33 All Israel with their elders and officers and their judges were standing on both e sides e of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord , the stranger as well as the native . Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal , just as Moses the servant of the Lord had given command at first to bless the people of Israel .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Joshua 8:33
Commentary on Joshua 8:30-35
(Read Joshua 8:30-35)
As soon as Joshua got to the mountains Ebal and Gerizim, without delay, and without caring for the unsettled state of Israel, or their enemies, he confirmed the covenant of the Lord with his people, as appointed, Matthew 6:33. They built an altar, and offered sacrifice to God, in token of their dedicating themselves to God, as living sacrifices to his honour, in and by a Mediator. By Christ's sacrifice of himself for us, we have peace with God. It is a great mercy to any people to have the law of God in writing, and it is fit that the written law should be in a known tongue, that it may be seen and read of all men.