Scientists 'Confirm' Old Testament Account of Sun Standing Still During Battle in Joshua 10: It's Due to Total Solar Eclipse
The day the sun "miraculously" stood still, which enabled the Israelites to achieve one of their epic battlefield victories as described in the Old Testament, has reportedly been confirmed by Israeli scientists.
Scientists have announced that the event described in Chapter 10 of the Book of Joshua is a total solar eclipse, the Times of Israel reported.
Three scientists from Beersheba's Ben Gurion University, in a newly published paper, even pinpointed the exact date and time when this event took place: Oct. 30, 1207 B.C.E, at 4:28 p.m.
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The researchers said they used NASA data to come up with their findings.
According to Scripture, Joshua—the man appointed by God to succeed Moses as leader of the Israelites—prayed to God for help in defeating the five armies besieging the people of Gibeon, whom he had promised to protect.
As written in Joshua 10:12–14:
"On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel:
'Sun, stand still over Gibeon,
and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.'
So the sun stood still,
and the moon stopped,
till the nation avenged itself on its enemies,
as it is written in the Book of Jashar.
The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!"
The researchers said the mention of the moon in the event led them to the conclusion that it referred to a solar eclipse, during which the moon passes in between the sun and the earth, blocking the sunlight.
The scientists found out that there was only one total solar eclipse that occurred in the region between the years 1500-1000 BCE, when the Israelites were believed to have entered the Promised Land.
The eclipse allowed them to put a date and even the precise time when the battle took place as described in the Scripture. Their findings were published in the latest edition of "Beit Mikra: Journal for the Study of the Bible and Its World."
However, Got Questions Ministries (GQM) pointed out a weakness in the contention that a solar eclipse caused the sun to stand still during the battle for Gibeon.
It says an eclipse typically lasts for just minutes rather than hours or a "full day" as mentioned in Joshua 10:12–14.
"Probably the best explanation is simply to take Joshua 10 at face value—God performed a stupendous miracle, causing the sun to delay its 'setting,'" GQM says.
It acknowledges that people may object to this explanation based on science. "But the God who created the world and established natural laws is perfectly capable of compensating for any collateral complications. We may not have a scientific explanation of how God performed this miracle, but He did," it states.
