Yericho: What Really Happened?
Understanding the conquest of Yericho as described in Yehoshua Perek 6
Due to fear of an impending attack by Bnei Yisrael, Yericho was hermetically sealed, with seven layers of walled protection as well as magical protection. No one could go in or out. It was also filled with warriors from the surrounding nations who were prepared to fight.
Against this backdrop, Hashem said to Yehoshua, I will hand Yericho to you. Meaning the city, the king and the army will all fall, including the warriors of all the surrounding nations who gathered in Yericho to fight Bnei Yisrael. This would be the first of ten cities which Yehoshua would capture in Canaan.
Hashem then outlined to Yehoshua a 5 phase plan as to how this would happen.
All those of military age (אנשי המלחמה), between 20 and 60, where to surround the city of Yericho, they were not just to stand in one place, but to walk around the city. This should be done for six days.
The Kohanim who were carrying the Aron were also to walk around the city. 7 Kohanim - each carrying a Shofar were to walk in front of the Aron.
On the 7th day, Shabbos, they were all to surround the city and walk around it seven times.
The Kohanim would blow a Tekiya with each round.
On the seventh day when the Kohen would blow the Shofar, he would blow an extended Tekiya (בקרן היובל). At that point the army of Bnei Yisrael (כל־העם) would cry out a Teruah Gedolah with their mouths, a great cry. With the combination of the Tekiya Gedolah and the Teruah Gedolah, the walls of Yericho would be swallowed into the land beneath them so each soldier could then go into the city straight from where he was standing.
After Yehoshua heard this grand strategy from Hashem, he summoned the Kohanim. Yehoshua instructed the Kohanim to remove the Aron from the Miskhan and carry it on their shoulders. Additionally 7 Kohanim should carry the 7 Shofaros and walk in front of the Aron.
Yehoshua then turned his attention to the troops (העם), instructing them to move forward, surround the city and walk around it. The Chalutz, Reuven and Gad should walk in front of the Aron and the M’Asaf, Dan, should walk behind the Aron.
The Chalutz marched in front of the Kohanim who were blowing the horns, and the M’Asaf marched behind the Aron, with the horns sounding all the time.
Interestingly, Yehoshua’s orders to the rest of the troops (העם) were, “Do not shout, do not let your voices be heard, and do not let a sound issue from your lips until the moment that I command you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout.”
So it was that the Aron went around the city and completed one circuit. After that they returned to camp and spent the night there.
Yehoshua rose early the next day and the Kohanim took up the Aron once again, while the seven Kohanim bearing the seven Shofaros marched in front of the Aron blowing the Tekiyos as they marched. The Chalutz marched in front of them, and the M’Asaf marched behind the Aron, with the horns sounding all the time. And so they marched around the city once on the second day and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.
On the seventh day, they marched around seven times and on the seventh time there was a long Tekiya, at which point Yehoshua signaled to the people to let out a Teruah, a loud noise, and the walls collapsed.
The above summary follows the simple translation of the pesukim, which seems to understand that on each day the Am (all of military age) walked around Yericho in silence while the Kohanim blew Shofar.
The Malbim explains the formation: Everyone walked in one large circle, first the military (Am) went, followed by the Chalutz, they were then followed by the Aron, which preceded the M’Asaf. Others understand that the Am went in the same placement as the Aron, between the Chalutz and the M’Asaf.1
Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch explains the role of the Chalutz and the M’Asaf, as "in an army column marching to war the vanguard is called the Chalutz, literally a detachment. It is the body of troops sent ahead and detached from the main force, and it is ready for battle. it makes first contact with the enemy and, generally speaking, it overcomes the first difficulties. The rear guard is called M’Asaf. It is the body of troops that for the end of the column of troops, keeps the troops together, and makes them a unit. It guards the rear from attack.”2
However, there seems to be something deeper going on here.
The Alshich asks a number of questions on the above story and goes on to explain his understanding of this story. He suggested that the encirclement was supposed to consist of the Chalutz, M’Asaf, those carrying the Aron and those with the Shofaros. It was not meant to consist of everyone else (the Am).
