Charles Ellicott Commentary Joshua 5:1-9

"And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, that were beyond the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, that were by the sea, heard how that Jehovah had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel. At that time Jehovah said unto Joshua, Make thee knives of flint, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. And Joshua made him knives of lint, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: all the people that came forth out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came forth out of Egypt. For all the people that came out were circumcised; but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, they had not circumcised. For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the nation, even the men of war that came forth out of Egypt, were consumed, because they hearkened not unto the voice of Jehovah: unto whom Jehovah sware that he would not let them see the land which Jehovah sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them did Joshua circumcise: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way. And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the nation, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole. And Jehovah said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of that place was called Gilgal, unto this day." — Joshua 5:1-9 (ASV)

(20—5:9) It would seem that these verses all belong to one section. The use of the first person in Joshua 5:1, until we were passed over, is most naturally explained by taking the verse as part of what the Israelites were to say to their children by the command of Joshua. The difficulty has been met in the Hebrew Bible by a Masoretic reading, in which “they” is substituted for “we.” But the more difficult reading is to be preferred. There is nothing else in the section that creates any difficulty.

The twenty-third verse authorises a comparison between the passage of the Jordan and the passage of the Red Sea. As the one is called baptising unto Moses in the New Testament, we may call the other a baptising unto Joshua. (Compare the us in Joshua 4:23 with the we of Joshua 5:1.) The first person also appears in Joshua 4:6, that he would give us. It would appear that, besides explaining the erection of the stones, the Israelites were also to explain to their children the meaning of Gilgal, the place where the stones were, and this explanation is not completed until the end of Joshua 4:9.