Joshua's long day. 



139 



a whole day." This would certainly be rather a clumsy way of 

 saying that owing to the refreshment from the cloud the children of 

 Israel were able to do a day's work in a third of the time ; at any 

 rate, the expression need not imply anything more than that the 

 apparent motion of the sun seemed to slow down. The word trans- 

 lated Stand still " in verse 12 is the word translated ''Rest in the 

 Lord" in Ps. xxxvii, and in 1 Sam. xiv, 9, Jonathan uses it when 

 speaking of the Philistines to his armour-bearer : If they 

 say thus unto us, Tarry (DDI) until we come to you: then Ave 

 will stand still (iD;;) in our place and will not go up unto 

 them," so that the words seem by their usage to be closely 

 allied, if not practically synonymous. " Stop what you are doing 

 and stand still," or Halt, stand easy," so that even if we 

 accept the ingenious idea of the veiling of the sun by a storm- 

 cloud, the other thought of an actual lengthening of the day, an 

 arrest of the usual progress of nature by Divine power, is not 

 ruled out. 



If a mere meteorological change were intended in answer to prayer, 

 it would seem unpardonable hyperbole to add, as in verse 14, " There 

 was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened 

 unto the voice of a man." As a matter of fact, nothing is said of 

 the sky being cloudless during the battle, nor of the consequent 

 fatigue of the Israelites, nor of the storm-cloud, nor of the extra- 

 ordinary refreshment resulting. All these have to be introduced to 

 build up an interpretation. The expression, " So the sun stood still 

 and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves," 

 conveys a clear impression of a prolongation of the day, quite apart 

 from and independent of the experience of the Israelites. Joshua 

 ex hypothesi would see that more time would be required to complete 

 the victory than the seven hours of daylight remaining could possibly 

 afford, and would frame his demand accordingly. 



Mr. Hoste suggested that the hailstorm came from the north- 

 west, acting as a barrage to prevent the Amorites escaping to the 

 north and shepherding them back south, to be dealt with easily by 

 Israel. Otherwise it would hardly seem likely that, even though 

 their cities were in the south, the Amorites would have fled down 

 as far as Asekah and Makkedah — cities belonging eventually to 

 Judah — at the risk of meeting an encircling force of their enemies. 



