Go to Related Reading
About this book

Sirach

Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus

About this book

Joshua and Caleb

Chapter 46

1 Joshua the son of Nun was brave in war, and was the successor of Moses in prophecies. He was made great according to his name for the saving of God’s chosen ones, to take vengeance on the enemies that rose up against them, so that he might give Israel their inheritance. 2 How he was glorified as he lifted his hands and stretched out his sword against the cities! 3 Who before him stood so firm? For the Lord himself brought his enemies to him. 4 Didn’t the sun go back by his hand?⁠ Didn’t one day become as two? 5 He called on the Most High, the Mighty One, when his enemies pressed in all around him, and the great Lord heard him.⁠ 6 With hailstones of mighty power, he caused war to break violently on the nation, and on the slope he destroyed those who resisted, so that the nations might know his armor, how he fought in the sight of the Lord, for he followed the Mighty One. 7 Also in the time of Moses, he did a work of mercy, he and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, because they withstood the adversary, kept the people from sinning, and quieted their wicked complaining. 8 And out of six hundred thousand people on foot, only the two of them were preserved to bring them into their inheritance, into a land flowing with milk and honey. 9 The Lord gave strength to Caleb, and it remained with him to his old age, so that he entered the hill country, and his offspring obtained it for an inheritance, 10 so that all the children of Israel might see that it is good to follow the Lord.

The Judges

11 Also the judges, each by his name, all whose hearts didn’t engage in immorality, and who didn’t turn away from the Lord, may their memory be blessed! 12 May their bones flourish again from their place. May the name of those who have been honored be renewed in their children.

Samuel

13 Samuel, the prophet of the Lord, loved by his Lord, established a kingdom and anointed princes over his people. 14 By the law of the Lord he judged the congregation, and the Lord watched over Jacob. 15 By his faithfulness he was shown to be a prophet. By his words he was known to be faithful in vision. 16 When his enemies pressed on him on every side, he called on the Lord, the Mighty One, with the offering of the nursing lamb. 17 Then the Lord thundered from heaven. He made his voice heard with a mighty sound. 18 He utterly destroyed the rulers of the Tyrians and all the princes of the Philistines. 19 Before his sleep through the ages, he testified in the sight of the Lord and his anointed, “I have not taken any man’s goods, not even a sandal,” and no one accused him. 20 Even after he fell asleep, he prophesied, and showed the king his end, and lifted up his voice from the earth in prophecy, to erase the wickedness of the people.

Continue to 1 Esdras

Texts in conversation

Compare Joshua 10:11 and Jesus Ben Sira, Sirach 46:5

Hebrew Bible · Deuterocanon

Share:

Summary

Sirach rewrites the story of Joshua’s victory at Gibeon, placing the sun’s miracle before the hail, leaving out the moon, and emphasizing Joshua’s prayer at the center, changing Joshua from a warrior into a model of how to pray.

Passages

Joshua 10:11

Hebrew Bible
10 The Lord routed them before Israel. Israel thoroughly defeated them at Gibeon. They chased them up the road to the pass of Beth Horon and struck them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. 11 As they fled from Israel on the slope leading down from Beth Horon, the Lord threw down on them large hailstones from the sky, all the way to Azekah. They died—in fact, more died from the hailstones than the Israelites killed with the sword. 12 The day the Lord delivered the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua prayed to the Lord before Israel:
“O sun, stand still over Gibeon;
O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon!”
650–300 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Joshua

Jesus Ben Sira, Sirach 46:5

Deuterocanon · Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
3 Who before him stood so firm?
For the Lord himself brought his enemies to him.
4 Didn’t the sun go back by his hand?
Didn’t one day become as two?
5 He called on the Most High, the Mighty One,
when his enemies pressed in all around him,
and the great Lord heard him.
6 With hailstones of mighty power,
he caused war to break violently on the nation,
and on the slope he destroyed those who resisted,
so that the nations might know his armor,
how he fought in the sight of the Lord,
for he followed the Mighty One.
195–175 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jesus Ben Sira, Sirach

References

"... The episode described in verse 4 evokes one of Joshua’s four miracles narrated in the book that bears his name, only two of which are recorded in Ben Sira’s text. Here we have the miracle of the sun which stops at Joshua’s command and enables the Israelites to win the battle of Gibeon (Joshua 10:12–13). However, Ben Sira does not confine himself to reporting the episode just as it is presented in the book of Joshua; he rereads it in order to offer a new interpretation. Firstly, he changes the order of events. Whereas in Joshua 10, the miracle of the hail is mentioned first (verse 11) and then that of the sun (verse 12), in Sirach 46, the miracle of the sun (verse 4ab) precedes that of the hail (verse 5d). Secondly, the sage makes a summary of Joshua 10:12–14, taking up only the essential items (he omits, for example, the mention of the moon) and emphasizing the depredations of the enemies. Thirdly, he places Joshua’s prayer between the two miraculous interventions (verse 5a), thus awarding it a central position in the account. In this way, Ben Sira discovers a new face of Joshua, one hitherto hidden. The warrior strong in battle suddenly becomes a man of prayer ..."
Nuria Calduch-Benages, “Ben Sira’s Teaching on Prayer: The Example of the Generations of Old,” in On Wings of Prayer: Sources of Jewish Worship: Essays in Honor of Professor Stefan C. Reif on the Occasion of His Seventy-Fifth Birthday, ed. Stefan C. Reif et al. (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2019), 37–54.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Your feedback

Joshua 10:11 and Jesus Ben Sira, Sirach 46:5

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library