After Israel crosses the Jordan, Jericho stands as the first major fortified city in the land. Joshua receives unusual instructions for confronting it. This battle will not begin with a conventional assault.

For six days, armed men, priests, the ark, and the people march around the city once each day. Seven priests carry trumpets. The procession is disciplined, and the people are told not to raise a battle cry until Joshua gives the command.

On the seventh day they circle Jericho seven times. At the appointed moment the priests sound the trumpets and Joshua tells the people to shout. The wall falls, and Israel enters the city.

Rahab and her household are spared because she had hidden the Israelite spies and asked for protection. Her rescue links this battle back to Joshua 2 and places an outsider within Israel’s unfolding story.

Jericho is one of the most famous conquest narratives, but it also belongs to a difficult section of Scripture involving warfare and judgment. Reading it responsibly requires attention to Joshua’s own theological framing, the ancient setting, and the larger biblical discussion of land, covenant, judgment, and mercy.