[121] Exod. 14. 21, 22; Nahum 3. 8; 1 Sam. 25. 16.
And what makes it still more probable is that much the same thing occurred in this very neighbourhood in recent times. For in January, 1882, a large expanse of water, about 5 feet deep, near the Suez Canal, was exposed to such a strong gale (also from the east) that next morning it had been entirely driven away, and men were walking about on the mud, where the day before the fishing-boats had been floating.[122] Moreover, on this theory, the miracle would not lose any of its evidential value. For the fact of such a strip of dry land being formed just when and where the Israelites so much wanted it, and then being suddenly covered again, through the wind changing round to the west (which it must have done for the dead Egyptians to have been cast up on the east side)[123], would be a coincidence far too improbable to be accidental.
[122] Transactions of Victoria Institute, vol. xxviii., 1894, p. 268. It is vouched for by Major-General Tulloch, who was there on duty at the time.
[123] Exod. 14. 30.
Another well known miracle, which probably belongs to this class, is the 'silence' (or standing still) of the sun and moon.[124] This is often thought to mean that the earth's rotation was stopped, so that the sun and moon apparently stood still. But a miracle on so vast a scale, was quite needless for the destruction of a few Canaanites, and there is another, and far better explanation.
[124] Josh. 10. 12-14.
It is that the miracle, instead of being one of prolonged light, the sun remaining visible after it should have set, was really one of prolonged darkness. The sun, which had been hidden by thick clouds, was just about to shine forth, when Joshua prayed to the Lord that it might be silent, i.e., remain obscured behind the clouds, which it did during the rest of the day. The Hebrew seems capable of either meaning. For the important word translated stand still is literally be silent (see margin), both in verses 12 and 13; and while this would be most suitable to the sun's remaining obscured by clouds during the day, it could scarcely be used of its continuing to shine at night.
On the other hand, the rest of the passage seems to favour the ordinary view. But if we admit that this is what Joshua prayed for, that the sun and moon should remain silent or obscured, the rest of the passage can only mean that this is what took place. And it may be mentioned that, as early as the fourteenth century, a Jewish writer Levi ben Gershon maintained that the words did not mean that the sun and moon literally stood still, or in any way altered their motion; though it is only fair to add that this was not the general view.[125]
[125] Numerous quotations are given in 'A Misunderstood Miracle,' by Rev. A. S. Palmer, 1887, pp. 103-107.
Moreover, even if the word did mean stand still, Joshua would only be likely to have asked for the sun and moon to stand still, if they were apparently moving. And they only move fast enough to be apparent when they are just coming out from behind a dense bank of clouds, due, of course, to the clouds really moving. And to stand still in such a case, would mean to stay behind the clouds, and remain obscured, the same sense as before. And the words could then have had an immediate effect; visible at once to all the people, which certainly seems implied in the narrative, and which would not have been the case on the ordinary view.