Yosua 1:1--5:12
Konteks1:1 After Moses the Lord’s servant died, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant: 1:2 “Moses my servant is dead. Get ready! 1 Cross the Jordan River! 2 Lead these people into the land which I am ready to hand over to them. 3 1:3 I am handing over to you every place you set foot, as I promised Moses. 4 1:4 Your territory will extend from the wilderness in the south to Lebanon in the north. It will extend all the way to the great River Euphrates in the east (including all of Syria) 5 and all the way to the Mediterranean Sea 6 in the west. 7 1:5 No one will be able to resist you 8 all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not abandon you or leave you alone. 1:6 Be strong and brave! You must lead these people in the conquest of this land that I solemnly promised their ancestors I would hand over to them. 9 1:7 Make sure you are 10 very strong and brave! Carefully obey 11 all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep! 12 Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful 13 in all you do. 14 1:8 This law scroll must not leave your lips! 15 You must memorize it 16 day and night so you can carefully obey 17 all that is written in it. Then you will prosper 18 and be successful. 19 1:9 I repeat, 20 be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic, 21 for I, the Lord your God, am with you in all you do.” 22
1:10 Joshua instructed 23 the leaders of the people: 1:11 “Go through the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your supplies, for within three days you will cross the Jordan River and begin the conquest of the land the Lord your God is ready to hand over to you.’” 24
1:12 Joshua told the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh: 1:13 “Remember what Moses the Lord’s servant commanded you. 25 The Lord your God is giving you a place to settle and is handing this land over to you. 26 1:14 Your wives, children and cattle may stay in the land that Moses assigned to you east of the Jordan River. But all you warriors must cross over armed for battle ahead of your brothers. 27 You must help them 1:15 until the Lord gives your brothers a place like yours to settle and they conquer the land the Lord your God is ready to hand over to them. Then you may go back to your allotted land and occupy the land Moses the Lord’s servant assigned you east of the Jordan.” 28
1:16 They told Joshua, “We will do everything you say. We will go wherever you send us. 1:17 Just as we obeyed 29 Moses, so we will obey you. But 30 may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses! 1:18 Any man who rebels against what you say and does not obey all your commands will be executed. 31 But 32 be strong and brave!”
2:1 Joshua son of Nun sent two spies out from Shittim secretly and instructed them: 33 “Find out what you can about the land, especially Jericho.” 34 They stopped at the house of a prostitute named Rahab and spent the night there. 35 2:2 The king of Jericho received this report: “Note well! 36 Israelite men have come here tonight 37 to spy on the land.” 2:3 So the king of Jericho sent this order to Rahab: 38 “Turn over 39 the men who came to you 40 – the ones who came to your house 41 – for they have come to spy on the whole land!” 2:4 But the woman hid the two men 42 and replied, “Yes, these men were clients of mine, 43 but I didn’t know where they came from. 2:5 When it was time to shut the city gate for the night, the men left. 44 I don’t know where they were heading. Chase after them quickly, for you have time to catch them!” 2:6 (Now she had taken them up to the roof and had hidden them in the stalks of flax she had spread out 45 on the roof.) 2:7 Meanwhile 46 the king’s men tried to find them on the road to the Jordan River 47 near the fords. 48 The city gate was shut as soon as they set out in pursuit of them. 49
2:8 Now before the spies 50 went to sleep, Rahab 51 went up 52 to the roof. 2:9 She said to the men, “I know the Lord is handing this land over to you. 53 We are absolutely terrified of you, 54 and all who live in the land are cringing before 55 you. 56 2:10 For we heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you left Egypt and how you annihilated the two Amorite kings, Sihon and Og, on the other side of the Jordan. 57 2:11 When we heard the news we lost our courage and no one could even breathe for fear of you. 58 For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below! 2:12 So now, promise me this with an oath sworn in the Lord’s name. 59 Because I have shown allegiance to you, show allegiance to my family. 60 Give me a solemn pledge 61 2:13 that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them, and rescue us 62 from death.” 2:14 The men said to her, “If you 63 die, may we die too! 64 If you do not report what we’ve been up to, 65 then, when the Lord hands the land over to us, we will show unswerving allegiance 66 to you.” 67
