The first step in preparation for war was the selection of spies. To
guard against a repetition of what had happened to Moses, Joshua chose
as his messengers Caleb and Phinehas, on whom he could place dependence
in all circumstances. (10) They were accompanied on their mission by
two demons, the husbands of the she-devils Lilith and Mahlah. When
Joshua was planning his campaign, these devils offered their services
to him; they proposed that they be sent out to reconnoitre the land.
Joshua refused the offer, but formed their appearance so frightfully
that the residents of Jericho were struck with fear of them. (11) In
Jericho the spies put up with Rahab. She had been leading an immoral
life for forty years, but at the approach of Israel, she paid homage to
the true God, lived the life of a pious convert, and, as the wife of
Joshua, became the ancestress of eight prophets and of the prophetess
Huldah. (12) She had opportunity in her own house of beholding the
wonders of God. When the king's bailiffs came to make their
investigations, and Rahab wanted to conceal the Israelitish spies,
Phinehas calmed her with the words: "I am a priest, and priests are
like angels, visible when they wish to be seen, invisible when they do
not wish to be seen." (13)
After the return of the spies, Joshua decided to pass over the Jordan.
The crossing of the river was the occasion for wonders, the purpose of
which was to clothe him with authority in the eyes of the people.
Scarcely had the priests, who at this solemn moment took the place of
the Levites as bearers of the Ark, set foot in the Jordan, when the
waters of the river were piled up to a height of three hundred miles.
All the peoples of the earth were witnesses of the wonder. (14) In the
bed of the Jordan Joshua assembled the people around the Ark. A Divine
miracle caused the narrow space between its staves to contain the whole
concourse. Joshua then proclaimed the conditions under which God would
give Palestine to the Israelites, and he added, if these conditions
were not accepted, the waters of the Jordan would descend straight upon
them. Then they marched through the river. When the people arrived on
the further shore, the holy Ark, which had all the while been standing
in the bed of the river, set forward of itself, and, dragging the
priests after it, overtook the people.
The day continued eventful. Unassailed, the Israelites marched seventy
miles to Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, and there performed the ceremony
bidden by Moses in Deuteronomy: six of the tribes ascended Mount
Gerizim, and six Mount Ebal. The priests and the Levites grouped
themselves about the holy Ark in the vale between the two peaks. With
their faces turned toward Gerizim, the Levites uttered the words:
"Happy the man that maketh no idol, an abomination unto the Lord," and
all the people answered Amen. After reciting twelve blessings similar
to this in form, the Levites turned to Mount Ebal, and recited twelve
curses, counterparts of the blessings, to each of which the people
responded again with Amen. Thereupon an altar was erected on Mount Ebal
with the stones, each weighing forty seim, which the Israelites had
taken from the bed of the river while passing through the Jordan. The
altar was plastered with lime, and the Torah written upon it in seventy
languages, so that the heathen nations might have the opportunity of
learning the law. At the end it was said explicitly that the heathen
outside of Palestine, if they would but abandon the worship of idols,
would be received kindly by the Jews.
All this happened on one day, on the same day on which the Jordan was
crossed, and the assembly was held on Gerizim and Ebal, the day on
which the people arrived at Gilgal, where they left the stones of which
the altar had been built. (15) At Gilgal Joshua performed the rite of
circumcision on those born in the desert, who had remained
uncircumcised on account of the rough climate and for other reasons.
(16) And here it was that the manna gave out. It had ceased to fall at
the death of Moses, but the supply that had been stored up had lasted
some time longer. (17) As soon as the people were under the necessity
of providing for their daily wants, they grew negligent in the study of
the Torah. Therefore the angel admonished Joshua to loose his shoes
from off his feet, for he was to mourn over the decline of the study of
the Torah, (18) and bare feet are a sign of mourning. The angel
reproached Joshua in particular with having allowed the preparations
for war to interfere with the study of the Torah and with the ritual
service. Neglect of the latter might be a venial sin, but neglect of
the former is worthy of condign punishment. (19) At the same time the
angel assured Joshua that he had come to aid him, and he entreated
Joshua not to draw back from him, like Moses, who had refused the good
offices of the angel. (20) He who spoke to Joshua was none other than
the archangel Michael. (21)