The Legends of the Jews, vol 4 | Page 5

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)
CONQUEST OF THE LAND
Joshua's first victory was the wonderful capture of Jericho. The whole
of the city was declared anathema, because it had been conquered on
the Sabbath day. Joshua reasoned that as the Sabbath is holy, so also

that which conquered on the Sabbath should be holy. (22) The brilliant
victory was followed by the luckless defeat at Ai. In this engagement
perished Jair, the son of Manasseh, whose loss was as great as if the
majority of the Sanhedrin had been destroyed. (23) Presently Joshua
discovered that the cause of the defeat was the sinfulness of Israel,
brought upon it by Achan, who had laid hands on some of the spoils of
Jericho. Achan was a hardened transgressor and criminal from of old.
During the life of Moses he had several times appropriated to his own
use things that had been declared anathema, (24) and he had committed
other crimes worthy of the death penalty. (25) Before the Israelites
crossed the Jordan, God had not visited Achan's sins upon the people as
a whole, because at that time