Commentaire sur Josué 10:12

“Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD…” (Shemot 15:1) There are ten songs. The first was said in Egypt, as it says “For you, there shall be singing As on a night when a festival is hallowed…” (Isaiah 30:29) The second was ‘Then Moses sang…’ Third was on the well “Then Israel sang this song…” (Bamidbar 21:17) The fourth was the song ‘Listen now…’ (Devarim 32:1) The fifth was “Joshua addressed the LORD…” (Yehoshua 10:12) The sixth “On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang…” (Shoftim 5:1) The seventh “David addressed the words of this song to the LORD…” (Shmuel II 22:1) The eight was “A song for the dedication of the House.” (Psalms 30:1) The ninth was Yehoshefat, as it is written “he stationed singers to the LORD extolling the One majestic in holiness as they went forth ahead of the vanguard, saying, “Praise the LORD, for His steadfast love is eternal.”” (Chronicles II 20:21) The tenth is in the time to come, as it says “Sing to the LORD a new song…” (Isaiah 42:10) This song is different, as it is named in the masculine form (shir chadash and not shirah chadasha). All the other songs are named in the feminine form because just as a female gives birth so all of these salvations had after them another subjugation; but in the time to come will be a salvation which is not followed by any subjugation, as it says “But Israel has won through the LORD Triumph everlasting…” (Isaiah 45:17) Thus it is written ‘a new song’ in the masculine (shir chadash), just as a male does not give birth. So it says “Ask and see: Surely males do not bear young!” (Jeremiah 30:6)

Then [Yehoshua] spoke. He said a song [of praise to God]¹According to Rashi, Yehoshua sang a song of praise, and the word יְדַבֵּר which is usually translated as spoke, in this context is an expression of שִׁירָה. in place of the sun, for he had said “Let the sun stop.” [meaning] that he silenced it from reciting its song.²According to Rambam and other commentaries, the sun, the moon and other heavenly spheres are living beings and possess intelligence. They hear and speak, and thus they interpret these verses literally: “The heavens recount the glory of the Almighty.” (Tehillim 19:2), and Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, all the stars of light. (Tehillim 148:3). They actually verbalize the praises of God in the same manner as do human beings and angels. During the time it was silent it stood still without moving [on its Orbit,] for during every moment of its orbital movement it recites a song of praise.³Every moment of its orbit is a source of praise to God who created it in such a miraculous manner. The plain meaning of the verse is that the word דוֹם is an expression of waiting as stated, “If they say to us wait,”⁴I Shmuel 14:9. and similarly, “Wait for Adonoy,”⁵Tehillim 37:7.

And the moon in the valley of Ayalon. At that moment the moon stood opposite the valley of Ayalon which is a distance from Givon, for Givon is within the border of Binyomin⁶Binyomin’s portion was in the south. and Ayalon is within the border of Don.⁷Don’s portion was in the north.