“ And you shall surround the city, all the men of war, going about the city once. Thus shall you do for six days.”
Each day for six days the men of war were to surround the city. It would not take long, for the mound was not large (see above). The purpose was to terrify the occupants, and also possibly to bring home to the Israelites the difficulty they would have in breaching the wall. The men of war were probably the younger men of war most suited to battle. Each time they came the inhabitants would prepare themselves for an attack. And each time they would leave without attacking. It must have been an eerie time for the inhabitants, especially in view of the silence of their enemy. They would have expected yells and threats.
“Surround.” The word often means precisely that although in Psalms 48:12 it specifically means ‘march round', and it is used elsewhere of making progress in one way or another (e.g. Exodus 13:18; Numbers 21:4; Numbers 36:7; Numbers 36:9; Deuteronomy 32:10). The descriptions, with the armed men before, followed by the priests with the Ark, followed by the remainder of ‘the people', demonstrate that here as well the surrounding was by marching round.