2:15 Then Rahab 68 let them down by a rope 69 through the window. (Her 70 house was built as part of the city wall; she lived in the wall.) 71 2:16 She told them, “Head 72 to the hill country, so the ones chasing you don’t find you. 73 Hide from them there for three days, long enough for those chasing you 74 to return. Then you can be on your way.” 2:17 The men said to her, “We are not bound by this oath you made us swear unless the following conditions are met: 75 2:18 When we invade the land 76 , tie this red rope 77 in the window through which you let us down, and gather together in your house your father, mother, brothers, and all who live in your father’s house. 78 2:19 Anyone who leaves your house will be responsible for his own death – we are innocent in that case! 79 But if anyone with you in the house is harmed, we will be responsible. 80 2:20 If you should report what we’ve been up to, 81 we are not bound by this oath you made us swear.” 2:21 She said, “I agree to these conditions.” 82 She sent them on their way 83 and then tied the red rope in the window. 2:22 They went 84 to the hill country and stayed there for three days, long enough for those chasing them 85 to return. Their pursuers 86 looked all along the way but did not find them. 87 2:23 Then the two men returned – they came down from the hills, crossed the river, 88 came to Joshua son of Nun, and reported to him all they had discovered. 2:24 They told Joshua, “Surely the Lord is handing over all the land to us! 89 All who live in the land are cringing before us!” 90
3:1 Bright and early the next morning Joshua and the Israelites left Shittim and came to the Jordan. 91 They camped there before crossing the river. 92 3:2 After three days the leaders went through the camp 3:3 and commanded the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God 93 being carried by the Levitical priests, you must leave here 94 and walk 95 behind it. 3:4 But stay about three thousand feet behind it. 96 Keep your distance 97 so you can see 98 which way you should go, for you have not traveled this way before.”
3:5 Joshua told the people, “Ritually consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will perform miraculous deeds among you.” 3:6 Joshua told the priests, “Pick up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they picked up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.
3:7 The Lord told Joshua, “This very day I will begin to honor you before all Israel 99 so they will know that I am with you just as I was with Moses. 3:8 Instruct the priests carrying the ark of the covenant, ‘When you reach the bank of the Jordan River, 100 wade into the water.’” 101
3:9 Joshua told the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God!” 3:10 Joshua continued, 102 “This is how you will know the living God is among you and that he will truly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. 3:11 Look! The ark of the covenant of the Ruler 103 of the whole earth is ready to enter the Jordan ahead of you. 3:12 Now select for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one per tribe. 3:13 When the feet 104 of the priests carrying the ark of the Lord, the Ruler 105 of the whole earth, touch 106 the water of the Jordan, the water coming downstream toward you will stop flowing and pile up.” 107
3:14 So when the people left their tents to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went 108 ahead of them. 3:15 When the ones carrying the ark reached the Jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the ark touched the surface 109 of the water – (the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest time) 110 – 3:16 the water coming downstream toward them stopped flowing. 111 It piled up far upstream 112 at Adam (the city near Zarethan); there was no water at all flowing to the sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea). 113 The people crossed the river opposite Jericho. 114 3:17 The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan. All Israel crossed over on dry ground until the entire nation was on the other side. 115
4:1 When the entire nation was on the other side, 116 the Lord told Joshua, 4:2 “Select for yourselves twelve men from the people, one per tribe. 4:3 Instruct them, ‘Pick up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests 117 stand firmly, and carry them over with you and put them in the place where you camp tonight.’”
