Joshua's Prayer at Gibeon

Joshua 10:12–14

ca. 1200–332 BCE

About This Entry

The book of Joshua quotes this poem from the no-longer-extant Book of Jashar (Sefer ha-yashar), presumably a collection of war poems.

¹²On that occasion, when the Lord routed the Amorites before the Israelites, Joshua addressed the Lord; he said in the presence of the Israelites:

“Stand still, O sun, at Gibeon,

O moon, in the Valley of Aijalon!”

¹³And the sun stood still

And the moon halted,

While a nation wreaked judgment on its foes

—as is written in the Book of Jashar. Thus the sun halted in midheaven, and did not press on to set, for a whole day; ¹⁴for the Lord fought for Israel. Neither before nor since has there ever been such a day, when the Lord acted on words spoken by a man.

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