Joshua 5:2-9

CIRCUMCISION RESTORED, Joshua 5:2-9.

[It seems at first sight strange that the chosen people for forty years neglected circumcision. The clue to a proper explanation of this neglect is furnished in the following verses, especially in Joshua 5:9, where allusion is made to the reproach of Egypt. This reproach is explained, in Exodus 32:12; Numbers 14:13-16; Deuteronomy 9:28, as the scoffing words and ridicule which the Egyptians would so naturally utter against the Hebrews when the latter suffered from God’s anger. After the rebellion and murmuring at Kadesh, Jehovah condemned that generation to perish in the wilderness. Numbers 14:29-34. During the forty years that followed they were under the ban of that sweeping curse, and observed neither circumcision nor the passover. These sacraments were sacred seals of their covenant with Jehovah, and, the covenant being broken by their rebellion, that cursed generation could not renew it. See further on Joshua 5:5-6. But the mighty miracle of the Jordan, which now spread terror among the nations, silenced this reproach, and hence the propriety of renewing the covenant in Gilgal.]