Joshua 3:15

“And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, etc.] Not to the bank, which was overflowed, but to the extremity of the water overflowing: and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water; which was doubtless the first they came to, and not the brim or extremity of it on the other side: for Jordan overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest; that is, of barley harvest, as appears from the time of year; for it was in the first month, the month Nisan, or Abib, which answers to part of March, and April, it used to overflow, (<131215>1 Chronicles 12:15); and it was now the tenth day of that month, (<060419>Joshua 4:19); on the sixteenth of which, at…”

“Jordan overfloweth all his banks - Rather “is full up to all his banks,” i. e. “brim-full.” This remark strikingly illustrates the suddenness and completeness, not less than the greatness, of the marvel. The Jordan River flows at the bottom of a deep valley, which descends to the water’s edge on either side in two, occasionally in three, terraces. Within the lowest of these the stream, ordinarily less than 100 feet wide in this lower part of its course, is confined. The margin is overgrown with a jungle of tamarisks and willows, which in the spring is reached by the rising waters (compare the figure in Jeremiah 49:19; Jeremiah 50:44); and the river, occasionally at least, fills the ravine…”

“All the time of harvest - This is meant not of wheat - harvest, but of the barley - harvest, as is manifest from their keeping the passover at their first entrance, Jos 5:10, which was kept on the fourteenth day of the first month, when they were to bring a sheaf of their first - fruits, which were of barley. So that this harvest in those hot countries fell very early in the spring, when rivers used to swell most; partly because of the rains which have fallen all the winter, partly because of the snows which melt and come into the rivers. And this time God chose that the miracle might be more glorious, more amazing and terrible to the Canaanites; and that the Israelites might be entertained…”

“3:15 The Jordan was overflowing its banks as a result of the spring runoff of the winter’s rainfall and snowfall, especially from Mount Hermon.”

“the feet: Jos 3:13; Isa 26:6 Jordan overfloweth: The ordinary current of the Jordan, near where the Israelites crossed, is said by Maundrell, to be about twenty yards across, deeper than a man's height, and so rapid, that there is no swimming against it. It has, however, two banks; the first, or inner one, is that of the river in its natural state, and the second, or outer one, about a furlong distant, is that of its overflowings, which it does when the summer's sun has melted the snow on mount Lebanon and Hermon, in the months of March and April. And this was the time which God chose that the Israelites should pass over it; that a miraculous interposition might be necessary; and that, by…”