, in the presence of its illuminator the Sun. And many others. Then we are obliged, as the Hebrew expression is so very rich in meaning and full of instruction, to make some pre- liminary observations :— 1. It isa general rule of the ancient Rabbins, in Philology, that the word "JON" is of a softer tone than 975); hence do we find only, I think, three times the word 9'T) in the Pentateuch, mentioned by Moses when he was addressing the Déity, where it appears to me that Moses spoke in a tone of firmness, and argumentative, but it is never used in making a request, or asking a favour like “78") which may be used in such a case. Here in this place relative to Joshua, the great x German translator, Moses Mendelsohn, says 937) “‘ he sang es and the S82 or Commentator upon that place says, What means "3? “Pw Wp its meaning is, “he sang,” as 933%) yt “‘and David sang;” MAW j52, on }>) so translates Jonathan ‘then he praised.” 2, DIT “he causes to be quiet,” or “ silent.” SD “he causes to circulate.” by5 “he causes to revolve.” These are participles present, like D731T, JAD, 53 from the respective TOOtS .........Goe-nseeeps pot, aap, 543 3. a. DI is the body of the Sun: it is so called from the fact that it is composed of earthy matter, as any other globe of our planets and satellites, from their originator Father Chaos, the 77) WM at the creation of the solar system. (Vide Genesis.) b. widw is the coating of Light or luminous atmosphere that surrounds the whole body of the Sun. c. MM is the heat which the rays of that luminous atmosphere tend to produce when acted upon the caloric which exists in the air. : 4, a. 11925 is the body of the Moon looking silvery white, which heterogeneous colour is best to reflect Light. b. TYP are the luminous rays on the surface of the Moon ;* for it is well known that the Moon’s light is only borrowed from the Sun. 5. There are also two persons and one book that figure in these verses :— Ist. Joshua himself, 2nd. Joshua’s Biographer, and 3rd. The Book of Yasher. * The Sun’s rays ‘are, as it were, sneefing, smelling (7), grazing upon the Moon’s surface. a a . td * JOSHUA AND THE SUN AND MOON. JosHua x. 12, 13, 14. SONA ms ay on ova syed per sat rs 12.) sOVT WII. wow swe spyd ox Oyu a 89 OP Sy soy mo wows om 13.) sos poya mo wown Ty swap by mains sn Noa paso _ omy s's (14) sovaN DYD N12 ps Nd DYOWA wh us pa ome pow) oyame mad sin ors Stee? on? A ENGLISH VERSION: “12. Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said, In the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou Moon in the valley of Ajalon. “13. And the Sun stood still, and the Moon stayed until the people had avenged themselyes upon their enemies. Is not this written in the Book of Jasher? So the Sum stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. .“ 14, And there was no day like that before it, or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel.” It must be acknowledged by every one who has read the x. chap., verses 12th and 14th, of Joshua with some little attention, that it is rather a difficult task, and one which has perplexed many famous theologians, and not a few learned divines, both Jews and Christian: for, first, the Sun, which is really standing still as any other existing suns (fixed stars) in the universe, having no perceptible circuitous motion, but : c 2 only a revolving one, the command of Joshua would seem very absurd, and indeed not requisite ;* but suppose any one would say that Joshua meant that the Sun should remain motionless; that is, that it should not move upon its axis, (a complete revolution of which it performs in about twenty-five days, and which’ revolving motion can only be perceptible through a good telescope,) that would also seem ridiculous, for, since the light emanating from the body or the coating of the Sun is of the same material every way, what matter which part thereof imparts its light to us? and what difference could it make, either to Joshua or to the Israelites, which of the rays, whether eastern or western, northern or southern, prolonged the day? Besides, the attractive force, or power of gravitation, would by such means be greatly altered, and the bodies of our (Solar) System would suffer materially by the standing still of the ‘‘ great luminary.” -Even to say that by “standing still” is intimated the apparent standing still of the Sun and Moon, but really to mean the cessation of the earth’s diurnal motion, such stoppage would also disturb not only the other planets in a slight degree, but would interrupt very materially the quietude of those that inhabit the earth itself, and every other thing that exists upon it. *I moreover think, it would be great folly, inconsiderate in Joshua, to command or to request such a thing as “the standing still of the Sun (upon the supposition, for the sake of argument, that Joshua thought the Sun travels round the earth,) in the sight of Israel ;” for, supposing for a moment that such a request would not have been granted, then, how foolish, how ridiculous would he have appeared “in the sight of Israel”? For he was by no means sure of compliance ; he had no warranty that the Sun would listen to his com- mand. Moses never took upon himself the privilege