15-01

Joshua sent two spies to that city

Joseph sent the spies to find out information about the city so the Israelites could attack it.

15-02

the Jordan River

The Jordan River is a river that flows from north to south, and forms the eastern boundary of the land that was called Canaan. It flows through the Sea of Galilee and then empties into the Dead Sea.

on dry ground

God not only stopped the river from flowing, but also dried up the ground on the bottom of the river so the people could walk across it easily.

15-05

the walls around Jericho fell down

The walls around Jericho were made of stone and were very strong. They did not fall down on their own. God caused them to fall down when the Israelites shouted and blew the trumpets as he told them to do.

15-06

Joshua and the other leaders of the Israelites did not ask God what they should do.

Joshua and the other leaders acted very foolishly. The peace treaty was a very important decision. They should have asked God what to do, but they did not think they needed to do that.

15-07

they combined their armies into one large army and attacked Gibeon

The Amorites were angry with the Gibeonites because they made a peace treaty with the Israelites instead of helping the Amorites to fight against them. They may also have been afraid that the Gibeonites would help Israel fight against the Amorites. Therefore, they decided to destroy the Gibeonites.

15-09

he sent large hailstones that killed many of the Amorites

The hailstones were large balls of ice that fell from the sky. God also killed many Egyptians with hail during one of the plagues in Egypt (See: 10:10).

15-10

caused the sun to stay in one place in the sky

God caused the sun to stay in one place in order to make the day longer. That gave the Israelites more time to defeat the Amorites before nighttime when they might escape in the dark.

15-13

Joshua was an old man

Joshua was over 100 years old when the Israelites finished taking control of the land.

the covenant

This was the covenant that God made with the Israelites through Moses after they left Egypt (See: 13:04).