Joshua 5:4 — Meaning and Application

At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. {sharp...: or, knives of flints}

And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. {sharp...: or, knives of flints} {the hill...: or, Gibeah-haaraloth}

And this {is} the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, {that were} males, {even} all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt.

Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people {that were} born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, {them} they had not circumcised.

For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people {that were} men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey.