"Is there any evidence of an unusually long day as described in Joshua?"
"Joshua 10:12-14 At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel,
“Sun, stand still at Gibeon,
and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.”
And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel."
This event seems suspiciously absent from the stories of other ancient cultures during the same period. Wouldn't such a suspension of physics cause all sorts of other catastrophes around the world? Why is the sun described as having "stopped in the midst of heaven"? Is the sky the same thing as heaven? Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that the Earth stopped rotating on its axis? Why would God do this just to support the violence and killing perpetrated by Joshua? What is the Book of Jashar and why is it not included in the Bible?
Christian Answers:
- Creation Ministries: Joshua's Long Day
- Associates for Biblical Research: Joshua's Long Day and Mesopotamian Celestial Omen Texts
- Blue Letter Bible: Did the Sun Actually Stand Still in Joshua's Long Day?
- Bible Commentaries: Joshua 10:13
Secular Answers:
Referenced Verses:
Joshua 10:12, Joshua 10:13, Joshua 10:14