to ask any such supernatural operation, for by the Red Sea the Eternal said to him, nsXx ow TMS) {ca} a) (Exodus xiv. 16.); by the Earthquake of Korah the Eternal first told him TP TIMD YOTIM (Numb. xyi. 21.) &e. &e, Joshua therefore, in common reason, could not have had more assurance than Moses his master, who never set such an example before him, 3 The Scriptural believer has only one source left for him to say, namely, Jt was a miracle. Now, this method of ex- plaining the phenomenon would only suit and satisfy one class of persons, and not another; therefore, to make it clear, reasonable, and rational to even the conscientious philosopher, we must give such construction to the expression of Scripture as will be consistent with his doctrine of science also; by which method we make Scripture and Science concur, and Revelation agree with Reason: NAY DYWIADI DO AD AIM TT) DJ OMS “ How goodly and how pleasant for two relations to agree together !” (Psa. cxxxii. 1.) But many hot-headed fanatics would say, ‘‘ There is nothing too difficult for the Deity to do, and, therefore, why not believe in this miracle, performed through the mere command of Joshua?” This I grant to be perfectly true, and in accordance with His omnipotence, and such every Israelite, at least, will undoubtedly acknowledge to be the fact; but we must not at the same time overlook a material point, that it is the Deity who has given, granted, and bestowed the laws, powers, virtues, and properties in and upon matter at the creation, only to act by and according to certain rules, and not other- wise, which we call the “ Law of Nature,” but which is, in truth, the “ Law of God.” “And as every miracle is supposed to be supernatural, that is, above or against the supposed laws of Nature, I think that the Deity would never violate His own imposed laws upon matter to act otherwise than He ordained at the creation, without great necessity, and then, in the case of such a necessity, He only exercises His power as conditioned with MWN7D MWY creation (this is the opinion of the Rabbies, and most beautifully correct, as explained in Genesis, in the most easy manner), and so nearly to Nature’s laws as possible, in so far as we (mortals) are able to com~ prehend His system. 4: Josnua x. 12. D5 “IONS AN NN pra mn yen n-ibie #: espn 99 “Then sang Joshua for the glory of (or to) the Eternal, on the day of the delivery of the Amorites, by the Eternal, before the children of Israel.” It is requisite to notice, that nowhere (in the Book of Moses especially) do we find ES OTAW, ma 3 or WR Mw? AT, neither 19 Awd ADM, nor AW IAN 9 we always find, in case of a request, the proper pre- positional word Oy, instead of the ») only ; but on the contrary _ on occasions of thanksgiving, or singing praises, &c. we have only the 9, which strictly means “ for;” thus, TWD PwrtE meno (ANIA wr ms Otway) “Then sang Moses (and the children of Israel)} unto the Eternal,” (Exodus xv. 1.) after the Israelites passed the Red Sea; here also in Joshua, after the Amorites were slain, (as in verses 10 and 11.) we find ay pws AIT ik “Then sang Joshuaf to the Eternal.” We cannot therefore for one moment entertain a doubt that Joshua—like his predecessor and master, Moses— thought proper to offer some short sentence for the glory of the Eternal ‘on the day” of his victory, (verse 12.) which was promised by the Deity; (verse 8.) and therefore (AT tN mye Pw is similar and a perfect parallelism to TW" TX mn awry * na This word has ootainly the . future, like TU and SOP but when the same words have the 5 Ta prefixed, then it is changed into the past tense ; so likewise ‘this little syllable TN changes the future . into the past, and therefore NOD “PW TN (Exodus xvi. 1.) “Then sang Moses;” PWD VAT TR Voshua x. 12.) “Then sang Joshua;” pws Np TS Goshua xx. 1.) “Then called Joshua;” signifies the same as if wy) “And he sang ;” mT “And he spoke _ or sang ;” or RIP “ And-he called,” ke. &c. had been written. t (“ For” the glory of, or), 5 Moses, however, having the Red Sea between himself and the enemy (the Egyptians), considering himself more safe than Joshua under the circumstances could consider himself, besides being the head and master of all the prophets and poets, he poetised a beautiful and sublime long song on the safe delivery of himself and his nation Israel, &c.; while Joshua saw and felt that there must not be any of this mira- culous prolongation of time lost in composing long sentiments of poetry, for the lengthening of the day was not for prayers or poesy, but for subduing the enemy,—he merely ejaculates, ‘In the presence of the children of Israel,” beaw 02 109 while that strange phenomenon was visible. Every attentive reader must have noticed that, after the enemy or the Amorites were “on that day” slain, Joshua said, DIT yWlAIa widnw &c., which, had it been a request, it should have preceded verse 10; besides, in verse 8 there was great encouragement held out to Joshua by the Eternal Himself; in verses 10 and 11 we find the Amorites were actually slain according to promise. ~ What use, I would ask, would have been the request of © Joshua after the main battle? And had Joshua—after such a faithful promise by the