Jericho

Jericho stands in the plains east of the central highlands, beside the Jordan and ringed by palm-trees. The sons of Israel encamp opposite it before crossing the river (Num 22:1; Num 26:3), Moses sees the land from Pisgah across from Jericho (Deut 34:1), and the city named for its palms becomes the first conquest, the site of a curse, a school of prophets, a healed spring, and the road on which Jesus calls a blind beggar by name and lodges with a despised tax-collector.

Approach from the Plains of Moab

The narrative arrives at Jericho with Israel still on the eastern side of the Jordan. They journey "and encamped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan at Jericho" (Num 22:1), and Moses and Eleazar speak with the people "in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho" (Num 26:3). From there Moses ascends Pisgah "across from Jericho. And [the Speech of] Yahweh showed him all the land of Gilead, to Dan" (Deut 34:1). The plain itself is described as "the Plain of the valley of Jericho the city of palm-trees, to Zoar" (Deut 34:3).

The Spies and Rahab

Joshua sends two men from Shittim "as spies secretly, saying, Go, view the land, and Jericho. And they went and came into the house of a whore whose name was Rahab, and lay there" (Josh 2:1). Rahab confesses what the city already knows: "I know that Yahweh has given you⁺ the land, and that the fear of you⁺ is fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you⁺" (Josh 2:9). She names what melted them — the Red Sea, Sihon and Og — and concludes, "Yahweh your⁺ God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath" (Josh 2:11). The spies swear, "Our soul for yours⁺" (Josh 2:14), and she lets them down "by a cord through the window: for her house was on the side of the wall" (Josh 2:15), binding "the scarlet line in the window" (Josh 2:21).

Hebrews returns to her: "By faith Rahab the whore did not perish with those who were disobedient, having received the spies with peace" (Heb 11:31). James does the same: "And in like manner wasn't also Rahab the whore justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way?" (Jas 2:25).

The Prince of Yahweh's Host

Before the wall falls, a man with a drawn sword stands across from Joshua "by Jericho" (Josh 5:13). When Joshua asks whose side he is on, he answers, "No; but [as] prince of the host of Yahweh I have now come" (Josh 5:14). Joshua falls and worships, and is told, "Put off your sandal from off your foot; for the place on which you stand is holy" (Josh 5:15).

The Conquest

The city is sealed: "Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the sons of Israel: none went out, and none came in" (Josh 6:1). Yahweh tells Joshua, "See, I have given into your hand Jericho and its king, mighty men of valor" (Josh 6:2). On the seventh day, at the seventh circuit, Joshua orders, "Shout; for Yahweh has given you⁺ the city" (Josh 6:16). The result: "So the people shouted, and [the priests] blew the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, that the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city" (Josh 6:20). The devotion is total — "And they completely destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, both young and old, and ox, and sheep, and donkey, with the edge of the sword" (Josh 6:21) — except for one household: "the city will be devoted, even it and all that is in it, to Yahweh: only Rahab the whore will live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers whom we sent" (Josh 6:17). Rahab "dwelt in the midst of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers, whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho" (Josh 6:25). Joshua's covenant retrospective frames it as the first encounter: "And you⁺ went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you⁺ ... and I delivered them into your⁺ hand" (Josh 24:11). From Jericho, Joshua sends men against Ai: "And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth-aven, on the east side of Beth-el" (Josh 7:2).

The Curse and Its Fulfillment

Joshua puts the city under oath: "Cursed be the man before Yahweh, that rises up and builds this city Jericho: with the loss of his firstborn he will lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son he will set up the gates of it" (Josh 6:26). The fulfillment comes generations later in the days of Ahab: "In his days Hiel the Beth-elite built Jericho: he laid its foundation with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of Yahweh, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun" (1 Kgs 16:34).

Allotment and Early Settlement

Jericho falls inside Benjamin's tribal lot. The northern border of Benjamin runs "from the Jordan; and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north" (Josh 18:12), and the cities of Benjamin "according to their families were Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and Emek-keziz" (Josh 18:21). The northern lot of the sons of Joseph is bounded "from the Jordan at Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on the east" (Josh 16:1). The Kenites move out from there: "And the sons of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up out of the city of palm-trees with the sons of Judah into the wilderness of Judah" (Judg 1:16). And in the cycle of judges, the Moabite king takes it: "he gathered to him the sons of Ammon and Amalek; and he went and struck Israel, and they possessed the city of palm-trees" (Judg 3:13).