However, as Yehoshua was giving over the message of Hashem to the Kohanim, who in turn spread the message throughout the encampment of Bnei Yisrael. The people began to get excited. Yehoshua was unable to even finish his sentence before all the people started assembling to encircle Yericho. He was unable to stop the people, he therefore told them sternly that they must remain completely quiet until he signals for them to make noise. After they encircled the city one time, they went back to their encampment for the night.
One of the questions bothering the Alshich was why do we specifically mention that Yehoshua got up early on the second day and did so for the rest of the seven days? Rav Hirsch explains simply that he had to get up early in order to have enough time to encircle the city. The Alshich however, uses this to put together the puzzle.
On the second morning, Yehoshua got up early while everyone was still sleeping, he quickly and quietly pulled together the Chalutz, M’Asaf and Kohanim and they went out to encircle the city, with the rest of the Am none the wiser. This new formation which was the intended formation is what they did on the following six days, therefore the second day is mentioned separately to recount the order of the circuit, as it changed from the first.
Why is the number 7 considered significant, as seen in various instances where actions are performed in 7 rounds or over a period of 7 days?
The Megaleh Amukos explains3 that the 7 walls around Yericho represented 7 Klipos or encasings of impurity. Each Hakafa was to weaken the Klipa.
Rav Moshe Dovid Vali enumerates that as the Klipa was subdued, a level of Kedusha took its place, each level represented by one of the names of Hashem in the 42 letter name of Hashem and in the pesukim of Kolos Hashem4. On the first day they meditated upon קול ה’ על־המים … and they continued for each successive day, injecting an element of Kedusha into the space which was formerly filled with klipa. On the last day they did all 7 Kolos which represented the seven emanations of the name of Hashem in the 42 letter name, and the walls simply submerged.
When the walls submerged into the ground, what happened to the home of Rachav which was on the wall, and was guaranteed that it would not be destroyed?
Malbim5 and Radak suggest that since the entire home was not on the wall rather only one side shared a wall with the city walls, her home remained standing. Abarbanel6 suggests that when surrounding the city they saw the red string hanging from her home, made a note of it and then when the walls came down, extricated Rachav and her family from their now destroyed home.
What is the significance of the Shofaros of Yovel?
Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch explains that the term Yovel means to bring home, this the 50th year after 7 Shemitah cycles is called Yovel, as it is the year of homecoming. The Yoval, in the context of a horn, is the horn that is sounded to give the signal of homecoming and release. Therefore, in the procession encircling Yericho, shofaros of Yovel were blown. These were not warlike blasts, as Yericho was not conquered by the sword. Instead they were a signal to the city walls to release the city and restore it to those who had now become its lawful owners.7
Why did Yehoshua need to caution the Am to maintain quiet when encircling the city?
Rav Moshe Dovid Vali explains that the residents of Yericho were standing atop the wall jeering at the Jews below them. After all, the Jews were not doing battle in a conventional manner, there were no heavy weapons or even light weapons. They simply came together with the Aron and the Shofar. This was the source for their jeering. To this Yehoshua cautioned the people to not respond. If they would have responded or made noise before they were meant to, they would not have been able to subdue the enemy.
Rav Vali explains that everything that is ultimately going to be revealed, starts off with the greatest concealment. For example, a baby in the uterus before it is born. The fall of Yericho was going to be a great revelation of the miracles of Hashem and for that it needed absolute concealment and quiet. To respond to the jeering would only serve to reveal what needs to be concealed, before the time for revelation is ripe.
Chazal8 offer an expanded description of the wall surrounding Yericho, noting its unique structure where its height was equal to its width. This design, they suggest, is why the wall did not collapse in the traditional sense but rather sank into the ground. This explanation, however, leads to further questions, particularly regarding the extensive preparations that God commanded Bnei Yisrael to undertake in order to bring down these walls.
Some theories have emerged to rationalize these preparations. One suggests that the synchronized marching of warriors destabilized the wall's foundations, while another proposes that the marching served as a distraction for secret tunneling operations (sounds familiar). However, these theories do not fully address the larger question of why such elaborate preparations were necessary in the first place, especially considering the belief in Hashem's unparalleled power, as demonstrated in miracles like the splitting of the sea.
