Solving the Mystery of the Sun Standing Still in Gibeon? When Torah and Science Meet

Tomer asks: "Hello. When Joshua fought the Philistines at Gilgal, it is said 'Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and Moon in the Valley of Aijalon.' The sun stopped in its place and did not set, allowing the Israelites to win the battle. Yet we know the sun does not actually move, and it is the Earth that rotates on its axis. So how exactly did this miracle of the sun standing still happen? Did the world stop rotating? Thank you very much."

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Hello and blessings to you, Tomer, and thank you for your question.

In the book of Joshua, it is stated: "Then spoke Joshua to Hashem... and he said in the sight of Israel: Sun, stand still at Gibeon and Moon in the Valley of Aijalon" (Joshua 10:12). The expression "in the sight of Israel" indicates that this statement was made from a human perspective, as it should be, because as human beings, we see the sun rise and set from Earth, not from outer space. Scientifically as well, the center point is determined by the observer's location (Theory of Relativity). We've elaborated on this explanation in a previous article titled "Does the World Revolve Around the Sun According to Judaism?" (issue 218, Lech Lecha)

From these points, we can understand that the way the miracle is described in the book of Joshua was not meant to inform us about how the miracle happened from an astronomical viewpoint, but rather to describe how the miracle appeared to all those who were in Gibeon. There is no doubt that the lengthening of the day was a visible miracle performed by Hashem in view of millions of people in the battle. Scientifically, there are many possible explanations for how the miracle occurred within our physical reality. These include:

1. The most difficult possibility to explain scientifically is that Hashem stopped our entire solar system from moving, and simultaneously prevented gravitational forces from destroying life on Earth (since a sudden stop of Earth is supposed to cause a massive movement of seas over continents, similar to a car stopping abruptly with a sudden brake). Hashem controls all reality and can do everything; nothing is too wonderful for Hashem! However, such a possibility requires answers to many complex technical questions and is not simple to comprehend scientifically. The Abarbanel interpreted the miracle in this way, literally.

2. The possibility most suitable to our scientific knowledge is that Hashem stopped time. In recent generations, science has discovered that time is relative. For example, we now know it takes eight minutes for sunlight to reach Earth's surface (meaning if the sun suddenly vanished from space, we would continue to see the sun in the sky for a full eight minutes without change and it would continue illuminating us during that time!). Therefore, time depends on the speed of light. According to Einstein's Theory of Relativity, two people at different speeds actually exist at different times from each other. An astronaut traveling near the speed of light, returning after just a few days to Earth, would find that decades had passed in his absence because time is relative and depends on the speed at which an observer is located. Since Hashem controls time and its speed, Hashem can change the speed of light everywhere - slowing down or speeding up time in different places within our solar system. This way, we can understand the miracle according to the interpretation of Rabbi Hasdai Crescas, where the sun's movement in the sky slowed for a certain time ("perhaps not even for half an hour," as he put it), and his evidence is the words "and did not hasten" (Joshua 10:13) meaning the sun's movement slowed - but did not stop completely. It is possible the flow of time slowed on Earth for the combatants in Gibeon - that sunlight simply "lingered" in our atmosphere, even though in space, the celestial bodies continued moving normally.

3. Another possibility is that Hashem created an artificial and temporary light in our reality, which was placed in the geographic area of Gibeon to illuminate the combatants in the battle. The sages described a special light that Hashem created in the creation of the world, which was then reserved for the righteous (Chagigah 12a). It might be suggested that Hashem created a similar spiritual light for the warriors in Gibeon.

4. A possibility closest to nature, but appearing strained by the plain text, is that Hashem created a vision of the sun at Gibeon for the masses of people fighting there. In other words, the light was visible only to the millions of combatants so they could continue fighting and defeat their enemies in battle. This seems to be the interpretation of the Ralbag. Similarly, the words of the Maharal (in Gevurot Hashem, second introduction) imply: "For the standing (of the sun) was only for Joshua and his people, and likewise for people in that horizon, and for others the sun moved in its usual way, and this is more wonder and wonder, for for Joshua and his people it stood in this way, and for others it moved another way... If it is asked how this can be imagined that the sun moves and stands at the same time... it is possible and can be that the sun moves by its accustomed manner, and has a stationary aspect toward the miracle."

Despite the different interpretations of the miracle in our reality, there is clear agreement on what was viewed by all of Israel, meaning that if we ourselves had been in Gibeon during Joshua's battle, we would undoubtedly have seen the sun stop in the sky in a supernatural way, just as the millions of people present saw it. It was only due to this remarkable miracle that the Israelites defeated their enemies in battle. This is thus the proof of a true miracle: it happens before millions of eyewitnesses and has the power to alter the course of history!