The river Jordan miraculously stopped for a while, so that the Israelites could cross it.

Of course, rivers don’t just stop. Least of all the mighty river Jordan!

‘Oh, but that’s why it was a miracle’, you say.

Another, more likely explanation is that the ‘miracle’ was made up later on, when the Book of Joshua was written (which was more than 500 years later, bible scholars believe).

In biblical times, the opening up of waters for holy people was a well-tested literary means. A cliche, almost.

You could compare it to the ominously swelling music we hear in Hollywood movies today when the good guy enters the stage. We instantly know: here’s the good guy.

Back in biblical times, everyone reading the bible would have known: hey, splitting waters – here come the holy guys!

Of course, Joshua’s predecessor Moses had seen the Sea of Reeds split up in front of him. And many centuries later, John would apply the water-passing metafor again to Jesus: in the New Testament, we find Jesus strolling on the Lake of Galilee.

In fact, any decent holy guy with a little self-respect had a story about splitting water to tell!

Patrick J. Madde: “Jesus’ walking on the sea” (PhD thesis, Catholic University of America, 1997)