Joshua 8:35

There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them.

There was not a word ... which Joshua read not. It appears that a much larger portion of the law was read on this occasion than the brief summary inscribed on the stones; and this most have been the essence of the law as contained in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 4:44; Deuteronomy 6:9; Deuteronomy 27:8). It was not written on the stones, but on the plaster. The immediate design of this rehearsal was attained by the performance of the act itself: it only related to posterity in so far as the record of the event would Be handed down in the Book of Joshua, or the documents which form the groundwork of it (Hengstenberg, 'Pentateuch,' 1:, p. 431, English translation; also Keil, in loco).

Thus, Joshua faithfully executed the instructions given by Moses. How awfully solemn must have been the assemblage of the dense multitude and the sublime ceremony of the occasion! The eye and the ear of the pencils being both addressed, it was calculated to leave an indelible impression; and with spirits elevated by their brilliant victories in the land of promise, memory would often revert to the striking scene on mounts Ebal and Gerizim, and in the vale of Shechem. The Septuagint inserts this paragraph between verses 2 and 3 of Joshua 9:1; whence several continental critics have maintained that it had no certain place in the sacred history, and, not conducing to the progress of the narrative, must be regarded as an interpolation. But the word х 'aaz (H227)] then, by which it is introduced, is shown by Keil to be used in the relation of incidents that took place contemporaneously with the course of the narrative; and he adduces other arguments which convincingly establish the integrity of the text. Colenso alleges that this ceremony must have been 'a mere dumb show.' But this is an entirely mistaken conception of the scene. For, without insisting on the fact already adverted to, that in the clear elastic air of Palestine voices are heard at a great distance, even allowing that some in the mighty congregation might not have distinctly heard the words, the people were all well aware of the service in which they were engaged. They knew the blessings and cursings (Deuteronomy 27:1), and therefore could at the proper time say an intelligent 'Amen.' Besides, while Joshua in the valley read the declarations, the Levites might be distributed at convenient stations among the multitude, to repeat the words to the groups around them. And further still, supposing the tribes to have been assembled near the eastern end of the valley, where it is only about 60 rods wide ('The Land and the Book,' p. 470), the cavilling objection of Colenso falls to the ground.