4:4 Joshua summoned the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one per tribe. 4:5 Joshua told them, “Go in front of the ark of the Lord your God to the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to put a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the Israelite tribes. 4:6 The stones 118 will be a reminder to you. 119 When your children ask someday, ‘Why are these stones important to you?’ 4:7 tell them how the water of the Jordan stopped flowing 120 before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the water of the Jordan stopped flowing. 121 These stones will be a lasting memorial for the Israelites.”
4:8 The Israelites did just as Joshua commanded. They picked up twelve stones, according to the number of the Israelite tribes, from the middle of the Jordan as the Lord had instructed Joshua. They carried them over with them to the camp and put them there. 4:9 Joshua also set up twelve stones 122 in the middle of the Jordan in the very place where the priests carrying the ark of the covenant stood. They remain there to this very day.
4:10 Now the priests carrying the ark of the covenant were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people was accomplished, in accordance with all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people went across quickly, 4:11 and when all the people had finished crossing, the ark of the Lord and the priests crossed as the people looked on. 123 4:12 The Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed for battle ahead of the Israelites, just as Moses had instructed them. 4:13 About forty thousand battle-ready troops 124 marched past the Lord to fight 125 on the plains of Jericho. 126 4:14 That day the Lord brought honor to Joshua before all Israel. They respected 127 him all his life, 128 just as they had respected 129 Moses.
4:15 The Lord told Joshua, 4:16 “Instruct the priests carrying the ark of the covenantal laws 130 to come up from the Jordan.” 4:17 So Joshua instructed the priests, “Come up from the Jordan!” 4:18 The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the middle of the Jordan, and as soon as they set foot on dry land, 131 the water of the Jordan flowed again and returned to flood stage. 132
4:19 The people went up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month 133 and camped in Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 134 4:20 Now Joshua set up in Gilgal the 135 twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan. 4:21 He told the Israelites, “When your children someday ask their fathers, ‘What do these stones represent?’ 136 4:22 explain 137 to your children, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan River 138 on dry ground.’ 4:23 For the Lord your God dried up the water of the Jordan before you while you crossed over. It was just like when the Lord your God dried up the Red Sea before us while we crossed it. 139 4:24 He has done this so 140 all the nations 141 of the earth might recognize the Lord’s power 142 and so you might always obey 143 the Lord your God.”
5:1 When all the Amorite kings on the west side of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the seacoast heard how the Lord had dried up the water of the Jordan before the Israelites while they 144 crossed, they lost their courage and could not even breathe for fear of the Israelites. 145
5:2 At that time the Lord told Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites once again.” 146 5:3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites on the Hill of the Foreskins. 147 5:4 This is why Joshua had to circumcise them: All the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt died on the journey through the desert after they left Egypt. 148 5:5 Now 149 all the men 150 who left were circumcised, but all the sons 151 born on the journey through the desert after they left Egypt were uncircumcised. 5:6 Indeed, for forty years the Israelites traveled through the desert until all the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt, the ones who had disobeyed the Lord, died off. 152 For the Lord had sworn a solemn oath to them that he would not let them see the land he had sworn on oath to give them, 153 a land rich in 154 milk and honey. 5:7 He replaced them with their sons, 155 whom Joshua circumcised. They were uncircumcised; their fathers had not circumcised them along the way. 5:8 When all the men 156 had been circumcised, they stayed there in the camp until they had healed. 5:9 The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have taken away 157 the disgrace 158 of Egypt from you.” So that place is called Gilgal 159 even to this day.
5:10 So the Israelites camped in Gilgal and celebrated the Passover in the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the plains of Jericho. 160 5:11 They ate some of the produce of the land the day after the Passover, including unleavened bread and roasted grain. 161 5:12 The manna stopped appearing the day they ate 162 some of the produce of the land; the Israelites never ate manna again. 163
[1:2] 2 tn Heb “this Jordan”; the word “River” has been supplied in the translation for clarity (likewise in v. 11).
[1:2] 3 tc Heb “Cross over this Jordan, you and all these people, to the land that I am giving to them, to the children of Israel.” The final phrase, “to the children of Israel,” is probably a later scribal addition specifying the identity of “these people/them.”
