Why Did the Sun Stand Still?

When the five kings of the Amorites wage war against the Gibeonites, Joshua and the Israelites arrive to support their allies at Gibeon. And then something astonishing occurs: “The sun stopped in the middle of the skies and did not rush to set for about a whole day” (Joshua 10:13). Apparently, God lengthened the period of daylight so that Joshua’s army could have more time to achieve victory. But that’s not all. The divine alteration in the constellations was also a symbolic act that indicated the Lord’s victory over the lesser gods of Canaan.

After his successful campaign against the Amorites, Joshua addresses God, saying, “Be still, sun, at Gibeon; moon in the valley of Aijalon.” (Joshua 10:12). At Joshua’s request, “the sun (שמש; shemesh) stood still, and the moon (ירח; yareach) stopped until the nation [of Israel] took vengeance on their enemies” (10:13). While the elongated day allows Israel to triumph over the Amorite people, the event at Gibeon is also a condemnation of those people’s gods. Many of Israel’s neighbors worshiped their deities in association with the sun and moon—something that Moses prohibits, saying, “When you look up into the sky and behold the sun (שמש; shemesh) and the moon (ירח; yareach) and the stars, the whole heavenly host, you must not be lured into bowing down to them or serving them. These the Lord your God allotted to all the [other] peoples” (Deuteronomy 4:19-20; cf. 7:3). This Deuteronomistic prohibition provides the foundation for interpreting the stilling of the sun and moon for Joshua as the paralysis of these inferior gods.

More support for this reading appears in Joshua’s specification that “the sun was still (דום; dom)” (Joshua 10:13). The Torah uses the same term with reference to God’s victory over the people and gods of Canaan. After crossing the Sea of Reeds, Moses addresses God is song, asking, “Who is like you among the gods (באלם; ba’elim)? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in splendor, working wonders? […] All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. Terror and dread fall upon them; through the might of your arm, they are still (דום; dom) as stone” (Exodus 15:11, 15-16). The stillness of the sun in Joshua’s day recalls Moses describing the inhabitants of Canaan—both human and divine—as paralyzed with fear at the Lord’s might.

The sun and moon’s stoppage allows Israel to take “vengeance (נקם; naqam) on its enemies” (Joshua 10:13)—a reality to which Moses alludes in yet another song to God. In the Dead Sea Scrolls’ rendition of Deuteronomy 32:43—the earliest Hebrew version of the verse whose terminology is paralleled in the Greek Septuagint—Moses refers to God taking vengeance against lesser gods: “Rejoice with [God], O heavens; bow down to him, all gods (כל אלהים; kol elohim). For he avenges (נקם; naqam) the blood of his children and takes vengeance (נקם) on his adversaries” (Deut 32:43 in 4QDeutq). This Mosaic declaration anticipates what the Lord will do for Joshua against the Amorites. By stopping the sun and moon in their tracks, the God of Israel not only allows Joshua to defeat human adversaries, but also causes all of Canaan’s gods to bow down to the Most High.

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