The miraculous suspension of the natural powers of the heavenly bodies, as recorded in the book of Joshua, shows that they are upheld, controlled, and directed in their operations, by a Being who is infinitely wise and powerful. To account for this miracle, and to ascertain the _manner_ in which it was wrought, has employed the pens of the ablest _divines_ and _astronomers_, especially of the last two centuries. For the elucidation of this important fact, I shall transcribe the view which Dr. Adam Clarke has given of it, which he considers to be strictly philosophical, consonant to the Pythagorean, Copernican, or Newtonian system, which is the system of the universe, laid down in the writings of Moses.
He assumes, as a thoroughly demonstrated truth, that the sun is in the _centre_ of the system, moving only round his own axis, and the common centre of the gravity of the planetary system, while all the planets revolve round _him_; and that his influence is the cause of the _diurnal_ and _annual_ revolutions of the earth.
"Joshua's address is in a poetic form in the original, and makes the two following hemistichs:
**shmsh bgb`yn dwm** **vyrch b`mq 'ylvn** Shemesh, be-Gibêon dom: Vyareach, beèmek Aiyalon. Sun! upon Gibêon be dumb: And the moon on the vale of Aiyalon.
"The effect of this command is related in the following words: **vydm hshmsh vyrch `md** _vayiddom ha_-SHEMESH _ve_-YAREACH _âmad; And the sun was dumb, or silent, and the moon stood still_. And it is added, _And the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day._
"I consider, that the word **dvm** _dom_, refers to the _withholding_ or _restraining_ this influence, so that the cessation of the earth's motion might immediately take place. The desire of Joshua was, that the sun might not sink below the horizon; but as _it_ appeared now to be over Gibeon, and the _moon_ to be over the valley of Ajalon, he prayed that they might continue in these positions till the battle should be ended; or, in other words, that the day should be miraculously lengthened out.[115]
"Whether Joshua had a correct philosophical notion of the true system of the universe, is a subject that need not come into the present inquiry; but whether _he spoke_ with strict propriety on this occasion, is a matter of importance, because he must be considered as acting _under the Divine influence_, in requesting the performance of such a stupendous miracle: and we may safely assert, that no man in his right mind would have thought of offering such a petition, had he not felt himself under some Divine afflatus. Leaving, therefore, his philosophical knowledge out of the question, he certainly spoke as if he had known that the solar influence was the cause of the earth's _rotation_, and therefore, with the strictest philosophic propriety, he requested, that that influence might be for a time restrained, that the diurnal motion of the earth might be arrested, through which alone, the sun could be kept above the horizon, and the day be prolonged. His mode of expression evidently considers the sun as the great _ruler_ or _master_ in the system; and all the planets, (or at least the _earth_) moving in their respective orbits at his _command_. He therefore desires him, (in the name and by the authority of his Creator) to suspend his _mandate_ with respect to the earth's motion, and that of his satellite, the moon. Had he said, _Earth, stand thou still_--the cessation of whose diurnal motion was the _effect_ of his command, it could not have obeyed him; as it is not even the _secondary_ cause either of its annual motion round the sun, or its diurnal motion round its own axis. Instead of doing so, he speaks to the sun, the _cause_ (under God) of all these motions, as his great archetype did, when, in the storm on the sea of Tiberias, he rebuked the _wind_ first, and then said to the _waves_, Peace, be still! <<Siôpa, pephimôso>>, be _silent_! be _dumb_! And the effect of this command was, a cessation of the agitation in the _sea_, because the _wind_ ceased to _command_ it, that is, to exert its influence upon the waters.
