Joshua 5 is the chapter where Israel, having just crossed the Jordan, stops to renew two covenant practices they had neglected for decades: circumcision and the Passover. People read it for a clear reason. It shows what God does to prepare a nation before a hard fight, and it includes one of the most striking encounters in the book, when Joshua meets a warrior who refuses to take sides and then tells him to take off his sandals.
Joshua 5 Summary
The chapter opens with the nations of Canaan hearing that the Jordan had been dried up before Israel and losing their courage. In the middle of this fear, the LORD tells Joshua to circumcise the people again with flint knives. Joshua obeys at a place called the hill of the foreskins, and the text explains that the generation that left Egypt had died in the wilderness, so their children were the ones being marked.
Once the healing is complete, the LORD declares that the reproach of Egypt has been rolled away, and the place is named Gilgal. Israel keeps the Passover in the plains of Jericho, eats the produce of the land, and the manna stops. The chapter then closes with Joshua near Jericho, meeting a man with a drawn sword who identifies himself as commander of the LORD’s army and tells Joshua to remove his sandals because the ground is holy.
Background and Setting
The book of Joshua is part of the historical books of the Old Testament, following the Pentateuch and telling the story of Israel’s entry into and settlement of Canaan. The book is traditionally attributed to Joshua himself, though scholars generally think it was compiled and edited later, with the final form often dated to the period of the monarchy or after. Its first audience would have been Israelite communities who needed to understand how their identity as God’s people was rooted in the land promised to their ancestors.
Chapter 5 sits at a turning point. Chapters 1 through 4 describe the preparation and crossing of the Jordan, and chapters 6 through 12 describe the conquest. Chapter 5 is the pause between crossing and fighting, when the community is spiritually reset before any military action begins.
Joshua 5 Section by Section
Verses 1-3: The Fear of the Nations and the Command to Circumcise
1 When all the kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, who were by the sea, heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we had crossed over, their heart melted, and there was no more spirit in them, because of the children of Israel. 2 At that time, the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives, and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time.”
Joshua 5:1-2 (WEB)
The chapter begins by showing the surrounding kings melting in fear because of what they heard about the Jordan. Israel’s position is not one of strength in the eyes of the world, yet the LORD’s first instruction is not to march toward Jericho but to restore a sign of the covenant. The command to circumcise again reminds the people that their security does not rest on their own readiness but on their belonging to God.
Joshua’s obedience is immediate and practical. He makes flint knives and performs the rite at the hill of the foreskins. The detail matters because it shows that God’s people are called to faithfulness in ordinary, physical acts, not only in grand moments of faith. Obedience here is bodily, specific, and visible to the whole camp.
Verses 4-9: The Generation Renewed and the Reproach Removed
4 This is the reason Joshua circumcised them: all the people who came out of Egypt, who were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness along the way, after they came out of Egypt. 5 For all the people who came out were circumcised; but all the people who were born in the wilderness along the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised. 6 For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, even the men of war who came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they didn’t listen to the LORD’s voice. The LORD swore to them that he wouldn’t let them see the land which the LORD swore to their fathers that he would give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.
Joshua 5:4-6 (WEB)
The text explains why this rite had been neglected: the men who came out of Egypt had died in the wilderness because they did not listen to the LORD. The forty years of wandering are presented as the consequence of unbelief, and the children who now stand at the Jordan are the inheritors of God’s promise. The chapter does not hide the cost of disobedience, but it also shows that God raises up a new generation to receive what was promised.
When the healing is finished, the LORD says that the reproach of Egypt has been rolled away. The place is called Gilgal, a name linked to the idea of rolling. Israel’s shame, whether from slavery or from the failures of the wilderness years, is answered by God’s act. The people can now stand in the land as a community restored to their covenant identity.
Verses 10-12: The Passover and the Ending of Manna
10 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. 11 They ate unleavened cakes and parched grain of the produce of the land on the next day after the Passover, in the same day. 12 The manna ceased on the next day, after they had eaten of the produce of the land. The children of Israel didn’t have manna any more; but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.
