Jos 3:11 | KD | STEP | After this inspiriting promise, Joshua informed the people what the Lord intended to do first: “ Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth will go before you into Jordan .” כּל־הארץ 'adown is a genitive dependent upon הברית ארון, the strict subordination of the construct state being loosened in this case by the article before the nomen regens . The punctuators have therefore separated it from the latter by sakeph - katon , without thereby explaining it as in opposition or giving any support to the mistaken exposition of Buxtorff and Drusius , that “the ark of the covenant is called the ruler of the whole earth.” The description of Jehovah as “Lord of the whole earth,” which is repeated in , is very appropriately chosen for the purpose of strengthening confidence in the omnipotence of the Lord. This epithet “exalted the government of God over all the elements of the world, that the Israelites might have no doubt that as seas and rivers are under His control, the waters, although liquid by nature, would become stable at His nod” ( Calvin ). The expression, “ passeth over before you into Jordan ,” is more precisely explained in the course of the narrative: the ark of the covenant went (was carried) before the people into the river, and then stood still, as the bulwark of the people, till the passage was completed; so that the word “before” indicates the protection which it would afford.

‏ Joshua 3:11

After this inspiriting promise, Joshua informed the people what the Lord intended to do first: “Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth will go before you into Jordan.” כּל־הארץ 'adown is a genitive dependent upon הברית ארון, the strict subordination of the construct state being loosened in this case by the article before the nomen regens. The punctuators have therefore separated it from the latter by sakeph - katon, without thereby explaining it as in opposition or giving any support to the mistaken exposition of Buxtorff and Drusius, that “the ark of the covenant is called the ruler of the whole earth.” The description of Jehovah as “Lord of the whole earth,” which is repeated in Jos 3:13, is very appropriately chosen for the purpose of strengthening confidence in the omnipotence of the Lord. This epithet “exalted the government of God over all the elements of the world, that the Israelites might have no doubt that as seas and rivers are under His control, the waters, although liquid by nature, would become stable at His nod” (Calvin). The expression, “passeth over before you into Jordan,” is more precisely explained in the course of the narrative: the ark of the covenant went (was carried) before the people into the river, and then stood still, as the bulwark of the people, till the passage was completed; so that the word “before” indicates the protection which it would afford.