[1:3] 4 tn Heb “Every place on which the sole of your foot walks, to you I have given it, as I said to Moses.” The second person pronouns in vv. 3-4 are plural, indicating that all the people are addressed here. The verbal form נְתַתִּיו (nÿtattiv, “I have given it”) is probably a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of the action. Another option is to translate, “I have already assigned it.” In this case the verb would probably refer to the
[1:4] 5 tn Heb “all the land of the Hittites.” The expression “the land of the Hittites” does not refer to Anatolia (modern Turkey), where the ancient Hittite kingdom of the second millennium
[1:4] 6 tn Heb “the Great Sea,” the typical designation for the Mediterranean Sea.
[1:4] 7 tn Heb “From the wilderness and this Lebanon even to the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, even to the great sea [at] the place where the sun sets, your territory will be.”
[1:5] 8 tn Heb “A man will not stand before you.” The second person pronouns in this verse are singular, indicating Joshua is the addressee.
[1:6] 9 tn Heb “For you will cause these people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give to them.” The pronoun “them” at the end of the verse refers to either the people or to the fathers.
[1:7] 11 tn Heb “so you can be careful to do.” The use of the infinitive לִשְׁמֹר (lishmor, “to keep”) after the imperatives suggests that strength and bravery will be necessary for obedience. Another option is to take the form לִשְׁמֹר as a vocative lamed (ל) with imperative (see Isa 38:20 for an example of this construction), which could be translated, “Indeed, be careful!”
[1:7] 12 tn Heb “commanded you.”
[1:7] 13 tn Heb “be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.
[1:7] 14 tn Heb “in all which you go.”
[1:8] sn This law scroll must not leave your lips. The ancient practice of reading aloud to oneself as an aid to memorization is in view here.
[1:8] 16 tn Heb “read it in undertones,” or “recite it quietly” (see HALOT 1:237).
[1:8] 17 tn Heb “be careful to do.”
[1:8] 18 tn Heb “you will make your way prosperous.”
[1:8] 19 tn Heb “and be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.
[1:9] 20 tn Heb “Have I not commanded you?” The rhetorical question emphasizes the importance of the following command by reminding the listener that it is being repeated.
[1:9] 21 tn Or perhaps, “don’t get discouraged!”
[1:9] 22 tn Heb “in all which you go.”
[1:11] 24 tn Heb “to enter to possess the land which the
[1:13] 25 tn Heb “remember the word which Moses, the
[1:13] sn This command can be found in Deut 3:18-20. In vv. 13-15 Joshua paraphrases the command, as the third person reference to Moses in v. 14 indicates.
[1:13] 26 tn Heb “is providing rest for you and is giving to you this land.”
[1:13] sn “This land” refers to the trans-Jordanian lands allotted to these tribes.
[1:14] 27 tn Heb “But you must cross over armed for battle before your brothers, all [you] mighty men of strength.”
[1:15] 28 tn Heb “Then you may return to the land of your possession and possess it, that which Moses, the
[1:17] 29 tn Heb “listened to.”
[1:17] 30 tn Or “Only.” Here and in v. 18 this word qualifies what precedes (see also v. 7).
[1:18] 31 tn Heb “any man who rebels against your mouth and does not listen to your words, to all which you command us, will be put to death.”
[1:18] 32 tn Or “Only.” Here and in v. 17 this word qualifies what precedes (see also v. 7).
[2:1] 33 tn Heb “Joshua, son of Nun, sent from Shittim two men, spies, secretly, saying.”
[2:1] 34 tn Heb “go, see the land, and Jericho.”
[2:1] map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.
[2:1] 35 tn Heb “they went and entered the house of a woman, a prostitute, and her name was Rahab, and they slept there.”
[2:2] 37 tn Heb “men have come here tonight from the sons of Israel.”
[2:3] 38 tn Heb “and the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying.”
