Did the Sun Stop Moving (Joshua 10)?

Joshua 10 seems to suggest that Joshua commanded the sun to stop moving in the sky, but is this really what the Hebrew says? Have we misunderstood this verse for centuries? A special thanks to the scholars, John Walton and Mark Chavalas for helping make this video.

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[BoylenInk]

I have no problem with this interpretation, but I find it ridiculous anyone would suggest that if God had literally stopped the Earth from rotating he wouldn’t also take care of the physical by-products of such a miracle.

[davidgadbois]

This interpretation is plausible but other points and possibilities:

1. Interpreters aren't sure which sections are being quoted as being from the book of Jasher (I.e. where the quotation marks properly belong). It could be this book is giving us a poetic, hyperbolic or picturesque take on the event.

2. Even if this is indicating that the sun and moon stopped, for some period, in one location in the sky, it could simply be a local phenomenon, essentially a miraculous optical illusion that only affected those involved in the battle.

[gavtalk]

30 years ago, as a young teen at school, I sat with this text and just couldn't believe it. My teacher (and the educational system they were part of) said, "Just take it at face value. If it says stopped then it stopped."

I have spent 30 years of my subsequent Christian life absolutely struggling against this framework for reading the ancient scriptures. I now know that there are other well informed hermeneutical methods, but what a waste of 30 years to have to slowly unpick and disentangle things...some which are not consequential to our lives today (such as this battle event) but much which is very consequential.

Thanks IP for this piece of work. Great communication and research skills you have, and more importantly, great commitment to curiosity and accuracy.

[thejohnwhiteproject]

I have never thought of it this way. Thank you for going beyond what we read and putting it in perspective of the “day/era”. It helps me understand more of Gods word and power!

[rogue]

Interesting that people will say ‘okay yeah the earth stopped’ but then decide to go skeptical on the effects it would’ve had? Like if God is God, and can stop the earth from rotating, then he can certainly stop all manner of other things from occurring as you’d expect too.

[wesleyford]

Hi from Australia
I came across your site recently. I appreciate sites that give an intelligent perspective on biblical issues. Love this site.

[brandonp]

You are a blessing IP. Thanks so much for all your videos and your efforts

[takiyah]

I remember thinking that the sun standing still for Joshua was the reason for leap days. I'm glad I'm not that dumb anymore

[letsfinishit]

You know it's a ip video when he says your looking at it with your current culture eyes and he's right. We have to look at it at all angles

[lepterfirefall]

Personally, I think if God can create the universe in 6 literal days (which I believe he did), he can keep everything stable for 1 day and stop any catastrophe. There is nothing in the passage to say anything is symbolic or an omen.

[Fordo]

Wouldn't God causing the sun and moon to appear outside of their normal phases just as miraculous as God stopping Earth's rotation? Wouldn't the sun and moon going outside of their phases cause a whole bunch of side effects to the solar system? It doesn't seem to avoid that issue as with assuming the Earth stopped moving.

[AtrusGambit]

Let'sake sure we aren't conceding that miracles don't happen.

The Book is filled with physics-breaking miracles.

[maxitb]

Interesting, thanks IP. This help’s us to think deeper on text we don’t understand

[svenknutsen]

I'm learning so much from your video lecutures! Thanks!

[connorpenrod]

Regarding the idea that other cultures would remember it, I took the same theory and applied it to mythology, here's what I found:

China: The Ten Suns of the Chinese week rose at the same time and stayed out for too long, hence the sun was long and unusually hot until Yi the Archer shot down 9 of them.

Greece: Phaethon, son of Helios, took his father's chariot (the Sun) on a joy ride and torched the earth, hence the sun again was out too long and got too hot until Zeus hit him with a lightning bolt.

Aztecs: The Aztecs believed in 5 cycles where the sun was destroyed and recreated, and during a dark period (as in, a long night) they decided to sacrifice a god to make a 5th sun. The ugliest god bravely sacrificed himself and became the sun. But, the most honored god was shamed so he sacrificed himself as well, and so there were too suns and the world was too hot. So the other gods slapped the second sun with a rabbit and he became the moon.

Maya: When the Hero Twins were trapped in the underworld, one of them was beheaded but they had a ball game to play in the morning--while trying to reanimate his brother's body, the living twin asked the "old one" (the buzzard) to keep the sun out, and the buzzard made the night last longer to give him time.

Maya again: During the time of the long night when the land was dark, wet, and had no sun, the gods decreed the sun would appear. When it appeared, it was hotter and brighter than normal, but that was a good thing--it dried the land and made it useful.

So, we've got long days on one side of the world connected to the sun being way too hot, and we've got long nights on the other side of the world connected to the sun suddenly appearing way too hot.

Not really proof of anything (especially since there are a few long nights in the Old World like Heracles' birth) but I found it interesting and wanted to share.

[jasonspencer]

Bro, this is a major stretch. You say that the weird thing about the day was that "God heeded the voice of a man", but the way God heeded the voice of a man was putting celestial bodies in certain positions. It doesn't matter if the reason was time and the sunset, or good and bad omens. The omen itself was the position of the celestial bodies, so even if you change the reason why Joshua asks for it, the request itself doesn't change after your explanation.

[PowerfulRift]

Your videos on these subjects are really good man, thank you watching from Australia.

[troybyrne]

Love these videos but always feel like that was so obvious why didn't I think of that, just from how well he breaks it all down then explains it

[NickSandt]

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for _SIGNS, _ and for seasons, and for days, and years!”
Ah yes … signs … and wonders.

[steffen.gastineau]

What an insane game play. Love watching you dive everyone man. Also you have the best outro music, jam got stuck in my head for how the other day.