permitted to carry the ark. The phrase “from your positions” is a reference to the specific locations that were assigned to the various tribes whenever they set up camp (cf. Num 2). 4 The people were warned to “keep a distance” away from the ark because it was very holy. To maintain this distance of about “a thousand yards” while crossing the Jordan, they would have had to cross one-half mile upstream or one-half mile downstream. It is reasonable to suppose that they maintained this distance only