[2:3] 40 tn The idiom “come to” (בוֹא אֶל, bo’ ’el) probably has sexual connotations here, as it often does elsewhere when a man “comes to” a woman. If so, the phrase could be translated “your clients.” The instructions reflect Rahab’s perspective as to the identity of the men.
[2:3] 41 tn The words “the ones who came to your house” (Heb “who came to your house”) may be a euphemistic scribal addition designed to blur the sexual connotation of the preceding words.
[2:4] 42 tn Heb “The woman took the two men and hid him.” The third masculine singular pronominal suffix on “hid” has to be a scribal error (see GKC §135.p).
[2:4] 43 tn Heb “the men came to me.” See the note on this phrase in v. 3.
[2:5] 44 tn Heb “And the gate was to be shut in the darkness and the men went out.”
[2:6] 45 tn Heb “arranged in rows by her.”
[2:7] 46 tn Another way to translate vv. 6-7 would be, “While she took them up to the roof and hid them…, the king’s men tried to find them….” Both of the main clauses have the subject prior to the predicate, perhaps indicating simultaneous action. (On the grammatical point, see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 42, §235.) In this case Rahab moves the Israelite spies from the hiding place referred to in v. 4 to a safer and less accessible hiding place.
[2:7] 47 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarity.
[2:7] 48 tn Heb “And the men chased after them [on] the road [leading to] the Jordan to the fords.” The text is written from the perspective of the king’s men. As far as they were concerned, they were chasing the spies.
[2:7] 49 tn Heb “And they shut the gate after – as soon as the ones chasing after them went out.” The expressions “after” and “as soon as” may represent a conflation of alternate readings.
[2:8] 51 tn Heb “she”; the referent (Rahab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:8] 52 tn The Hebrew text adds, “to them.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has not been translated.
[2:9] 53 tn Heb “has given the land to you.” Rahab’s statement uses the Hebrew perfect, suggesting certitude.
[2:9] 54 tn Heb “terror of you has fallen upon us.”
[2:9] 55 tn Or “melting away because of.”
[2:9] 56 tn Both of these statements are actually subordinated to “I know” in the Hebrew text, which reads, “I know that the
[2:10] 57 tn Heb “and what you did to the two Amorite kings who were beyond the Jordan, Sihon and Og, how you annihilated them.”
[2:11] 58 tn Heb “And we heard and our heart[s] melted and there remained no longer breath in a man because of you.”
[2:12] 59 tn Heb “Now, swear to me by the
[2:12] sn To swear an oath in the
[2:12] 60 tn Heb “with the house of my father.”
[2:12] 61 tn Heb “true sign,” that is, “an inviolable token or pledge.”
[2:14] 63 tn The second person pronoun is masculine plural, indicating that Rahab’s entire family is in view.
[2:14] 64 tn Heb “Our lives in return for you to die.” If the lives of Rahab’s family are not spared, then the spies will pay for the broken vow with their own lives.
[2:14] 65 tn Heb “If you do not report this matter of ours.”
[2:14] 66 tn Heb “allegiance and faithfulness.” These virtual synonyms are joined in the translation as “unswerving allegiance” to emphasize the degree of promised loyalty.
[2:14] 67 tn The second person pronoun is feminine singular, referring specifically to Rahab.
[2:15] 68 tn Heb “she”; the referent (Rahab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[2:15] 69 tc The phrase “by a rope” is omitted in the LXX. It may be a later clarifying addition. If original, the omission in the LXX is likely due to an error of homoioarcton. A scribe’s or translator’s eye could have jumped from the initial ב (bet) in the phrase בַּחֶבֶל (bakhevel, “with a rope”) to the initial ב on the immediately following בְּעַד (bÿ’ad, “through”) and accidentally omitted the intervening letters.
[2:15] 70 tn Heb “For her house.”
[2:15] 71 tc These explanatory statements are omitted in the LXX and probably represent a later scribal addition.
[2:16] 73 tn Heb “so that the pursuers might not meet you.”