Deity Himself—made such a request, would it not be impious in the extreme to ask of the Eternal the staying of the Sun in its course? It would indeed appear as .if Joshua advised the Eternal how and by what means to conquer the enemy on that day by prolonging it, and by which alone he could keep His divine promise. I think that Joshua would be highly censurable. Besides, nothing was done at Gibeon after the (supposed) request, for, in verse 15, Joshua and the soldiers returned, or were ready to return, to Gilgal whence they came. But the fact is, as said before, that Joshua, perceiving that the day of battle was lengthened (which was perhaps on a Friday), formed “on that very day” a short poem, as it is said, syd per “3'T iN: “ Then sang Joshua, to, or for, the ; ° glory of the Eternal,” declaring the wondrous ways and means of the Deity Sequr sy. «in the sight of Israel,” shéwing it to their occular comprehension as a positive demonstration of the fact, saying :— . “The Sun’s rays upon Gibeon He stayed,” DW wa) 5 wow “The Moon’s at the valley of Ajalon delayed;’’ . WN poya m5 “The Deity is ready to attend to man’s voice,” BAS “pa nyt pow) “He Himself fights for Israel His choice.” _,byequny combs sy o5 This explanation will be better understood by putting verse 13 and the first third part of verse 14 in a parenthesis, thus ( ), it being an assurance of confidence put forth by the biographer or writer of Joshua, by proving the truth of the occurrence, which he knew traditionally, from the Book of Jasher :— ST NOM PIS OPW Toy mM wown om PUNT TAD WY ADIN “That the Sun’s rays were motionless, that the Moon’s rays also stood until the nation avenged itself on its enemy, (proof) is it not recorded in the Book of Yasher ?*” thus— ‘DYON DVD NID? PRN DOWN YN wown Tay * And the Sun’s rays were stationary in the midst of the heavens ; and the Sun did not hasten to go down or move onwards about a whole day.” This verse from the Book of Yasher was brought forward to prove his assertion of the fact of the occurrence expressed by Joshua. Moses, our general Leader and great Teacher, whom Joshua succeeded, said, in almost the same words, p59 ond) san | PWN ON) (Exod. xiv. 14.)—“ The Eternal Himself promised to fight for you; be ye only quiet;” with this dif- ference, however, that Joshua’s words were uttered after the battle, as a proof of the Deity’s assistance according to * It appears clear that this narrative must have been written by some one soon after the death of Joshua, and prior to the time of Habakkuk, for otherwise proof could be furnished from that Prophet, chap. iii, verse 11. 4 promise ; whereas Moses’ words were addressed to the people before the Israelites crossed the sea, either in a strain of assurance or positiveness that such would be the case; or, perhaps as a short prayer and exhortation,—‘ O, that the Eternal may fight for you; be ye only quiet !"* The same expression of syn pwr 72) tN (verse 12.) is similar to David’s, sao at 42 (2 Sam. xxii. 1.) and nearly the same expression so sat saws ayo (Psalm xviii. 1.) which was after the conquest, declaring the wonders of the Deity, that even the Laws.of Nature were suspended for a while for the sake of His chosen people, as at all times when they are in need of and worthy to be assisted specially by Himself. From these few instances we learn clearly that Pa in bes i BT monn in praising and glorifying the Deity, the word 933 and not “ON is used by the historian :-— Moses sang (Exod. xv. 8.)— ; 9D) oor 42 WD NaN) DY VOW.) POS ANID) *‘ And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together ; the floods stood upright as an heap,” &c. Joshua sang (x. 12.)— JD) PON poya my pvt pyaia wow “The Sun’s rays upon Gibeon he stayed, The Moon’s at the valley of Ajalon delayed,” &c. David sang (2 Sam. xxii. 7.)— TAD DY TDW YAS Wyn wyann “Then the earth shook and trembled ; The foundations of heaven moved and shook,” &c. Deborah sang (Judges v. 20.)— 0° oy ond ambonn paz wonds ovawn 10 “They fought from heaven J f 3 . : | against Sisera.’ The stars in their courses fought In proof that Joshua did not command the Sun to stand still, but composed a small song or poem in glorification of * My reason for supposing that this was a short prayer, is, because the Eternal immediately says to Moses, soy pyysn PW “ Wherefore criest thou unto me?” 8 the wonder-working Deity, I shall quote the opinions of the ancient Rabbins; although it is true they do not agfee in stating which is, or where to find the JW’ or poem of Joshua, yet they all agree that Joshua did say Tw In the 5>y DW WNIT find— wowe pm St paw oy7 WAN) pwr 7D ONT an nyp nyt so) wus Sopa mi poww TaD DX OD Aw IwRO swy pron yea now os awmy 9D Ox mst tam AYT DISDAIN NOS Nw Aw STN DN Sim ned 1) swe on wow pat nomna pA masa sooo man iyi wows nan mw tox 3 JANI Ws wT IBD2 ANS AMT MINT IND mpo vas sy wow oP SN 1D 1099 PINT pS AND ID)INNIND NI ID Dw IND Wwe wD spy In the Commentary on the 13th verse it is thus written— “ According to the opinion of some Expounders, this is the commencement “of the Song of Joshua; but it is more probable that this is not the pith or “substance of the poem, but merely a relation of what follows in the second “third part of verse 14, namely, ‘ That the Lord attends to the voice of man.’ “This opinion is nevertheless not against the opinions of our Rabbies, who “reckon Joshua’s Song as one of the Ten Scriptural Songs, for there is no “doubt that he did sing, although it is not written. This is also the opinion “ of the pty our Instructor, David Kimchi, as expressed in the very com- “mencement of his argument, namely, that the Song is not mentioned ; it “appears also, according to some narratives of our Doctors, that Joshua said “3.2? directly under the Sun.* We are therefore compelled to say that “the Song is not mentioned here ; but it was perhaps written in the Book “of Jasher, which is lost; and still it would not be very far from the truth “to say that the sentence of YAY DTD to PDS ‘33 was taken “from the poem which was written there (in the Book of Yasher), as it “appears from its construction; and so I think to be the real fact.” *I prefer this translation, “ Directly under the Sun,” as it is more natural; for when Joshua stood in the market place of the city of Gibeon the Sun was then in its zenith—over Joshua’s head. i ; ; erg A renowned poet of the eleyenth century, Rabbi Simeon, sonsof Isaac, who flourished in 4856 A.M., wrote a poem which is inserted in the Service of the Seventh Day of Pass- over, and this is one of the ‘ Ten Songs” mentioned above :— “POND TNT DIA wow IAN on oven ayo Naya nm ID Nw WAT ADA ApIpn JONAS TP An ops ave pen oat is “My exalted friend caused the splendour (rays) of the Sun to be silent.” “* And caused the Moon’s rays to stand still a whole day for my sake.” “ As written in the Book of Yasher, the song of my praise.” “Then sang Joshua to the Eternal, on the day the Eternal delivered up the Amorites.”” ; With profound deference to the opinion of the Com- mentator Sow DW" TND that wow DTM is part of the song taken from the Book of Yasher, I cling to the opinion of our Doctors of old, the Rabbins of blessed memory, who, according to the Commentator’s own shewing, think that - Joshua said JW when he stood under the Sun, and the whole poem (or part of it) is here in Joshua recorded as in page 6 of this Pamphlet, interspersed with the historian’s remarks, and quotation from the Book of Yasher; but for the better elucidation I shall put here the whole sentence belonging to this point :— OV PYIIA wi OS pova a PIS NOP MY Tay my wawtD™ | Poem of Joshua, in verse 12. The Writer of Joshua, first half of verse 13. suas aap by amino sn yon yR ND DOWN Na wown ial Book of Jasher, second ODN py Rahal) Poet verse 13. SPAFNT PIT NIT DVD AT N77 } The Weiter of Joshua, CS er a: Seaued onda ip o5 thirds of verse 14, D 10 The reason why the biographer dismembers the four lines of this poem of Joshua, must be, that he wished to stamp the truth of the occurrence recorded in the first two lines with the words recorded in the Book of Jasher, a celebrated and well known authority in his days, and at that period ; also his remarks, by saying JANN) PIO NANT ord an Nd «And there was no such a day before or after it,” has only reference to the first two lines, and not to either of the last two lines. And, indeed, whoever will do me the honour of attending to these four lines, will perceive by the very number of words in each line that they belong and are closely connected to one another; the first two lines are composed of three words each; the last two lines are com- posed of four words each; but, properly speaking, each line of the last two has only three words, as YN pa likewise rit) 3 are to be considered as one word ;—this method is well known to those who attend to this part of knowledge. Mendelsohn says in the "Ww of mow. ’D thus:— PIF YO APS ANN? napwn 3s wp Ab wow wow Oy pA pam “A small word or syllable, or a word which is hyphened to the following word, is not to be reckoned ; mostly they consist of three words in each line.” We come now again to the second part of verse 12: byw spy “WON ‘And he said, before the eyes of Israel.” There are various opinions respecting the expres- sions of Scripture: one of the Jewish Rabbins or Doctors thinks DIN 3 pwd AM ADT “Scripture speaks in _ the language of mankind;” another is of opinion 7727 XY) DIN a nus MIN “Scripture does not speak as man commonly speaks.” But to reconcile these opinions, I think that Scripture speaks or expresses itself both ways; some- times one way, and sometimes another, namely,—when. the speaker addresses himself to scientific or learned men, it speaks in such a manner as to suit their understanding; and when he addresses the public, then he is obliged to express re ~ ; ‘ 4 red ; a a ee ee ‘ 11 himself so as to suit their capacity of comprehension. Such is no novelty at all, for even the authors of our day are obliged sometimes to deviate from the real fact, and write in a language which is comprehended by the lower class of persons; as, for instance, we see and read in the best modern writers’ works the same rule observable, namely, “ The sun rising,” “ The sun setting,” whereas such is only apparently _ the case; for it is the earth’s turning round upon her axis that we perceive the Sun’s light, and therefore imagine the Sun to rise; and by the earth turning from the Sun, that