As in the time of Milchemes Ay, Hashem stopped the sun for 36 hours. Where else in Tanach did it happen? I need more then one.
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2Is this a riddle? meta.judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/139/…– Isaac Moses ♦Dec 25, 2012 at 2:33
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9Is this homework?– Seth JDec 25, 2012 at 2:41
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1The midrash says it happened to moshe during the wars with sichon and og. Does that count?– Double AA ♦Dec 25, 2012 at 2:44
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@Isaac Only as much as this is: judaism.stackexchange.com/q/11804/759– Double AA ♦Dec 25, 2012 at 2:50
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2@DoubleAA, ein; hachi nami– Isaac Moses ♦Dec 25, 2012 at 3:07
3 Answers
The verse immediately following Joshua's miracle states:
וְלֹא הָיָה כַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, לְפָנָיו וְאַחֲרָיו, לִשְׁמֹעַ יְהוָה, בְּקוֹל אִישׁ: כִּי יְהוָה, נִלְחָם לְיִשְׂרָאֵל.
And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man; for the LORD fought for Israel. (Joshua 10:14)
So it would seem it didn't happen any other time.
That said, the Talmud (Avoda Zara 25a) discusses two other times the sun stood still: once for Nakdimon ben Gurion (see Taanit 19b) and once for Moshe. Rashi in Avoda Zara understands this to be referring to the sun standing still during Moshe's battle with Sichon. Devarim Rabbah (to Parashat Va'etchannan) says that the sun stood still for Moshe on 5 occasions: the day of the Exodus, of the Splitting of the Sea, of the war with Amalek, of the Revelation at Mount Sinai, and of the crossing of the Arnon Valley.
It's worth noting that Ralbag in his commentary to Joshua (10:12) rejects that the sun stood still for Moshe, because that would be so great a miracle that the Torah, which is meant to inspire us, would certainly have told us about it. (More interestingly, he then rejects that the sun stood still for Joshua because that would make Joshua a greater prophet than Moshe. So he explains the verse to mean that the battle finished extremely quickly before the sun and moon made it to Givon and Emek Ayalon respectively.)
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Just based on what you write here, there's not necessarily a contradiction between the verse and the talmud. The verse says there was no other day when God hearkened unto the voice of a man; that doesn't preclude God from acting based on other prompts (or none at all). Unless the talmud says Moshe and Nakdimon asked God to do that? Dec 25, 2012 at 15:36
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@MonicaCellio Well, the Talmud answers the contradiction by saying the either the miracle for Joshua had the sun stand still for longer, or that there was some sort of super-hail that attacked the Emorite enemies at the time.– Double AA ♦Dec 25, 2012 at 15:37
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Just to add Hashem made the sun come out unnaturally earlier for Yaakov to cure his thigh Feb 21, 2019 at 23:35
12 Then spoke Joshua to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel; and he said in the sight of Israel: 'Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Aijalon.' 13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stayed in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
Immanuel Velikovsky is well known for writing on this topic, in his book Worlds in Collision. Velikovsky argues the position that described phenomenon, like the sun stopping, were astronomical realities.
I welcome more authoritative sources and references for Velikovsky.
References like this, I think, are not those for which @Curious is looking:
And when Jacob ceased praying to the Lord the earth shook from its place, and the sun darkened, and all these kings were terrified and a great consternation seized them. Jasher 37:17
I continue to look for work that can fill out this answer.
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3This is the incident mentioned in the question to which alternatives are sought.– Isaac Moses ♦Dec 25, 2012 at 5:48
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Is what you're trying to say by your reference to Immanuel Velikovsky that this, being an astronomical phenomenon, can be repeated? Anyhow, it wouldn't prove a reference in Tanach.– b aDec 25, 2012 at 5:57
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sorry, still building the rest of the list. My copy of World's in Collision is in a storage, where other references are readily indexed. Please excue the half-answer in the meantime. Dec 25, 2012 at 5:59
As Gerald Schroeder explained it to me in an email, the word with Joshua for the sun is dom which means became silent which means stops shining which implies an eclipse. It does not mean stands still. Aaron was dom when his 2 sons died. He was silent.
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2If there was an eclipse how was the moon in a different direction from the sun??– Double AA ♦Jan 28, 2019 at 2:45
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According to Ralbag, the sun did not stand still for Joshua since that would make him a greater prophet than Moshe. He thinks the verse explains that the fight was over before the sun and moon reached Givon and Emek Ayalon. Not sure where this comes from but I heard the story might have been a poem or song that Joshua sung about the sun standing still. I will update this when I find the source. Jan 28, 2019 at 2:52
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Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed 2:35, says that Joshua sang that the day appeared to be the longest day of the year. Jan 28, 2019 at 23:34