Elijah, Elisha, and the Sons of the Prophets

Jericho hosts a school of prophets in the Elijah-Elisha cycle. Elijah says, "Elisha, tarry here, I pray you; for Yahweh has sent me to Jericho. And he said, As Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they came to Jericho" (2 Kgs 2:4). The local company greets Elisha: "the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came near to Elisha, and said to him, Do you know that Yahweh will take away your master from your head today? And he answered, Yes, I know it; hold your⁺ peace" (2 Kgs 2:5). After Elijah is taken, "the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho across from him saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him" (2 Kgs 2:15).

The Healed Spring

The men of the city tell Elisha what the place lacks: "Look, we pray you, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees: but the water is bad, and the land miscarries" (2 Kgs 2:19). Elisha calls for a new cruse with salt, casts it into the spring, and says, "Thus says Yahweh, I have healed these waters; there will not be from there anymore death or miscarrying" (2 Kgs 2:21). "So the waters were healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke" (2 Kgs 2:22).

Captives Released, Returnees Re-enrolled

In the war between Israel and Judah, the prophet Oded confronts the men of Samaria, declaring that Yahweh "has delivered them into your⁺ hand, and you⁺ have slain them in a rage which has reached up to heaven" (2 Chr 28:9). The named men "rose up, and took the captives ... and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm-trees, to their brothers: then they returned to Samaria" (2 Chr 28:15). After the exile, Jericho is again a name on a list: "The sons of Jericho, three hundred forty and five" (Ezra 2:34; cf. Neh 7:36). And under Nehemiah, "next to him built the men of Jericho. And next to them built Zaccur the son of Imri" (Neh 3:2) — the city of palms helping rebuild Jerusalem's wall.

The Plains and the Fall of Zedekiah

The city's plain is the place where the last king of Judah is overtaken. Jeremiah records, "But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho: and when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Riblah" (Jer 39:5). Kings says it again: "But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him" (2 Kgs 25:5; cf. Jer 52:8). The siege itself — "So the city was besieged to the eleventh year of King Zedekiah" (2 Kgs 25:2) — ends with the king caught precisely on the plain that had once received Israel coming the other way.

Hellenistic Jericho

In the days of Bacchides, Jericho is one of a chain of fortified strongpoints in Judea: "And they built strong cities in Judea, the fortress that was in Jericho, and in Ammaus, and in Beth-horon, and in Bethel, and Thamnata, and Phara, and Thopo, with high walls, and gates, and bars" (1 Macc 9:50). Later, "Now Ptolemy the son of Abubus was appointed captain in the plain of Jericho, and he had abundance of silver and gold" (1 Macc 16:11) — the same plain, now a power base under a different empire.

The Road from Jerusalem

The Lukan Samaritan parable opens with the descent: "Jesus replying said, A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho; and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead" (Luke 10:30). The road's reputation needs no gloss; the parable assumes it.

Bartimaeus

On the way out, a beggar. "And they come to Jericho: and as he went out from Jericho, with his disciples and a great multitude, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the wayside" (Mark 10:46). He cries, "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me" (Mark 10:47), keeps crying when rebuked, throws off his garment, and asks, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight" (Mark 10:51). Jesus says, "Go your way; your faith has made you whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed him in the way" (Mark 10:52). Luke's parallel sets it on the approach: "And it came to pass, as he drew near to Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the wayside begging" (Luke 18:35), and after Jesus heals him, "immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God" (Luke 18:43).

Zacchaeus

On the way in, a tax-collector. "And he entered and was passing through Jericho. And look, a man called by name Zacchaeus; and he was a chief publican, and he was rich" (Luke 19:1-2). He climbs a sycamore "to see him: for he was to pass that way" (Luke 19:4), and Jesus calls him down: "Zacchaeus, hurry, and come down; for today I must stay at your house" (Luke 19:5). The crowd murmurs, "He has gone in to lodge with a man who is a sinner" (Luke 19:7). Zacchaeus answers, "Look, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have wrongfully exacted anything of any man, I restore fourfold" (Luke 19:8). Jesus replies, "Today has salvation come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:9-10).