On the day that the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the LORD in the presence of Israel: “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Then Joshua spoke to Yahweh in the day when Yahweh delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel. He said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still on Gibeon! You, moon, stop in the valley of Aijalon!”
- KJV Then spake Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.
- NKJV Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon; And Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”
- NASB Then Joshua spoke to the Lord on the day when the Lord turned the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, And moon, at the Valley of Aijalon!”
- NLT On the day the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel. He said, “Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
In the heat of battle Joshua boldly commands the sun and moon to stand still. His prayer-command seeks more time to complete the victory.
Overview
Joshua, addressing Yahweh and then speaking before all Israel, calls on the sun over Gibeon and the moon over Aijalon to halt. This astonishing petition flows from faith that God controls the heavens for His people's sake. Christians have long debated whether this describes a literal astronomical event, an extended day, or poetic language for answered prayer, but all agree it testifies to God's sovereign power displayed in answer to bold faith.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Hab 3:11Sun and moon stood still in their places at the flash of Your flying arrows, at the brightness of Your shining spear.
- Isa 38:8I will make the sun’s shadow that falls on the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had descended.
- Isa 60:20Your sun will no longer set, and your moon will not wane; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and the days of your sorrow will cease.
- Josh 10:13So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance upon its enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? “So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.”
- Isa 28:21For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim. He will rouse Himself as in the Valley of Gibeon, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His task, His disturbing task.
- Deut 4:19When you look to the heavens and see the sun and moon and stars—all the host of heaven—do not be enticed to bow down and worship what the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.
- Job 9:7He commands the sun not to shine; He seals off the stars.
- Job 31:26–27if I have beheld the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor,
- Ps 148:3Praise Him, O sun and moon; praise Him, all you shining stars.
- Ps 19:4their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun.
- Zech 2:13Be silent before the LORD, all people, for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.”
- Josh 19:42Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah,
- Deut 17:3and going to worship other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven—which I have forbidden—
- Ps 74:16The day is Yours, and also the night; You established the moon and the sun.
- Hab 2:20But the LORD is in His holy temple; let all the earth be silent before Him.
- Amos 8:9And in that day, declares the Lord GOD, I will make the sun go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the daytime.
- Judg 12:12Then Elon the Zebulunite died, and he was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
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Christ at the center
Joshua — the same name as Jesus, 'the LORD saves' — leads God's people into their inheritance, a shadow of the greater Joshua who brings us into the true rest and the promised land that remains.
How Joshua 10:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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