[2:16] 74 tn Heb “the pursuers.” The object (“you”) is not in the Hebrew text but is implied.
[2:17] 75 tn Heb “We are free from this oath of yours which you made us swear.” The words “unless the following conditions are met” are not in the Hebrew text, but are added for clarification.
[2:18] 76 tn Heb “Look! We are about to enter the land.”
[2:18] 77 tn Heb “the cord of this red thread.”
[2:18] 78 tn Heb “and your father and your mother and your brothers and all the house of your father gather to yourself to the house.”
[2:19] 79 tn Heb “Anyone who goes out from the doors of your house to the outside, his blood is on his head. We are innocent.”
[2:19] 80 tn Heb “But anyone who is with you in the house, his blood is on our head if a hand should be on him.”
[2:20] 81 tn Heb “and if you report this matter of ours.”
[2:21] 82 tn Heb “According to your words, so it [will be].”
[2:21] 83 tn Heb “she sent them away and they went.”
[2:22] 84 tn Heb “they went and came.”
[2:22] 85 tn Heb “the pursuers.” The object (“them”) is added for clarification.
[2:22] 86 tn Heb “the ones chasing them.” This has been rendered as “their pursuers” in the translation to avoid redundancy with the preceding clause.
[2:22] 87 tn Heb “The pursuers looked in all the way and did not find [them].”
[2:23] 88 tn The words “the river,” though not in the Hebrew text, are added for clarification.
[2:24] 89 tn Heb “Surely the
[2:24] 90 tn Heb “are melting away because of us.”
[3:1] 91 tn Heb “And Joshua arose early in the morning and he and the Israelites left Shittim and came to the Jordan.”
[3:1] 92 tn The words “the river,” though not in the Hebrew text, have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[3:3] 93 sn The ark of the covenant refers to the wooden chest that symbolized God’s presence among his covenant people.
[3:3] 94 tn Heb “set out from your place.”
[3:4] 96 tn Heb “But there should be a distance between you and it, about two thousand cubits in measurement.”
[3:4] sn The precise distance is uncertain, but the measurement designated אַמָּה (’ammah, “cubit”) was probably equivalent to approximately eighteen inches (one and one-half feet, or 45 cm) in length.
[3:4] 97 tn Heb “do not approach it.”
[3:7] 99 tn Or more literally, “to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel.”
[3:8] 100 tn Heb “the edge of the waters of the Jordan.” The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied for clarity.
[3:8] 101 tn Heb “stand in the Jordan.” Here the repetition of the word “Jordan” would be redundant according to contemporary English style, so it was not included in the translation.
[3:11] 103 tn Or “Lord”; or “Master.”
[3:13] 104 tn Heb “the soles of the feet.”
[3:13] 105 tn Or “Lord”; or “Master.”
[3:13] 107 tn Heb “the waters of the Jordan, the waters descending from above, will be cut off so that they will stand in one pile.”
[3:14] 108 tn The verb, though not in the Hebrew, is added for clarification.
[3:15] 109 tn Heb “dipped into the edge.”
[3:15] 110 tn Heb “and the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest.”
[3:15] sn The lengthy description of the priests’ arrival at the Jordan and the parenthetical reminder that the Jordan was at flood stage delay the climax of the story and add to its dramatic buildup.
[3:16] 111 tn Heb “the waters descending from above stood still.”
[3:16] 112 tn Heb “they stood in one pile very far away.”
[3:16] 113 tn Heb “the [waters] descending toward the sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) were completely cut off.”
[3:16] sn The Salt Sea is an ancient name for the Dead Sea.
[3:16] 114 map For the location of Jericho see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.
[3:17] 115 tn Heb “and all Israel was crossing over on dry ground until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.”
[4:1] 116 tn Heb “And when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.”
[4:3] 117 tn Heb “the feet of the priests.”
[4:6] 118 tn Heb “that this may be”; the referent of “this” (the twelve stones) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:6] 119 tn Heb “in order that this might be a sign among you.”
