And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the LORD until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads.
Ver. 6. And Joshua rent his clothes.] In token that his heart was rent with grief and anguish.
“ Sic faciles motus mens generosa capit. ”
Baron Marshal of France and other profane men derided the Earl of Essex's prayers and tears at his death, as more befitting a silly minister than a stout warrior: a as if the fear of God's wrath were not a Christian man's fortitude. Joshua was man good enough, and yet, &c.
Until the eventide.] So long they continued their fast. Let our fasts be, according to that old canon, Usque dum stellae in caelo appareant, till the stars appear in the sky. The Turks hold out their fasts so long, in the hottest and longest days of summer, not tasting so much as a cup of water. b
a Camden's Elisab.
b Turk. Hist.