is, that part of the globe on which we dwell, we imagine the Sun to set, but which is not so in reality; indeed, to say before the public otherwise, they would put you down as an im- postor, call you a rogue, or say your were a fool. Here, therefore, in verse 12, the writer says that Joshua said the following words: ‘‘ Before the eyes of Israel ;” that is, Joshua said these words not in private, or before, or to, a few scientific individuals, but for the eyes or understanding of Israel, before those soldiers who came up with him from Gilgal, (verse 7.) as they or each of them did really see with their own eyes, and so understood, T trust that there is sufficient proof that Joshua did not make that supposed request of, or commanded, the Sun and Moon to stand still, but that he poetised a short song, as here recorded, or a long one, the remaining portion of which is lost. Secondly, that the Sun and Moon stood still apparently, which Joshua pointed out to the Hebrew soldiers, is quite consistent and natural, as will be shewn. The earth and her companion the moon, in the time of Joshua, travelled on, I suppose, in their annual journey round the Sunasusual. ‘The earth did not give over moving on her own (imaginary) axis, but performed this diurnal motion, but slowly, so as to keep every thing on it from falling off. Thus 12 . it is found in, and quoted from, the Book of Yasher, tp") Dwr WMS wownr “And the Sun’s rays stood in the midst of the heavens,” that is, in the meridian. At noon time (12 o’clock) this slowness of the earth’s diurnal motion, or the apparent standing still of the Sun’s rays, was more perceptible than at any other time, because the Sun, being in its zenith, was seen more conspicuously, as if really standing motionless for some time over and above Gibeon. So also at eventide (6 oclock), when the apparent going down of this great luminary was more perceptible than during the six hours from noon time; and therefore do we find in the Talmud:;— Os yw pass wy 94x ea) Dyn DPD (3 Ty pan ora sindbis soo mew apr mew ons pw py ew “ As a whole day ;” (the question here is) “how long (of how many hours) “is meant a whole day?” (is it only day time, about twelve hours ; or is ‘a “whole day’ both day and night, and therefore twenty-four hours?) to this “replies Rabbi Joshua, son of Levi, ‘ Four-and-twenty hours; the Sun’s rays “moved on for six hours, (from six o’clock in the morning to noon, twelve *o’clock) and stood (apparently) for six hours, then it moved on again for “six hours, (from twelve o’clock, noon, to six o’clock, evening), and stood “again (apparently) for six hours, in the whole making a full day’ (of twenty- “four hours at day time, from six in the morning to six in the evening).” Rabbi Joshua, son of Levi, spoke from experience in giving the above reply ; for, thought he, to the common observer there are only three periods in the day particularly noticed,— Morning, when the Sun is seen on the eastern horizon; at Noon, when the Sun is over our heads, or zenith; and at Evening, when the Sun appears on the western horizon, to sink into darkness ; and from one period to the other, being six hours, it appeared to the Israelites at Gibeon that the Sun went on for six hours, then stood about six hours,—went again for six hours, and standing again for six hours. But the question is now, How can we prove that the motion was slowly? Here is the forcible expression of the : 13 Book of Yasher: DYIM OVD .NID7 YN NN “And it did not hasten to go down, or to move on, as a whole day,” because the earth, conjointly with her companion the moon, moved on each upon its axis but slowly. A thought just now entered my mind while writing this curious explanation, (Darlington, 17th Feb., 1839,) why this hypothesis should not be correct. When Jupiter and Saturn, each larger than the earth, only revolving on his axis in about ten hours, and consequently fourteen hours faster than our earth, the Sun itself, which is considerably larger than all the planets and satellites put together, takes about twenty- five days to revolve upon its axis. ‘The Moon, a very small body, takes about four weeks to revolve upon her axis, without any hindrance whatever; thus we see that the spin- dling round of any body, large or small, upon their axis, makes very little or no difference at all to the (solar) system, or to the bodies themselves. And to strengthen my notion, I have great satisfaction in bringing substantial evidence, who shall speak for himself :— “There is no apparent reason why this globe should turn on its axis 366 “times while it describes its orbit round the Sun. The revolutions of the _ “other planets, so far. as we know them, do not appear to follow any rule ‘*by which they are connected with the distance from the Sun. Mercury, ** Venus and Mars have days nearly the length of ours. Jupiter and Saturn “revolve in about ten hours each. For any thing we can discover, the earth “might have had, without mechanical inconvenience, much longer days than ‘we have.” PROFESSOR WHEWELL’S ASTRONOMY— BRIDGEWATER TREATISE. (Read at Dunse, Oct., 1839.) Here we have produced, I trust, satisfactory proofs that, although the earth revolved slowly upon her axis, her in- habitants