[4:7] 120 tn Heb “were cut off from before.”
[4:7] 121 tn Heb “how the waters descending from above stood still.”
[4:9] 122 tn Here “also” has been supplied in the translation to make it clear (as indicated by v. 20) that these are not the same stones the men took from the river bed.
[4:11] 123 tn Heb “in the presence of the people.”
[4:13] 124 tn Heb “men equipped for battle.”
[4:13] 126 map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.
[4:14] 128 tn Heb “all the days of his life.”
[4:14] 129 tn Heb “had feared.”
[4:16] 130 tn Traditionally, “the ark of the testimony,” another name for the ark of the covenant. The Hebrew term עֵדוּת (’edut, “testimony” or “witness”) here refers to the Mosaic covenant and the body of stipulations contained within it (see HALOT 2:791).
[4:18] 131 tn Heb “and the soles of the feet of the priests were brought up to the dry land.”
[4:18] 132 tn Heb “and the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and went as formerly over their banks.”
[4:18] sn Verses 15-18 give a more detailed account of the priests’ crossing that had been briefly described in v. 11.
[4:19] 133 sn The first month was the month Abib (= late March-early April in the modern calendar). The Passover in Egypt also occurred on the tenth day of the first month (Exod 12:2; 13:4).
[4:19] 134 map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.
[4:20] 135 tn Heb “these,” referring specifically to the twelve stones mentioned in vv. 3-7.
[4:21] 136 tn Heb “What are these stones?”
[4:22] 137 tn Heb “make known.”
[4:22] 138 tn Heb “crossed this Jordan”; the word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied to clarify the meaning.
[4:23] 139 tn Heb “just as the
[4:24] 140 tn Heb “in order that.”
[4:24] 142 tn Heb “know the hand of the
[5:1] 144 tc Another textual tradition has, “while we crossed.”
[5:1] 145 tn Heb “their heart[s] melted and there was no longer in them breathe because of the sons of Israel.”
[5:2] 146 tn Heb “return, circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” The Hebrew term שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) is used here in an adverbial sense to indicate the repetition of an action.
[5:3] 147 tn Or “Gibeath Haaraloth.” This name means “Hill of the Foreskins.” Many modern translations simply give the Hebrew name, although an explanatory note giving the meaning of the name is often included.
[5:3] sn The name given to the place, Hill of the Foreskins was an obvious reminder of this important event.
[5:4] 148 tn Heb “All the people who went out from Egypt, the males, all the men of war, died in the desert in the way when they went out from Egypt.”
[5:5] 151 tn Heb “all the people.”
[5:6] 152 tn Heb “all the nation, the men of war who went out from Egypt, who did not listen to the voice of the
[5:6] 153 tn Some Hebrew
[5:6] 154 tn Heb “flowing with.”
[5:6] sn The word picture a land rich in milk and honey depicts the land as containing many grazing areas (which would produce milk) and flowering plants (which would support the bees that produced honey).
[5:7] 155 tn Heb “their sons he raised up in their place.”
[5:9] 157 tn Heb “rolled away.”
[5:9] 158 sn One might take the disgrace of Egypt as a reference to their uncircumcised condition (see Gen 34:14), but the generation that left Egypt was circumcised (see v. 5). It more likely refers to the disgrace they experienced in Egyptian slavery. When this new generation reached the promised land and renewed their covenantal commitment to the Lord by submitting to the rite of circumcision, the
[5:9] 159 sn The name Gilgal sounds like the Hebrew verb “roll away” (גַּלַל, galal).
[5:10] 160 map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.
[5:11] 161 tn The Hebrew text adds, “on this same day.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has not been translated.
[5:12] 162 tn Heb “the day after, when they ate.” The present translation assumes this means the day after the Passover, though it is possible it refers to the day after they began eating the land’s produce.
[5:12] 163 tn Heb “and the sons of Israel had no more manna.”
