JOSHUA 10:12-14

Q: What do you make of this passage, which says the sun stood still?

This issue has been discussed at some length in both Norman Geisler’s Big Book of Bible Difficulties and Walter Kaiser’s book Hard Sayings Of The Bible.

Just to confuse everyone with a few more possibilities:

We need to determine first if literal or figurative language is being used in this passage. It is best to assume the language is literal unless by doing so: (a) it would contradict teachings elsewhere in Scripture, (b) it would result in an absurdity, or (c) it would not be expected from the literary context.

There is no problem with the first test. The second test presents real problems since a literal stopping of the rotation of the earth would mean massive disruptions on earth. God could have done this, but would He? The third test would seem to require literal language in this passage since it occurs within an historical narrative. However, the key verses 12-13 (and perhaps all of verses 12-15) are actually a quote from a book of poetry. Thus, we would expect the use of figurative language here. That same book, The Book of Jashar, is also quoted in II Samuel 1:18-27 where we see extensive use of non-literal devices, including apostrophe (addressing non-living or non-present entities) and simile. Verses 12-13 in Joshua 10 obviously fall into this same category since they are composed in typically parallel poetic couplets and address the sun and moon as if they were human.

If we look for a poetic meaning to this passage instead of a literal (or semi-literal) one, several interpretations are possible:

1. Joshua is actually calling down a curse on the gods of Gibeon (the sun and the moon) to “cease” from helping the Gibeonites. (The International Bible Commentary, p. 292)

2. The heavenly bodies are called on to “freeze in shocked amazement over the great victory won by Israel over its enemies.” (Dictionary of the Old Testament Historical Books, p. 562) There is a very close parallel to this idea found in Habakkuk 3:10b-11, which reads, “The sun raised high its hands; the moon stood still in its exalted place, at the light of your arrows speeding by, at the gleam of your flashing spear.”

3. Joshua 10:12-15 is a poetic retelling of the battle narrative in 10:7-11, where hailstones were the literal tool that God used to bring about victory. (Trent Butler, Joshua, Word Biblical Commentary, p. 111) There is again a close parallel to this idea, found in Judges 4-5. Chapter 4 is a prose account of Barak's victory over Sisera's army, made possible when God caused a thunderstorm to mire the enemy's chariots in the mud. Chapter 5 of Judges tells the whole story over again, but this time in poetry – The Song of Deborah. In Judges 5:20, Deborah says, “The stars fought from heaven, from their courses they fought against Sisera.” So both the Joshua and the Judges accounts associate weather conditions on earth poetically with the actions of heavenly bodies – sun, moon, and stars.

I should add that all of the above sources quoted are from evangelical authors. These are not merely the ideas of liberal authors out to purge miraculous elements from the Bible.