were not in danger; and although it certainly was a miracle,—an unusual thing at that time,—the Deity did not violate His own imposed laws upon nature, as far as we can comprehend those divine laws; and this deviation from the present spindling of the earth was of the slightest kind, which 14 slowness of motion was perhaps performed according to some law in nature unknown to us at present. And it is as much possible, as what we find by positive facts, that the Summer half year is eight days longer than the winter half year, because the Sun, being further removed from the earth, loses its attractive power in some slight degree, and the earth moves slower in Summer than in Winter round that luminary. Here we see that no danger whatever is apprehended from such deviation for months together; and why could not the Sun have been removed, from some cause or another, toa very great distance from the earth at the time of Joshua ? Now comes the question, Why arrest the motion of the Moon at all? If there is plenty of sunshine, the Moon can give us no additional, indeed, no light whatever in the presence of her benefactor, “the great luminary,” when above the horizon.” SYD WO SWRA Sj WwW Our Rabbins have a saying, ‘‘ What use is a candle or light ona clear day?” This, therefore, is also an indication that it was not, and could not be considered as a command or a request of Joshua to arrest the motion of both Sun and Moon, for, even an ordinary observer could not be guilty of such folly; its pre- sence, consequently, either standing still or moving, would be of very little or no service at all on that day of battle; and the earth only was checked in her progress of spindling round on her axis so fast as usual for twenty-four hours; the Moon, her companion, in travelling round and with the earth, was of necessity retarded in her revolution (which is usually per- formed in about a month) round the earth, her motion was hardly perceived, and she appeared standing at, over, or towards, a place called ‘ the valley of Ayalon.”* * We need not quibble about the locality of this place, “ Ayalon,” for it matters very little where it lays. It is sufficient that the Moon was seen on the horizon towards that (at that time) notable place. 15 But, again, why should Joshua point out to the Israelites the Moon’s standing towards and at the valley of Ayalon? Because every one of the soldiers saw the Moon (apparently) standing at, or towards, that noted place, and it would have been quite unaccountable to them why the Moon should thus remain standing, or, at least,.why her progress was hardly per- ceived; he therefore, knowing the consequence of the Moon’s retardation, says before the eyes of the soldiers POYa AM NaN “The Moon also at the valley of Ayalon is motionless ;” and that the Moon was motionless (apparently), as in verse 13, the writer of Joshua very curiously brings proof from the Book of Yasher, wherein (most remarkable) we only have Top") DAwA WN. wownm “And the Sun (sun’s rays) stood (apparently of course) in the midst of the heavens” about noon time; but nothing is there mentioned about the Moon. We can therefore safely venture to come to the reasonable conclusion, that both earth and moon turned regularly as usual, each on its own axis, but slowly; and the real cause of these two planets’ slowness is fathered on the Sun alone, round which they travel together, as it (the Book of Yasher) further declares $129 ys x5) “And he did not hasten to go, or move on,.”* * It does not say here in the Book of Yasher, that the Moon stood still at or in Ayalon, but that, when Joshua stood on Gibeon’s highest place, direct “ under the Sun,” then was the Moon seen, as the consequence thereof, by himself and the soldiers, whom he was addressing, towards the valley of Ayalon. This place is perhaps in the Land of Zebulon, which must have been some noted and doubtless a principal town, for Aylon the Zebulonite, a judge in Israel, was interred there; (Judges xvi. 11, 12.) or perhaps only a small town or village in the neighbour- hood of Gibeon. It need not necessarily be situated on the east of Gibeon, for the idea of the Sun going down, or standing still, on the western side of the horizon is not heeded, as BSA SYP] means at noon time, when the Sun is inits meridian, “ midst of the sky,” above our heads; nor, according to this notion, is it now requisite that the Moon should stand opposite to the Sun, which takes place only at full Moon; but this miraculous occurrence perhaps took place about seven or twenty-one days in the month (Moon })59), and seen very faintly and crescent-like on the horison of Gibeon, in that direction where Ayalon is 16. If an observer were placed on the Sun’s surface, both the earth and her companion the Moon would have been seen (apparently) motionless from their positive slowness of motion. To an observer on the Moon (if that satellite were inhabited by human beings), both the Sun and the earth would have appeared to stand still; firstly, by the real slowness of the earth’s rotation; and, secondly, through the real slowness of its own motion, the Sun would have appeared to stand still. So now, to an inhabitant on this globe, but especially to ‘those at Gibeon, the Moon was seen (apparently) to stand still, by the slowness of both her own and the earth’s motion ; and the Sun appeared standing still, through the slowness of the earth’s motion on which the observer was placed. For, to an inhabitant of the earth, these two luminaries, Sun and Moon, are seen, and appear to be the largest of all other heavenly bodies, although in reality the Moon only appears larger (the lesser of the two) than a planet in the Solar system, or even a star (a sun of another system) in the universe, from the fact of its nearness to our earth, being only 240,000 miles from us; whereas the nearest planet, Venus for instance, is 27 millions of miles from the earth. Now, after these explications, let us translate and set before you verses 12, 13, 14 of chap. x. :— SOSA OS AYP an op end perry aap ps 112.) Syne ony aos Syque a ad /DOVT Wad wow ‘NOVN proya my “Then (after the great slaughter of the enemy) sang Joshua to the Eternal, on the day when the Eternal delivered the Amorites before the children of Israel ; and said, in the sight of Israel :” “The Sun’s rays upon Gibeon He stayed, “The Moon’s at the valley of Ayalon He delayed.” situated, This very omission of the FR" “ Moon” in the Book of Yasher, proves my supposition that Joshua neither commanded nor requested any stoppage of either Sun or Moon. ons ro 17 ser Noe | SPIN DOP. TY Toy mM) wow DM (13.) esurst aap Sy mains “ That the Sun’s rays were stayed, and that the Moon’s were likewise delayed, till the nation revenged on its enemy ; is it not written on the Book of Yasher ?” Thus :— ‘DYON DVD 8127 ys 82) -DYOwWN SNA wown Tay “And the Sun’s rays appeared stationary in the midst of the heavens (at noon); and it did not hasten to go or miove on about a’ whole day.” sans) p2p9 sv oy ay 5) (14.) “ And there was no such a day before or after this notable day of Joshua ;”’ that is, such a long daylight of twenty-four hours, gaining twelve hours. ° ws MPD AD yow? bynend omo3 ay 1D “ The Bternal is ready to attend to man’s voice, He Himself fights for Israel His choice.” ‘As already remarked, the writer of Joshua relates the actual words which Joshua uttered at that time; and that such was really and truly the fact he quotes a passage from the Book of Yasher; then he makes his remarks upon the won- derful phenomenon which he attests was not heard of neither before nor after Joshua’s time ; and then he finishes in giving us the other two stanzas of Joshua’s poem. Commentators and expositors, who believed and therefore supposed that DV4 }WAID Wow is a command or a request of Joshua, viz., ‘‘Sun stand thou still upon Gibeon,” trans- lated likewise WWM DT “ And the Sun stood still,” putting it as a positive evidence that God-has granted. that request, or that the Sun obeyed the command of Joshua, and that it really took place; but they never reconciled the following sentence of.the same writer, when he says, FDIND NN ros ‘Ts it not written WW 7 “502 in the Book of Yasher 2” For what further evidence than the divine writer’s assertion did it require? The quotation from another authority would be weakening his evidence, and therefore superfluous ; besides, E 18 supposing even it was brought forward to strengthen his assertion, then it should be MAIND SW MAM “ Behold, so it is written ‘in the Book of Yasher,’” and not Sj x54 MOND “ Is it not recorded in the Book of Yasher ?” But now, as we translate DYT PPIII wow “ He causes the Sun’s rays to stand still,” and that it is a poetical com- position of Joshua, the writer is obliged to bring proof for Joshua’s bold assertion from the Book of Yasher; and wow ow) &c. must be translated, ‘That the Sun’s rays really stood still” (as Joshua poetised), &c. &e. NV om MAINS “Is it not written in the Book of Yasher ?” where- ‘from the writer brings proof, not for. his own sake, but to substantiate Joshua’s poetical strain of ejaculation, that it was not mere chimerical but real truth which the biographer had handed down to him by tradition. This small poem of four verses was treasured up by the writer of the Book of Joshua, on which he firmly believed, namely, that the Sun’s rays were really stayed as Joshua expressed himself in this poem; but he, the writer himself, could give no evidence,—he could be no witness to the fact, although he was sure in his own mind that such miracle must have, in reality, taken place, otherwise Joshua would not have made such declaration; but having no means to prove to the world that such phenomenon was really seen, he says WWM DT) “ That the Sun’s rays really were motionless,” &c.; MDIND 4 son “Ts it not written "503 “Ww in the Book of Yasher?” This book must have been in the time of the biographer a manuscript of great authority, but which is unfortunately lost to the world. Peep PHN DIX: To assist the ordinary reader, I deem it essential to give him a little insight into a portion of Astronomy. Astronomy is a very sublime science. It inspires the mind of man with exalted conceptions of the wisdom and power of the Omnipotent Creator. It abounds with endless variety, and is consequently pleasing to the human intellect. This noble seience unfolds the magnitudes, revolutions, and dis- tances of the