And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
Parallel translations
- WEB The sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies. Isn’t this written in the book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the middle of the sky, and didn’t hurry to go down about a whole day.
- BSB So 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.”
- NKJV So the sun stood still, And the moon stopped, Till the people had revenge Upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day.
- NASB So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies. Is it not written in the Book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hurry to go down for about a whole day.
- NLT So the sun stood still and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies. Is this event not recorded in The Book of Jashar? The sun stayed in the middle of the sky, and it did not set as on a normal day.
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
The sun and moon stay in place about a full day until Israel's victory is complete. The unique event is cited from the ancient Book of Jashar.
Overview
The narrator records that the heavenly lights remained until the enemy was defeated, drawing on the now-lost Book of Jashar as a poetic witness. Whether understood as a literal prolonging of daylight or as elevated poetic testimony to God's intervention, the point is that Yahweh granted His people extraordinary aid. The event magnifies the God for whom even the heavens wait while His purposes are fulfilled.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 27
- Hab 3:11The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.
- Isa 38:8Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.
- Josh 10:14And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for Israel.
- Judg 16:28And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.
- Esth 8:13The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.
- Ps 19:4Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
- Ps 136:7–9To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever:
- Ps 148:3Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
- 2 Sam 1:18(Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jasher.)
- Joel 2:10The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
- Joel 3:15The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
- Luke 18:7And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
- Isa 24:23Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
- Josh 10:11And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.
- Judg 5:2Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.
- Num 31:2Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.
- Ps 74:16–17The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
- Rev 6:10And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
- Rev 6:12And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
- Rev 16:8–9And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
- Rev 8:12And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
- Acts 2:20The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
- Rev 21:23And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
- Num 21:14Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the LORD, What he did in the Red sea, and in the brooks of Arnon,
- Matt 5:45That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
- Joel 2:31The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
- Matt 24:29Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
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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 10:13 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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