And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.
The priests that bare the ark ... were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up х nitquw (H5423)] - were plucked out of the miry, wet, sandy channel (Josephus, 'Antiquities,' b. 5:, ch. 1:, sec. 3), and placed on the dry land. Their crossing, which was the final act, completed the evidence of the miracle; for then, and not until then, the suspended laws of nature were restored, the waters returned to their place, and the river flowed with as full a current as before. It was a stupendous miracle; and although writers like Stanley suggest that the drying up of the river might have resulted from the natural agencies of earthquake and volcanic convulsion ('Lectures on the Jewish Church,' first series, p. 233; 'Sinai and Palestine,' p. 279), yet there is no possibility, by rationalistic insinuations, of evading the fact that the baring of the channel took place exactly as Joshua had foretold (Joshua 3:13), and ceased only upon the removal of the ark from the river-bed.
The miracle will appear the more stupendous when it is considered 'how many there were in this grand host that made the passage.' Just before crossing the Jordan, the number of fighting men was 601,730 (Numbers 26:51). Supposing each to be married, the number would be increased to 1,203,460; and allowing an average of but one child to each family, the number would become 1,805,190. Now, adding the Levites, of which there were 23,000 males alone (Numbers 26:62), the aged among 'the females, the mothers in Israel,'-for, according to Numbers 26:63-65, with the exception of four, all the men were young and in the prime of life, and, we will suppose, in fine health-and making no further addition for captives, except that of the 33,000 taken from the Midianites not long before, and we shall have a host so nearly amounting to 2,000,000 that we may safely base our conclusions on that number. If any should still object, we would remind them that in this estimate nothing is said of the countless numbers of animals following the Israelites, and of which they had just before taken more than 800,000 sheep, cattle, and donkeys from the Midianites alone. With these statistics we can arrive at a conclusion which adds great interest to this sublime and exciting scene in the history of the Israelites.
From the account given in Joshua (Joshua 3:1-17; Joshua 4:1-24), the host arose in the morning, completed the passage across the Jordan, until they "were clean passed over," and went into the plain of Jericho, at least some distance from the banks, to the site of Gilgal. This, we may suppose, occupied at the longest not more than half a day, or eight hours. Now, with these data before us, it appears that, so far from looking for a point or particular place of passage of the Israelites, we are to infer that the line of passage was not less than a mile, perhaps more, in length; and all suppositions heretofore made as to 'points' and 'fords' do not take into consideration the crowd and the haste; because they 'hasted to go over.' If we suppose that lines of 2,000 in number passed over at intervals of half a minute, then it would have required more than eight hours for the people to pass; and these lines (allowing but one and a half foot right and left of each person) would have extended considerably over one mile. A calculation making allowances for the irregularity of some, for the tents, baggage, and animals, would increase the time from a half minute to one minute for each line of 2,000; and as the time occupied is fixed. the line must be doubled to reach the same result, as an increase in space will compensate for loss of time; therefore the 4,000 would also double the length of 2,000, and become a line of passage considerably over two miles in extent.
But in order to a full and practical understanding of this passage, it must be borne in mind that it was "right against Jericho;" and though the plain of Jericho may be meant, we shall see that there is a limit. Allowing but one yard square for each of the host to stand in, the whole number would require a place 1,414 yards, or nearly three-quarters of a mile, square; and, with their necessary baggage, etc., fully one square mile. Therefore they must not only cross the river, but average a further travel of a half mile beyond (Osborn's 'Palestine, Past and Present,' pp. 419-421).