Joshua 5:10 records a quiet but important moment: after Israel crossed the Jordan River, the people set up camp at Gilgal and observed the Passover feast on the fourteenth day of the month, right outside the walls of Jericho. The verse tells us where they stopped, when they worshiped, and that they kept God’s appointed festival even while standing on the edge of a military campaign. The narrator of Joshua is recording these events for the nation of Israel, showing how God’s people remembered Him at a turning point.
The children of Israel encamped in Gilgal. They kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at evening in the plains of Jericho.
Joshua 5:10 (WEB)
What Joshua 5:10 Means
The verse begins with “The children of Israel encamped in Gilgal.” Gilgal was a camp, not a permanent city, and its name later became tied to the memory of God removing Israel’s disgrace (see verse 9). The word “encamped” suggests a pause, a place to regroup and settle in before the next stage of the conquest. The people were not rushing ahead; they were stopping to take stock.
The second part says they “kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at evening in the plains of Jericho.” The Passover commemorated God’s deliverance of their ancestors from Egypt, and God had commanded it be observed on this date each year. Keeping it here meant Israel was carrying forward a covenant identity into a new land. The verse does not promise victory or safety over Jericho’s defenses; it simply shows faithful obedience in a precarious place.
The Context of Joshua 5:10
The book of Joshua is traditionally attributed to Joshua himself, Moses’ successor, though the text also contains later editorial notes, and scholars debate the precise date of its final form. Its first audience was the people of Israel, who needed to see how God had brought them into the promised land and how they were to live in it faithfully. The stories of crossing the Jordan and conquering Canaan were meant to teach trust in the LORD and obedience to His word.
The verses just before this one describe the circumcision of the generation born in the wilderness, a sign of covenant renewal that had been neglected during the years of travel. Verse 10 follows directly, so the Passover is kept by a people who have just been restored to covenant obedience. The verses right after it describe the manna ceasing and the people beginning to eat the produce of Canaan. That shift shows God providing in new ways as Israel enters a new season, which gives the Passover scene a sense of fresh beginnings.
Key Phrases in Joshua 5:10
Exodus 12:14
This day shall be to you for a memorial, and you shall keep it a feast to the LORD: throughout your generations you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.
(WEB)
This verse gives God’s original command that the Passover be kept as a lasting memorial. Reading it alongside Joshua 5:10 shows that Israel’s observance at Gilgal was obedience to an ancient instruction, carried into the new land.
Joshua 4:19
The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the east border of Jericho.
(WEB)
This verse describes Israel camping at Gilgal after crossing the Jordan, with the stones of memorial set up there. Together with Joshua 5:10, it shows Gilgal as a place where Israel deliberately marked God’s faithfulness in tangible ways.
A Short Prayer From Joshua 5:10
Lord, you led your people through the wilderness and into the land you promised them. Help me to stop and remember your faithfulness when my own path feels uncertain, just as Israel stopped at Gilgal to keep your feast. Teach me to keep faithful practices in the middle of my unfinished battles, trusting that you are already at work. Keep my heart steady and my eyes on you. Amen.
