Professor Moulton, in his volume entitled "Judges," has a disposal of this passage in Joshua which shows some originality, and his arrangement of it has suggested this article. Before I introduce this arrangement--for it is an arrangement of the text, and not a comment, which shows his view of the incident--I must quote the passage, and request the reader to notice carefully its contents. Here it is, as printed in the Revised Version: "Then spake Joshua to Jehovah in the day when Jehovah delivered the Amorites before the children of Israel: [156]

      Is not this written in the Book of Jasher? And the sun stayed 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, that Jehovah hearkened to the voice of a man; for Jehovah fought for Israel."

      A mere glance at the passage shows that it divides itself into three parts: First, What Joshua said; second, the result, that the sun and moon did as he commanded; third, after the reference to the Book of Jasher, a repetition of what the sun did, with the addition of the length of time that it stood still, and a comment on the unique character of that day.

      Let us now inquire which of these three parts was quoted, if any, from the Book of Jasher. If it is the prose part which follows the mention of this book, then the preceding part is written on the authority of the author of Joshua, and he makes himself responsible for the truth of the story. But, on the other hand, if that which precedes the reference to Jasher is the quotation, then that which follows is an indorsement of the story by the author of Joshua; and there is no possible way of relieving him from responsibility. Whatever may be intended, therefore, by the mention of the Book of Jasher, our author stands responsible for the statement that the sun and moon stood still at the command of Joshua.

      We are now prepared for Professor Moulton's treatment of the case. He prints in the body of his text the lines quoted above that precede the mention of the Book of Jasher, and he removes to a foot-note, which he prints [157] in small type, the words, "Is not this written In the Book of Jasher? And 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 or after it, that the Lord hearkened to the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel." By enclosing the words which follow the mention of the Book of Jasher, in quotation marks, he indicates that these are the quotation. The preceding part, therefore, which is not distinguished by quotation marks, he must ascribe to the author of the Book of Joshua.

      It is now apparent that in whatever way we look at the passage, and whatever view we take of the so-called quotation from Jasher, the author does not depend upon that lost work as his authority for the story, but affirms it on his own independent authority. This seems to be conceded by Professor Moulton himself; for he remarks, in his brief introduction, that "even Joshua, in the thick of the battle of Gibeon, breaks out into the ballad of the sun and moon standing still" (p. 10). But if the Professor here means by "the ballad" the whole of the part which he prints in poetic lines, he has fallen into another mistake; for while Joshua could have said, in plain prose, or in poetry, as you please to regard it, "Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou moon on the valley of Aijalon," he could not, at the same time, have said, "And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies." This last could have been said only after the sun had quit standing still, and the first, only before it stopped in its course. The two could not be separated by less than the whole day; and they are really separated by the interval between the event and the writing of the Book of Joshua; for undoubtedly the statement that the two luminaries did [158] stand still is that of the author, while the command is that of Joshua.

      Now a word about the quotation from the Book of Jasher. The affirmation that there is such a quotation has always appeared to me to be entirely without justification. The question, "Is not this written in the Book of Jasher?" is a strong affirmation of the undeniable fact that it was so written. It shows that this Book of Jasher had been written already, or at least a part of it, before the Book of Joshua was written; that it was a book well known to the contemporaries of the author of Joshua; and that it contained an account of this miracle. It is probable also that the writer of the latter book thought that he would strengthen himself with his first readers in recording the story by the respect which they had for this Book of Jasher. For aught we know, seeing that we know almost nothing of it, this book may have been as authoritative as any of the books which have been preserved in our Old Testament, and therefore worthy of being cited in support of a statement in any of the latter. But be that as it may, the writer of Joshua, as we have clearly showed above, commits himself fully to the truth of the narration, and those who are not willing to believe that the sun actually stood still can not shield their incredulity by hiding behind Mr. Jasher. It would be more creditable to the skeptic, because much more candid, to come right out and say, I don't believe the story at all. If Joshua said anything to the sun and moon, what did he say? If they did anything after he spoke to them, what did they do? What did they really do, and what did he say to them, out of which the present story could have grown up without some barefaced lying? Let us be candid, and hold either that there is a lie out, or that the story as we read it is true. [159] There is no alternative which can stand the test of common sense. Let us use our common sense, if we have any, and if we have none, let us talk at any rate as if we had a little.

[SEBC 156-160]