
05/17/2025
Joshua's Long Day!
“Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon” (Joshua 10:12).
As with many of the stories documented in the Bible the critics and skeptics have charged that this is impossible and at best this is an exaggerated account of a possible lunar eclipse if the event actually did happen.
Researchers from Cambridge, however, have stated that the Hebrew word for “stood still” found in the text, has the same root as a Babylonian term used to describe eclipses.
They based their computations on that assumption and were able to identify only one eclipse that occurred between 1500 and 1050 B.C. on Oct. 30, 1207 B.C. Scientists then point to the Merneptah Stele, an Egyptian artifact dating c. 1208 B.C.,
Was this just the bible just describing an eclipse? Let's read the passage and see what it actually says.
" And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it … (verses 13-14).
Regardless if you believe this happened or not, the Bible states it unequivocally. So what about it could this have happened as the Bible describes it, or is it a nice alagorical story? Something like this if it had occurred must of been witnessed by others and documented.
In the ancient Chinese writings there is a legend of a long day. The Incas of Peru and the Aztecs of Mexico have a like record, and there is a Babylonian and a Persian legend of a day that was miraculously extended. Another section of China contributes an account of the day that was miraculously prolonged, in the reign of Emperor Yeo. Herodotus recounts that the priests of Egypt showed him their temple records, and that there he read a strange account of a day that was twice the natural length.