planets, &c. The Solar System. The Sun is an immense globe, placed near the common centre, or lower focus of the orbits of all the planets, and turns round his axis in 25 days 14 hours, which is known by the spots seen upon his surface, that arise on one side and disappear on the other. His diameter is 890,000 English miles, and he is more than a million times larger than the earth. The Sun was long thought to be a vast globe of fire; against which our modern Astronomers have brought many rational objections. Dr. Herschell considers the body of the Sun to be opaque, and in general hid from our view by means of a luminous atmosphere; that what are called spots on the Sun, are real openings in the atmosphere, through which the opaque body of the Sun becomes visible ; that this atmosphere itself is not fiery nor hot, but is the instrument which God designed to act on the caloric, or latent heat ; and 20 heat is only produeed by the solar light acting upon, and com- bining with, caloric, or matter’ of fire, contained in the air, and other substances, which are heated by it. Mercury and Venus are two planets that revolve fend the Sun. Then comes the Earth, which is the third pienes fon the Sun, and revolves about him in the space of 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, 57 seconds. Its diameter is 7940 miles, and it turns on its axis from west to east in 23 hours and 56 minutes. Owing to its diurnal motion, the inhabitants of the equator are carried at the rate of 17 miles and 7 furlongs in a minute; whilst those on the parallel of York (being in latitude - 54°) are carried at the rate of 8 miles and 6} furlongs per minute. The distance of the earth from the Sun is about — 95 millions of miles. The Moon is a satellite, or an attendant on the earth, around which she moves in 27 days, 7 hours, and 43 minutes, and in the same time turns round her axis. Her diameter is 2,180, and her distance from the earth 240,000 miles. Then come Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Herschell, besides other small planets that revolve round the Sun, and about 500 comets ;—the whole constitutes the Solar System. Copy from the YYW ja rp on Genesis, which has reference to page 3. spon nto. doy ns xma> maw. aby monna poy paw so Das (omoN 82 Mw Tow) Niwy Ova WONIw) DAI mv yay ANw op? oP GOs aT “The Deity contemplated to create the world (Solar System) according to certain rules laid down (laws of Nature), as it is written, ‘In the beginning Elohim created ;> but He foresaw that the world could not -exist by being 2) ruled solely by the general law of Nature ; He then was pleased to join His measure of Mercy to it, as it is written, ‘On the day that the Jehovah Elohim made.’ ”’ As Elohim, He must act according to law and rule, that is, to let Nature take its course, for ove means a legislator, a judge,—He must do justice to Nature, and not violate even His own prescribed laws and rules, but as M7 Jehovah Eternal, who existed before any thing in Nature had ex- istence ; and of course nothing was there that had to act according to any law, rule, or system, and indeed before any such laws could be in existence to be imposed upon any thing. He, the Deity, Jehovah, as King without any laws, takes upon Himself to exercise His prerogative power now, when neces- sary, as then at the creation, and makes laws or rules as He pleases for a while; which is also the reason why by the map Sacrifices, which were ordained to atone for our sins, not obey Elohim, but (4) Jehovah is mentioned; the former name ows or attribute, is all for justice, whereas the latter IT proper name of the Deity, is for acts of mercy, exercising His prerogative power. At first, the Deity created, made, and formed the Solar System, according to certain rules, regulations, and laws to govern Nature, called the Laws of Nature; that is, He imposed upon matter certain laws, by giving them, to the atoms, certain powers, virtues, and properties to act so and so of themselves constantly, which is the {TI MND “according to the rule or measure of law;” so we find, mwy> pote N23 Wks ‘which the Elohim created to act,” henceforth, in future, constantly. But the Deity foreseeing that His divine inter- position will in innumerable cases and instances be requisite, He joins (for our instruction) to the ods Llohim, the Dw M7 Jehovah, which is called DARA MAD “rule or mea- sure of compassion or mercy,” as it is written MWY OVA DTN MT that is, the Deity conditioned, as it were, (and / appears so to our comprehension,) with FPWR Wy the _creation, to use, whenever He should please, a prerogative power, to act what is called PIT NNWD pa « conttary to the exact rules,” supernaturally, and should not be con- sidered violating, the laws of Nature—laws of | His — an creating. » Thus said the sages of old on poy by 5p pw sone: “The full name of /1)"t) Jehovah was only mentioned by the — full-(whole). universe ;” that is, to create-a universe, the name ¥. of Jehovah A), the D¥YM Dw, the uncreate Essence, was required to give the command or order of existence before | the laws of Nature were legislated for and imposed upon’ matter, but of course the name or attribute DTT Elohim, - by each sei of the Solar Systems.