Joshua 5:10-12 (WEB)
At Gilgal, Israel keeps the Passover in the plains of Jericho, remembering their deliverance from Egypt on the very edge of the land they are about to enter. The next day they eat the produce of Canaan, and the manna ceases. This is a quiet but significant transition: the daily provision that sustained them in the wilderness gives way to the harvest of a land they can now work and enjoy.
The rhythm here is worth noticing. God does not abandon his people when a source of provision changes. He moves them from dependence on an extraordinary gift toward a settled life in the land, which still depends on him but now involves their labor and their participation in the promise.
Verses 13-15: The Commander of the LORD’s Army
13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood in front of him with his sword drawn in his hand. Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our enemies?” 14 He said, “No; but I have come now as commander of the LORD’s army.” Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and worshiped, and asked him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” 15 The prince of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your shoes; for the place on which you stand is holy.” Joshua did so.
Joshua 5:13-15 (WEB)
Joshua, near Jericho, sees a man with a drawn sword and asks whose side he is on. The answer, that he has come as commander of the LORD’s army, refuses the question’s framing. Joshua is not asked to choose a human ally but to recognize the presence and authority of God. He falls to the ground in worship, which is the right response to one who stands on holy ground.
The command to remove his sandals echoes the earlier encounter at the burning bush in Exodus, and it signals that the conquest is not Israel’s project alone. The holiness of the place comes from God’s presence, and Joshua must approach the task of taking the land with humility and reverence.
Key Themes in Joshua 5
- Renewal before battle: Israel restores covenant signs before any military action, showing that spiritual readiness comes first.
- Removal of reproach: God answers the shame of the past by declaring that Egypt’s reproach is rolled away from his people.
- Transition in provision: The manna ends as the people begin to eat the produce of the land, marking a shift from wilderness dependence to settled life.
- Holy ground and worship: The encounter with the commander teaches that the place where God meets his people is holy and calls for reverent submission.
Lessons From Joshua 5 for Today
Many people face a season of preparation before a difficult task, such as a job change, a hard conversation, or a move to a new city. Joshua 5 suggests that the first step is often to return to the basic practices of faithfulness, like prayer, honest confession, and obedience in small matters. The community did not skip the rite of circumcision to get on with the fight, and believers today do well not to skip the disciplines that keep them rooted in God.
The chapter also speaks to those carrying a long-standing sense of shame or failure. A parent who has been estranged from an adult child, or a person who feels defined by a past mistake, can take heart that God is able to roll away reproach and give a new name to a place of pain. Gilgal became a memorial of grace, and God can do the same in a person’s story.
Questions for Reflection
- What spiritual practice have you neglected that God may be calling you to return to before your next challenge?
- Where in your life do you still feel the weight of a reproach that God may already have rolled away?
- How does the change from manna to the produce of the land speak to seasons when your way of depending on God has to mature?
- When you face a decision, do you tend to ask whose side God is on, or do you ask what God is asking of you?
A Prayer From Joshua 5
Lord, you know the places in my life where I have grown careless with the practices that keep me close to you. Restore in me a readiness that comes from obedience and not from my own strength. Where I carry shame from the past, roll it away and give me a new name that reflects your grace. Teach me to remove my own sandals in your presence and to worship before I plan my next step. Keep me steady as I move from one season into another, trusting that you are already in the place where I am standing. Amen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Israel circumcise the people again in Joshua 5?
The men who had left Egypt had died in the wilderness, and their children had not been circumcised during the years of travel. The rite was restored at Gilgal to bring the new generation into full covenant identity before they entered the land.
Who is the commander of the LORD’s army in Joshua 5?
The text identifies him as the commander of the LORD’s army and describes him in terms that many readers connect with a divine appearance. His refusal to take sides and his command to remove sandals point Joshua toward worship of God rather than alliance with a human power.
What does the name Gilgal mean in Joshua 5?
The name is connected in the text to the phrase about rolling away the reproach of Egypt. It became a memorial of God’s act of restoring his people, and the place is remembered as a site of renewal before the conquest.