The central question, then, is why Hashem would command such detailed and specific actions — like the involvement of the Chalutz and M’Asaf, the ceremonial marches, the blowing of shofaros, and the hakafos — if the victory over Yericho was ultimately determined by Hashem rather than physical warfare. If God's will alone was sufficient to bring down the walls, as it was in parting the sea, why were Bnei Yisrael required to engage in what appears to be a mere symbolic act? What purpose did these actions serve, and why wasn't it enough for the walls to simply sink into the ground as per Chazal's description?
Rav Avraham Remmer explains that every miracle appears on the back of human action: the plagues of Egypt appeared after the actions of Moshe and Aaron, the splitting of the Red Sea after the lifting of the staff, the rock needed to be struck or spoken to in order to produce water, and so on. According to Rav Kook9, this teaches us that a miracle is not disconnected from the natural world order, even though it changes its rules. And yet, in most miracles, there was a symbolic and brief action, while here, the action was complex, long, and involved many participants. Besides, although a miracle is not limited by time and does not need time to appear10, in Yericho, it appeared according to the laws of time. This lengthy involvement in the miracle of the fall of Yericho's walls was to teach Bnei Yisrael to align human action with the Divine plan.
Rav Remmer continues explaining the significance of seven days. Seven days constitute a complete unit of time, like the days of the creation of the world. This time we had to learn - something that was not so important before, in Egypt and in the wilderness - that the appearance of a miracle is not meant to destroy or cancel nature. Just as Shabbos does not come to cancel the days of the week preceding it, rather it gives us a taste of the world to come which gives the days of the week meaning. This concept can be applied to the fall of the wall which didn’t follow the laws of this world and therefore gave us a taste of the miracle within the laws of nature.
In the fall of the wall, there was indeed a suspension of natural laws. However war, with Divine guidance, and a sense of a mission, to prepare and purify the ways of the world that were distorted by the nations, had to be done through the actions of Man.
The land in its natural appearance does not need walls and fortresses, and in the future "Jerusalem shall dwell as towns without walls."11 The establishment of artificial fortifications and defense systems does not fit this Godly idea. When the nations built barriers in the land that are insurmountable by human forces, God guided Bnei Yisrael on how to connect, even artificially, the natural land of Israel to its Divine source to bring down the walls.
The inner essence of our entry into the land and its conquest are built on the recognition of our true nature, expressed in the sound of the shofar. Only in this concentrated recognition could we break the walls of Yericho.
In this war, we were commanded to precede with the blowing of the shofars. In all other wars we were commanded to sound the trumpets: "When you go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpet.’12 Why is this battle different?
Rav Kook13 explains that "natural Judaism is expressed in the blowing of the shofar, the natural tool. However, technical Judaism is expressed in the blowing of the trumpets, a man-made tool." Rav Remmer explains that we must create the connection between the world and its Divine source in both ways. The first way, according to the natural laws set by the Creator, which we must keep and connect to the sanctity of the mitzvos and the Torah. And on the other hand, we are also connected with all the acts that man creates and renews. We also strive to adapt and connect them to the word of God and to the light of His Torah.
The shofar, the natural tool, expresses the voice of natural Judaism, while trumpets express the voice of technical Judaism. Just as we open the year with the blowing of the shofar and listen to the natural voice of Judaism, reminding us of the Akeidas Yitzchak and the giving of the Torah, so too, we opened our first war with the blowing of the shofars that expressed the voice of natural Judaism. Following this voice, the Aron could march, expressing the absolute and inseparable connection between Israel and God, and only in their wake marched the warriors.
For six days we had to march in silence and absorb the natural voices and the meaning of the covenant that goes before us. Only after internalizing the voice and the sight for six days, like the six days of Creation, could we act and do. When the inhabitants of Yericho built such walls, which could block the way for the people of Israel to the revelation of the true nature of the land, we needed to penetrate deeper into nature and the walls of Yericho were swallowed up as if they were not natural.
In the next post we will discuss more about what happened on the seventh day and its application to us. This will include the ban on looting from Yericho or rebuilding it and what happened to Rachav.
Shir Hashirim Rabbah 4:6
Commentary Devarim 3:18
Veschanan 240
Tehillim 29
6:20
ibid.
Commentary Shemos 19:13
Berachos 54b
Oros Yisroel UTechiyos 12
Maharal Gevuros Hashem 51, dh V’od Tada
Zecharia 2:8
Bamidbar 10:9
Maamarei Reiyah pg 146
This was outstanding and I loved the image you used.