Ver. 2. At that time the Lord said unto Joshua— This was the morning after the passage, the 11th day of the first month, as the learned Usher and others have very probably conjectured.
Make thee sharp knives— Or, as in the Margin of our Bibles, knives of flints; which stones might be found in great plenty on the adjacent mountains: and, as Theodoret observes, perhaps, after a pilgrimage of forty years in the solitary wilderness of Arabia, the Hebrews might not be provided with knives of iron or steel, such as we now use. 'Tis very evident, that Joshua here commands them to provide knives, and it is by no means improbable that they were made of flint. The Jews acknowledge in the Talmud, that flints, glass, or quills of reed, might be used for killing of beasts. Whence Hackspan apprehends, that as knives of stone were sufficient for killing of animals, they might be employed in circumcision. He adds, however, that the rabbis forbad the use of reeds in this operation, because there was danger lest they might hurt the part. They at present circumcise in the east with knives made of stone, in imitation of Zipporah, who is said to have set the example in the circumcision of her son; see Exodus 4:25 but this matter is very uncertain: Be it as it may, we cannot doubt that the use of knives and axes of stone were common among the ancients. The Americans commonly make use of stones for knives, razors, and lancets. Thus every thing tends to give the Hebrew word צור tzur its natural signification, and to confirm Maimonides's translation, who renders it, not sharp knives, but knives of stone. Justin Martyr and Theodoret, who likewise give this version, think there was something mysterious in the life of these knives; something emblematical of the spiritual circumcision of Christians; because Jesus Christ is called a rock in 1 Corinthians 10:4. See Scheuchzer on the place.
And circumcise again the children of Israel the second time— This badly-translated passage has given room for strange notions, both among the Jews, and with several Christian interpreters. It does not imply that they were now to be circumcised, who had already undergone that operation. Indeed, the rabbis pretend that this was the case; and St. Augustine informs us, that some ancient doctors, on this supposition, founded a necessity of repeating baptism. But, whatever the Jews may advance respecting the imperfect manner in which circumcision was administered in the wilderness, it has no foundation but in their fancy. All that God here commands, is, "to resume the custom of circumcision, which, generally speaking, was neglected in the desart." But if it be asked, When was this injunction to revive circumcision first given? We answer, probably at the foot of mount Sinai, in the first month of the second year after the departure from Egypt. Some are of opinion, that the expression, a second time, refers to the circumcision of Abraham and his family. It is well known, that, on the 14th day of the first month, the Israelites were called to the solemn celebration of the passover; and that, according to the law, no one could share in the solemnities of that feast if uncircumcised, or even if any one of his family or household was so. Certainly then, Moses took care to have all those circumcised who had neglected in Egypt to assume this token of the covenant: and though it be nowhere said that circumcision was so neglected in Egypt, especially during the year in which the Israelites left it, we may easily conceive, that in their servitude, wherein they groaned under the cruel yoke of the Egyptians, and afterwards in the long and toilsome marches which they had to make till their arrival at mount Sinai, several of them had dispensed with the performance of their duty. Perhaps, even, the frequent absence of Moses at the beginning of their stay in the neighbourhood of Sinai favoured this negligence of the parents towards their children; so that, on the eve of celebrating the passover, Moses was obliged to rectify this evil, by ordering, without delay, those to be circumcised who had neglected that sacrament. Here Joshua receives orders to require the same thing; and as this is the second time of giving that command, it is expressed in those terms which specify the repetition of it, and amounts to this, namely, let the ceremony of circumcision, which has been so long discontinued, be renewed.