Joshua 6:3 (WEB)

Passage

All of your men of war shall march around the city, going around the city once. You shall do this six days.

Nearby Context

Joshua 6:1 Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the children of Israel. No one went out, and no one came in.

Joshua 6:2 Yahweh said to Joshua, “Behold, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the mighty men of valor.

Joshua 6:3 All of your men of war shall march around the city, going around the city once. You shall do this six days.

Joshua 6:4 Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. On the seventh day, you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.

Joshua 6:5 It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the city wall shall fall down flat, and the people shall go up, every man straight in front of him.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "shall", "march", "around", "city", "going", and "once". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "shall" and "march", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "Yahweh said to Joshua Behold I have..." into verse 4's "Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of...", so "shall" and "march" belong inside that flow. In Joshua context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "shall" and "march" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.