And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel.
The stones were plastered white so the writing stood out sharply, a memorial to guard Israel's pure worship against Egyptian superstition. Not the whole Law fit there, I mean its substance and core commands, so that even a stranger entering the land could read what God was worshipped here. The stones themselves spoke plainly what the priests might have left unsaid.
AI summary
Here Israel stops its victories cold to offer sacrifice and hear the Law read aloud, blessing and cursing together. You might expect them to push on into Canaan while they held the advantage; instead they march away to do what Moses commanded. This shows their zeal for God's honour outweighed even the hunger for war and land.
AI summary
Commenting on Joshua 8:30-35
He inscribed not the whole of Deuteronomy on those plastered stones, but an abstract, likely the Decalogue itself, or the blessings and curses that Joshua was about to read. The children of Israel stood witness that he obeyed what the Lord had commanded through Moses.
AI summary