“Rolled away the reproach of Egypt”
Joshua 5:9
Foreign wordSettledGod
Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you. So that place has been called Gilgal to this day. (Joshua 5:9 BSB)
* Hebrew: Gilgal puns on galal, 'to roll'; the name memorializes God 'rolling away' Egypt's reproach, just after the new generation was circumcised at the border.
What it sounds like today
A place gets a name after a vague comment about disgrace.
The cultural key
The name Gilgal plays on the Hebrew galal, 'to roll,' commemorating the moment God 'rolled away the reproach of Egypt.' That reproach is the shame of slavery and, concretely, of the uncircumcision of the wilderness generation, which is why the scene follows the mass circumcision of the new generation at the edge of the land. Standing on the threshold of the promise, the people shed the disgrace of their old bondage and are given a fresh start, sealed in a place-name that means 'rolling.'
Recovered meaning
At the border of the promised land, God rolls away the lingering shame of slavery, and the place is named for the rolling. Israel steps into its inheritance with the reproach of Egypt left behind.
Parallels: Genesis 34:14; Joshua 5:2–3