CLAIM: This passage says that “the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day” (NASB). However, modern science teaches us that if the sun stood still, this would have major catastrophic effects on our planet.

RESPONSE: There are a couple of ways to interpret this passage that are held by Bible-believing scholars.

First, this was simply a supernatural miracle. If you do not believe in an all-powerful God, then miracles are impossible. However, if the Christian God exists, then slowing the rotation of the Earth would be no more difficult than slowing the rotation of a spinning basketball. Critics point out that if the Earth stopped rotating, animals and trees and everything else would fly off the surface at incredible speeds. However, if God could stop the Earth, perhaps he could slow everything else, as well. Advocates of this view argue that the Earth could have slowed to a stop, according to the text, rather than stopped on a dime.^[1]

In addition, advocates of this view claim that Egyptian, Chinese, and Hindu sources all speak of an extra long day,^[2] and some astronomers have noted that there is a missing day in our calendar.^[3] However, we cannot find sources which support these claims, and other Christians believe that they are most likely fraudulent.^[4]

Second, since this is perspectival language, it is possible that Joshua (and the people) only saw the sun in the sky. The Hebrew text does not say that a day lasted 48 hours. Instead, it says that the sun “stood still” and “stopped” in the sky “for about a whole day.” Advocates of this view argue that God may have used a type of cosmic refraction or cosmic mirror to make it appear as though there was sunlight. Geisler writes, “The Bible speaks in everyday observational language. So the sun did not actually stop; it only appeared to do so.”^[5]

Third, the language might refer to the blocking of the sun –not the stopping of the sun. The Hebrew word for “stood still” is dom, and the word for “stopped” is amad. Amad is used in Joshua 3:16 of the waters pouring out. Dom can also be translated as “silenced” or “ceased,” as in Leviticus 10:3 or Psalm 35:15.^[6]It could be that the sun stopped shining on the people, rather than stopped moving. In the heat of battle, it could be that Joshua commanded the sun to keep from shining. The sun was pouring down heat on the men, and he prayed that they could get some relief from the sun. Moreover, if the hailstorm was covering the sky, how could Joshua have seen the sun and moon anyway (Josh. 10:11)? While they would have had a relative sense of time passing, they did not have clocks at this time in history. And, in the heat of battle, they would not have been able to know how much time passed.