Bible Strands
Joshua 6:1
Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative places this statement at the opening of the siege campaign, directly preceding the LORD’s command to Joshua in the following verse.
The words — The Hebrew סֹגֶ֣רֶת (so.Ge.ret) and וּ/מְסֻגֶּ֔רֶת (u./me.su.Ge.ret) from H5462 describe the active condition of "shutting" and "shut up," while אֵ֥ין ('ein) and יוֹצֵ֖א (yo.Tze') literally state "there not [was one] going out."
The thread — The complete blockade echoes the acknowledged territorial shift in Joshua 2:9 and Joshua 2:24, and sets the stage for the structural reliance on divine protection outlined in Psalm 127:1.
Why it lands — The text states a total physical enclosure to frame the subsequent divine promise, requiring the reader to register the city's impenetrability before the LORD declares it delivered.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.
Cross-references
- Joshua 2:9 and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of you.
- Joshua 2:24 “The LORD has surely delivered the entire land into our hands,” they said to Joshua. “Indeed, all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of us.”
- Psalms 127:1 A song of ascents. Of Solomon. Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.
- Joshua 2:7 So the king’s men set out in pursuit of the spies along the road to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as they had gone out, the gate was shut.
- 2 Kings 17:4 But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea had conspired to send envoys to King So of Egypt, and that he had not paid tribute to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea and put him in prison.