Yosua 7:17-18

7:17 He then made the clans of Judah approach and the clan of the Zerahites was selected. He made the clan of the Zerahites approach and Zabdi ¹  was selected. ²  7:18 He then made Zabdi’s ³  family approach man by man ⁴  and Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, was selected.

Yosua 7:1

Achan Sins and is Punished

7:1 But the Israelites disobeyed the command about the city’s riches. ⁵  Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, ⁶  son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, stole some of the riches. ⁷  The Lord was furious with the Israelites. ⁸ 

1 Samuel 10:19-21

10:19 But today you have rejected your God who saves you from all your trouble and distress. You have said, “No! ⁹  Appoint a king over us.” Now take your positions before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans.’”

10:20 Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by lot. 10:21 Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the family of Matri was chosen by lot. At last Saul son of Kish was chosen by lot. But when they looked for him, he was nowhere to be found.

1 Samuel 14:38-42

14:38 Then Saul said, “All you leaders of the army come here. Find out ¹⁰  how this sin occurred today. 14:39 For as surely as the Lord, the deliverer of Israel, lives, even if it turns out to be my own son Jonathan, he will certainly die!” But no one from the army said anything. ¹¹ 

14:40 Then he said to all Israel, “You will be on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will be on the other side.” The army replied to Saul, “Do whatever you think is best.”

14:41 Then Saul said, “O Lord God of Israel! If this sin has been committed by me or by my son Jonathan, then, O Lord God of Israel, respond with Urim. But if this sin has been committed by your people Israel, respond with Thummim.” ¹²  Then Jonathan and Saul were indicated by lot, while the army was exonerated. ¹³  14:42 Then Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan!” ¹⁴  Jonathan was indicated by lot.

Amsal 16:33

16:33 The dice are thrown into the lap, ¹⁵ 

but their every decision ¹⁶  is from the Lord. ¹⁷ 

Yunus 1:7

1:7 The sailors said to one another, ¹⁸  “Come on, let’s cast lots ¹⁹  to find out ²⁰  whose fault it is that this disaster has overtaken us. ²¹ ” So they cast lots, and Jonah was singled out. ²² 

Kisah Para Rasul 1:24-26

1:24 Then they prayed, ²³  “Lord, you know the hearts of all. Show us which one of these two you have chosen 1:25 to assume the task ²⁴  of this service ²⁵  and apostleship from which Judas turned aside ²⁶  to go to his own place.” ²⁷  1:26 Then ²⁸  they cast lots for them, and the one chosen was Matthias; ²⁹  so he was counted with the eleven apostles. ³⁰ 

[7:17]  ¹ tn See the note on “Zabdi” in 1 Chr 7:1.

[7:17]  ² tn Heb “and he selected Zabdi.” The Lord is the apparent subject. The LXX supports reading a passive (Niphal) form here, as does the immediate context.

[7:18]  ³ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Zabdi) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “by men.”

[7:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “But the sons of Israel were unfaithful with unfaithfulness concerning what was set apart [to the Lord].”

[7:1]  ⁶ tn 1 Chr 2:6 lists a “Zimri” (but no Zabdi) as one of the five sons of Zerah (cf. also 1 Chr 7:17, 18).

[7:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “took from what was set apart [to the Lord].”

[7:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “the anger of the Lord burned against the sons of Israel.”

[7:1]  sn This incident illustrates well the principle of corporate solidarity and corporate guilt. The sin of one man brought the Lord’s anger down upon the entire nation.

[10:19]  ⁹ tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss, the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate in reading לֹא (lo’, “not”) rather than the MT לוֹ (lo; “to him”). Some witnesses combine the variants, resulting in a conflated text. For example, a few medieval Hebrew mss have לֹא לוֹ (lo lo’; “to him, ‘No.’”). A few others have לֹא לִי (li lo’; “to me, ‘No.’”).

[14:38]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “know and see.”

[14:39]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and there was no one answering from all the army.”

[14:41]  ¹² tc Heb “to the Lord God of Israel: ‘Give what is perfect.’” The Hebrew textual tradition has accidentally omitted several words here. The present translation follows the LXX (as do several English versions, cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV). See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 247-48, and R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel (WBC), 132.

[14:41]  sn The Urim and Thummim were used for lot casting in ancient Israel. Their exact identity is uncertain; they may have been specially marked stones drawn from a bag. See Exod 28:30; Lev 8:8, and Deut 33:8, as well as the discussion in R. W. Klein, 1 Samuel (WBC), 140.

[14:41]  ¹³ tn Heb “went out.”

[14:42]  ¹⁴ tc The LXX includes the following words: “Whomever the Lord will indicate by the lot, let him die! And the people said to Saul, ‘It is not this word.’ But Saul prevailed over the people, and they cast lots between him and between Jonathan his son.”

[16:33]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the lot is cast.” Because the ancient practice of “casting lots” is unfamiliar to many modern readers, the imagery has been updated to “throwing dice.”

[16:33]  sn The proverb concerns the practice of seeking divine leading through casting lots. For a similar lesson, see Amenemope (18, 19:16-17, in ANET 423).

[16:33]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “all its decision.”

[16:33]  ¹⁷ sn The point concerns seeking God’s will through the practice. The Lord gives guidance in decisions that are submitted to him.

[1:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “And they said, a man to his companion.” The plural verb is individualized by “a man.”

[1:7]  ¹⁹ sn The English word lots is a generic term. In some cultures the procedure for “casting lots” is to “draw straws” so that the person who receives the short straw is chosen. In other situations a colored stone or a designated playing card might be picked at random. In Jonah’s case, small stones were probably used.

[1:7]  ²⁰ sn In the ancient Near East, casting lots was a custom used to try to receive a revelation from the gods about a particular situation. The Phoenician sailors here cried out to their gods and cast lots in the hope that one of their gods might reveal the identity of the person with whom he was angry. CEV has well captured the sentiment of v.7b: “‘Let’s ask our gods to show us who caused all this trouble.’ It turned out to be Jonah.”

[1:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “On whose account this calamity is upon us.”

[1:7]  ²² tn Heb “the lot fell on Jonah.” From their questions posed to Jonah, it does not appear that the sailors immediately realize that Jonah was the one responsible for the storm. Instead, they seem to think that he is the one chosen by their gods to reveal to them the one responsible for their plight. It is only after he admits in vv. 9-10 that he was fleeing from the God whom he served that they realize that Jonah was in fact the cause of their trouble.

[1:24]  ²³ tn Grk “And praying, they said.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[1:25]  ²⁴ tn Grk “to take the place.”

[1:25]  ²⁵ tn Or “of this ministry.”

[1:25]  ²⁶ tn Or “the task of this service and apostleship which Judas ceased to perform.”

[1:25]  ²⁷ sn To go to his own place. This may well be a euphemism for Judas’ judged fate. He separated himself from them, and thus separated he would remain.

[1:26]  ²⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the continuity with the preceding verse. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style does not.

[1:26]  ²⁹ tn Grk “and the lot fell on Matthias.”

[1:26]  ³⁰ tn Or “he was counted as one of the apostles along with the eleven.”