Joshua 3:2

After three days. At the close of the three days Joshua sent officers through the camp with a second proclamation. According to Joshua 4:19, the people crossed the Jordan on the 10th day of Abib, the 1st month. This was in the 41st year of the Exodus. The proclamation was therefore issued on the day preceding (Joshua 3:5), the 9th. The 9th was, in turn, the 3rd day after their march from Shittim to the Jordan (verse 2). According to Oriental reckoning (see page 136), that would place the arrival at Jordan on the 7th of the month, that is, the day after the spies returned to Shittim, the 6th of Abib (chapters 2:22, 23; 3:1).

Inasmuch as the spies returned 3 days after entering Jericho (chapter 2:2, 16, 22, 23), they had probably been sent out by Joshua on the 4th of the month, Oriental reckoning. But according to Patriarchs and Prophets 483, the instructions of chapter 1:10, 11, were issued upon the return of the spies, probably on the morning of the 7th (chapter 3:1). Chronologically, the account of the 2 spies in chapter 2 thus precedes the command of chapter 1:10, 11. The command of chapter 1:10, 11, was therefore given on either the 7th or the 8th, and that of chapter 3:2-5 on the 9th.