{ "schemaVersion": 1, "kind": "event", "id": "gilgal-covenant", "era": "conquest-judges", "order": 81, "title": "Covenant signs at Gilgal", "group": "into-the-land", "date": { "kind": "relative", "label": "First month after crossing · Passover on day 14" }, "pin": [ 35.49, 31.87 ], "pinConfidence": "Approximate region", "pinPlace": "region-gilgal", "summary": "At Gilgal, the generation born in the wilderness is circumcised and Israel keeps Passover. They eat the land’s produce, and the manna ceases. Near Jericho, Joshua encounters the commander of the LORD’s army and removes his sandals on holy ground.", "context": "These scenes pause the military story for covenant identity and dependence on God. Gilgal is the camp; Joshua 5:13 places the encounter near Jericho without locating it at the circumcision site.", "question": "Why does the story pause for worship before describing Jericho?", "locationNote": "Gilgal’s precise camp location is disputed. The shaded area east of Jericho is an illustrative setting, not an archaeological boundary or a claim to locate the commander’s appearance.", "passages": [ { "reference": "Joshua 5:1–15", "range": [ 6005001, 6005015 ], "translation": "bsb", "url": "https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua%205%3A1%E2%80%9315&version=BSB", "availability": "bundled", "verses": [ { "book": "Joshua", "chapter": 5, "verse": 1, "text": "Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and their spirits failed for fear of the Israelites." }, { "book": "Joshua", "chapter": 5, "verse": 2, "text": "At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel once again.”" }, { "book": "Joshua", "chapter": 5, "verse": 3, "text": "So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth." }, { "book": "Joshua", "chapter": 5, "verse": 4, "text": "Now this is why Joshua circumcised them: All those who came out of Egypt—all the men of war—had died on the journey in the wilderness after they had left Egypt." }, { "book": "Joshua", "chapter": 5, "verse": 5, "text": "Though all who had come out were circumcised, none of those born in the wilderness on the journey from Egypt had been circumcised." }, { "book": "Joshua", "chapter": 5, "verse": 6, "text": "For the Israelites had wandered in the wilderness forty years, until all the nation’s men of war who had come out of Egypt had died, since they did not obey the LORD. So the LORD vowed never to let them see the land He had sworn to their fathers to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey." }, { "book": "Joshua", "chapter": 5, "verse": 7, "text": "And He raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones Joshua circumcised. Until this time they were still uncircumcised, since they had not been circumcised along the way." }, { "book": "Joshua", "chapter": 5, "verse": 8, "text": "And after all the nation had been circumcised, they stayed there in the camp until they were healed." }, { "book": "Joshua", "chapter": 5, "verse": 9, "text": "Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So that place has been called Gilgal to this day." }, { "book": "Joshua", "chapter": 5, "verse": 10, "text": "On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while the Israelites were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they kept the Passover." }, { "book": "Joshua", "chapter": 5, "verse": 11, "text": "The day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate unleavened bread and roasted grain from the produce of the land." }, { "book": "Joshua", "chapter": 5, "verse": 12, "text": "And the day after they had eaten from the produce of the land, the manna ceased. There was no more manna for the Israelites, so that year they began to eat the crops of the land of Canaan." }, { "book": "Joshua", "chapter": 5, "verse": 13, "text": "Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in His hand. Joshua approached Him and asked, “Are You for us or for our enemies?”" }, { "book": "Joshua", "chapter": 5, "verse": 14, "text": "“Neither,” He replied. “I have now come as Commander of the LORD’s army.” Then Joshua fell facedown in reverence and asked Him, “What does my Lord have to say to His servant?”" }, { "book": "Joshua", "chapter": 5, "verse": 15, "text": "The Commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so." } ] } ], "related": [ { "range": [ 2012024, 2012027 ], "kind": "teaching", "note": "The Passover observance continues the remembrance commanded in Egypt.", "reference": "Exodus 12:24–27", "translation": "bsb", "url": "https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2012%3A24%E2%80%9327&version=BSB" }, { "range": [ 5008003, 5008004 ], "kind": "recollection", "note": "Moses recalls the manna as a lesson in dependence on God.", "reference": "Deuteronomy 8:3–4", "translation": "bsb", "url": "https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%208%3A3%E2%80%934&version=BSB" } ], "places": [ { "id": "openbible-a231f80", "name": "Jericho", "coordinate": [ 35.444564, 31.871719 ], "kind": "City", "confidence": "Identified site", "confidenceSource": "editorial", "sources": [ { "label": "OpenBible · site identifications", "url": "https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a231f80/jericho-1" }, { "label": "UNESCO · Tell es-Sultan", "url": "https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1687/" } ] }, { "id": "region-gilgal", "name": "Gilgal camp near Jericho", "coordinate": [ 35.49, 31.87 ], "kind": "Region", "confidence": "Approximate region", "confidenceSource": "editorial", "extent": [ [ 35.44, 31.82 ], [ 35.54, 31.92 ] ], "sources": [ { "label": "Biblical setting · Joshua 4:19-5:12", "url": "https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua%204:19-5:12&version=BSB" }, { "label": "OpenBible · possible locations / region", "url": "https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/ab94aea/gilgal-1" } ] } ], "mapPeriod": "iron-i", "further": [ { "label": "Biblical setting · Joshua 4:19-5:12", "url": "https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua%204:19-5:12&version=BSB" }, { "label": "OpenBible · possible locations / region", "url": "https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/ab94aea/gilgal-1" } ], "provenance": { "sources": [ { "name": "editorial", "ref": "content/authored/conquest-judges.json" } ], "review": "draft" }, "eraName": "Conquest & Judges", "interactiveUrl": "https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/?event=gilgal-covenant", "attribution": [ "Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0.", "Teaching stops, summaries and regional extents are original editorial content of this atlas.", "Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm" ], "translation": "bsb", "url": "https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/events/gilgal-covenant/", "markdownUrl": "https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/events/gilgal-covenant/index.md", "jsonUrl": "https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/events/gilgal-covenant/index.json", "cautions": "Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review.", "revision": "026cb382a01455e4" }