Joshua's long day. 



145 



But if it is asserted that the sun ceased from moving, not from 

 shining, then those who assert this should face and answer the 

 following questions : — 



(1) Why should Joshua have wished the sun to be fixed over- 



head " about a whole day," before it began to go down 

 towards its setting ? We need not debate whether 

 " about a whole day " means 14 hours, the duration of 

 daylight at that season, or 24 hours, the complete rota- 

 tion of the earth. In the first case, the interval between 

 one sunset and the next would have been 38 hours ; in 

 the other, 48 hours. 



(2) If in appearance the sun " ceased " from moving " in the 



midst of heaven," and remained motionless there " about 

 a whole day," how did Joshua know it ? He could not 

 have looked at the sun ; it would have blinded him, and 

 there was no object in the heavens with the position of 

 which he could have compared it. 



(3) How did Joshua determine his time that afternoon, and 



measure the length of that day, seeing that the sun, his 

 only clock, was stopped ? 



(4) Further, the natural result of the stopping of the sun when 



overhead for " about a whole day," w^ould be to increase 

 the temperature of the air beyond anything that man- 

 kind has ever experienced. How did the Israelites 

 escape the consequences of Joshua's strange desire ? 



(5) What did he hope to gain by it, and why was it granted to 



him ? 



Apart from the question of the correctness of the translation, two 

 definite objections have been m.ade. 



First, why is the moon mentioned, seeing that its light and heat 

 are negligible ? My questioners forget that the difficulty — if diffi- 

 cult it be — is one which attaches to the narrative itself whatever 

 translation we adopt. But I would suggest that Joshua was looking 

 in the direction in which the Amorites were fleeing, in which case he 

 would also have been looking in the direction of the moon, and 

 could hardly have failed to see it. 



Next, it has been objected that I have brought the hailstorm out 

 of its proper chronological order. It is not I who have done so ; it 



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