From: gordon brown (gbrown@euclid.colorado.edu)
Date: Thu May 15 2003 - 11:42:49 EDT
Most of the discussion I have seen here concerning Joshua's long day
assumes that the translators got it right, from which it is deduced that
the earth stopped rotating. Actually, it is not clear that this passage
has been correctly translated, even though the "stand still" translation
goes back to the Septuagint.
Another possibility is that Joshua was asking for more darkness rather
than more light. Here are some considerations. The word translated "stand
still" literally means "be silent". In no other passage is it translated
as "stand still". The event took place early in the morning when the sun
was over Gibeon in the hills to the east of the battlefield. The battle
had begun when Joshua's troops surprised the enemy late at night. Joshua
gave the same command to the moon as he did to the sun, which would seem
to be unnecessary if he just needed more daylight. The only thing that is
singled out as being unusual is that the Lord listened to the voice of a
man.
Gordon Brown
Department of Mathematics
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0395
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