Then said Joshua, Open the mouth of the cave, and bring forth those five kings to me out of the cave.
Several commentators have pointed out that the words `unto this very day,' which conclude this paragraph do not convey the meaning that any considerable time at all had passed before this passage was written.  In fact Keil even translated the words, thus: "They cast them into the cave where they had been hid, and where they had placed great stones until that very day."[34]  Plummer favored that rendition and pointed out that the passage refers to an interval of several days between the confinement of the kings in the cave and the day of their execution, in which case, "that very day" would be a reference to the day of their death.  The etiological supposition with reference to this phrase is in no sense applicable.