After crossing the Jordan, God tells Joshua to set up twelve stones in memory of the crossing. Joshua gets twelve men, one from each tribe, and has them go back into the Jordan to take one stone each from the area where the priests are standing with the ark (which is still holding back the river). They set up the stones in the new camp, to remind their descendants of their miraculous crossing. This circle of stones would be known as Gigal, and later became an important religious center for the Israelites.
There seems to be two sets of stones mentioned. Joshua 4:9 says that Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the river, and that "they are there to this day." Is he replacing the twelve stones that were set up at Gigal? Or is this an older legend that was merged with the one which describes Gigal?
After all the Israelites cross the Jordan (the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manesseh going first), there was an Israelite army 40,000 strong waiting to attack Jericho. God exalts Joshua before Israel, and they are in awe of him, and then he commands the priests to come out of the Jordan with the ark. As soon as the priests cross, the river falls back into place.
Chapter 5 opens begins by describing how all the kings of the Amorites and the Canaanites were terrified of the Israelites, because they had heard of how the Jordan had been parted for them. Word seems to travel incredibly fast; are Canaanites and Israelites talking to each other? It seems more like this was just a way for the writing to emphasis how powerful the Israelites were.
God tells Joshua to circumcise the Israelites again, for though the ones who had come out of Egypt had been circumcised, they had all been killed by God in the desert. The current Israelites were the children of the Exodus generation, and needed to be circumcised before God would give Canaan to them. Joshua makes flint knives and has them all circumcised. I assume that he delegated this task, as circumcising at least 40,000 men by himself would probably take awhile. Afterwards, they remain camped at Gigal until they finished healing.
The place where Joshua circumcised at least 40,000 men is named as Gibeath-haaraloth, which translates to "The Hill of Foreskins." I can't imagine why the translators generally keep the Hebrew word instead.
On "the fourteenth day of the month" (Josh. 5:10), the Israelites keep the Passover. The next day, they begin to eat the food that the land Canaan itself provides them. Manna, which had long kept them alive during their trek through the desert, stopped falling from the sky on that day. It seems like they were happy about the change, as the verse is written like the change is a reason for celebration.
Joshua, while planning the seige of Jericho, is visited by the "commander of the army of The Lord." Joshua falls to the ground and worships, and is told to remove his sandals, because he is on holy ground.
This seems to come from a time when Yahweh's court was still composed of other deities. While later books would somewhat demote beings such as the commander of the army of Yahweh to mere angels, or messengers, there seems to be a definite distinction in the earlier texts. Note that the verse does not say that Joshua worships God, or The Lord; it is almost implied that the commander-entity is worthy of Joshua's worship. (Of course, there is no question that the commander-entity is a lesser being, and entirely subservient to Yahweh.)
Chapter 6 begins with the siege of Jericho. The city is locked up tight as to defend against the army of 40,000 blessed soldiers, but God tells Joshua his plan to destroy the city. Joshua is to march around the city with his entire army. They should be led by the priests carrying the ark, which will in turn be led by seven priests carrying ram horns. After seven days, the priests will blow the ram horn trumpets and the entire army should shout, which should knock down the walls of Jericho. Joshua follows this plan, making sure that until the seventh day shout, no one makes a noise.
The plan works perfectly, and the walls collapse. Joshua makes sure that the soldiers know not to kill Rahab or anyone inside her house, and that they should not loot things "devoted to destruction" (6:18). Also, everything made of gold, silver, bronze, or iron should be considered sacred to The Lord, and put in The Lord's treasury. "Then they devoted to destruction by the edge of the sword all in the city, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys" (6:21).
Rahab and her family are brought out of their home by the spies who first met her, and the Israelites burn the entirety of Jericho to the ground. Everything except the gold, silver, bronze, and iron is destroyed utterly. When the Israelites conquer a city, they do not play around. Rahab and her family join the Israelites, and their descendants are considered part of the nation.
Joshua ends the chapter by swearing an oath to kill the firstborn and the youngest of anyone who ever tries to rebuild Jericho.
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