101 Myths of the Bible: how ancient scribes - Conscious Evolution TV

yth #82:
Joshua parted the Jordan.
The Myth: And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of
the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth
all his banks all the time of harvest,) That the waters which came down from
above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside
Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea,
failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho. ( Josh. 3:15)
The Reality: The story derived from a legend about the cult site of Gilgal and biblical
writers used it in an attempt to show that Joshua had as close a relationship with
God as did Moses.
Early in the story of Joshua, as he prepared to cross the Jordan into Canaan, a
miraculous event occurred. God directed him to have several priests carry the Ark of
the Covenant into the Jordan River. As they did, the waters parted and left a dry area
for the Israelites to cross over. The event parallels the splitting of the Red Sea during
the Exodus under Moses, and symbolically it demonstrates that Joshua is not only
heir to Moses but on a par with Moses before God.
The Bible has some contradictory information about this event. At one point, it
says that in order to commemorate the splitting of the Jordan, Joshua directed that
twelve stones be taken from the very spot where the priests stood in the Jordan and
carried to the site of the night’s lodging.
Take you hence out of the midst of Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet
stood firm, twelve stones, and ye shall carry them over with you, and leave them in
the lodging place, where ye shall lodge this night. ( Josh. 4:3)
But only a few verses later, the text says Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle
of the Jordan, in the very place where the priests stood, and that the stones can be seen
to this day:“And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the place where
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