And as soon as they came into the Jordan, and their feet were dipped in part of the water, (now the Jordan, it being harvest time, had filled the banks of its channel,)
וּכְב֞וֹא נֹשְׂאֵ֤י הָֽאָרוֹן֙ עַד־הַיַּרְדֵּ֔ן וְרַגְלֵ֤י הַכֹּֽהֲנִים֙ נֹשְׂאֵ֣י הָֽאָר֔וֹן נִטְבְּל֖וּ בִּקְצֵ֣ה הַמָּ֑יִם וְהַיַּרְדֵּ֗ן מָלֵא֙ עַל־כָּל־גְּדוֹתָ֔יו כֹּ֖ל יְמֵ֥י קָצִֽיר׃
3 Church Fathers comment on this verse
In the same way that the priests who bore the altar stepped into the Jordan before leading the people across with the prophet and leader Joshua, after John initiated the act of baptism, and Jesus the Redeemer consecrated the waters, through the sacred rite of baptism, all the faithful are granted access to the heavenly kingdom.
These are the deeds of Jesus, who is called the Lord: He was the master of the Jordan, which stood still, and he commanded the waters as if the Lord himself were an ark before him. An unknown power divided the waters: some froze and retreated, while others rushed toward the sea, leaving the riverbed dry; where the current once roared, it rose up, causing its waves to surge. Great walls of water, trembling and holding their ground, looked down from above at the feet of the people walking on dry land, leaving imprints of dusty feet in the hardened clay.
The extraordinary moment when the waters of the Jordan were halted is vividly depicted. The priests, carrying the ark of the covenant, stepped into the river, and at that moment, the waters halted upstream. As stated by the Psalmist, the Jordan turned back (Psalms 113:3). The full extent to which the waters were reversed remains unclear, though it is noted that there was a significant thickening of the waters that stretched into the distance, possibly up to Adami, a location thought to be near the Ark's stopping point and the crossing site. Kargafgarim, another place mentioned, is also uncertain in its exact location but is indicated to be near the coast (Ex. 15:8). Just as the Red Sea waters parted at the command of Moses (Ex.
15:8), the Jordan's waters, temporarily obstructed from their flow above, solidified into a thick mass. Similar to how the Red Sea’s waters formed walls for the Israelites' passage, the Jordan’s waters formed a barrier over its riverbed that allowed the Israelites to cross safely. The waters which had once flowed into the Jordan now poured into the Dead Sea, identified here as the Arabian Sea, referencing its names in the Greek and Hebrew texts. This body of water was situated in a plain that existed before the devastation of Sodom and Gomorrah and is known for its high salinity, making the water taste quite unpleasant.
This divine act was facilitated through the ark of the covenant, akin to the miracle performed by Moses at the Red Sea, where the ground was supernaturally revealed for the Israelites to cross. The ark represented the presence of the Lord, and during this event, His omnipotent authority over the waters was clearly manifested. At the time, the Jordan presented a formidable barrier, particularly as it was swollen during the wheat harvest season. The sacred writer provides this detail to highlight the miracle’s grandeur. This occurred just before the Passover festival, in the first month of spring (Num. 4:19). At typical times, the Jordan's water levels were low enough for wading across, as David did when escaping Absalom, crossing at a ford (2 Samuel 19:15). However, during this springtime, nearing Passover, the Jordan was at its peak height due to a combination of seasonal rains and the melting snows from Mount Hermon, which feeds into the river. As a result, the river overflowed its banks, inundating the neighboring Jordan valley's lush land and reaching the elevated sandy area nearby, just as it does during the wheat harvest, when the grain is ripe and ready for gathering. This was particularly evident in the spring’s first month, as the offering of the first grains was required at the sanctuary on the second day of Passover (Lev. 23:9, etc.).
Given the overflowing condition of the Jordan, crossing by conventional means would have been impossible for the masses, including families and livestock. Although a few spies managed to swim across (Num. 2:1, 23), that feat was an exceptional act, and the entire populace could not have traversed the river in such a manner.
Passages read together with this verse.
THEOSIS