Yosua 10:6-14

10:6 The men of Gibeon sent this message to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, “Do not abandon ¹  your subjects! ²  Rescue us! Help us! For all the Amorite kings living in the hill country are attacking us.” ³  10:7 So Joshua and his whole army, including the bravest warriors, marched up from Gilgal. ⁴  10:8 The Lord told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid of them, for I am handing them over to you. ⁵  Not one of them can resist you.” ⁶  10:9 Joshua attacked them by surprise after marching all night from Gilgal. ⁷  10:10 The Lord routed ⁸  them before Israel. Israel ⁹  thoroughly defeated them ¹⁰  at Gibeon. They chased them up the road to the pass ¹¹  of Beth Horon and struck them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. 10:11 As they fled from Israel on the slope leading down from ¹²  Beth Horon, the Lord threw down on them large hailstones from the sky, ¹³  all the way to Azekah. They died – in fact, more died from the hailstones than the Israelites killed with the sword.

10:12 The day the Lord delivered the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua prayed to the Lord before Israel: ¹⁴ 

“O sun, stand still over Gibeon!

O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon!”

10:13 The sun stood still and the moon stood motionless while the nation took vengeance on its enemies. The event is recorded in the Scroll of the Upright One. ¹⁵  The sun stood motionless in the middle of the sky and did not set for about a full day. ¹⁶  10:14 There has not been a day like it before or since. The Lord obeyed ¹⁷  a man, for the Lord fought for Israel!

[10:6]  ¹ tn Heb “do not let your hand drop from us.”

[10:6]  ² tn Heb “your servants!”

[10:6]  ³ tn Heb “have gathered against us.”

[10:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “And Joshua went up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the brave warriors.”

[10:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “I have given them into your hand.” The verbal form is a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of the action.

[10:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “and not a man [or “one”] of them will stand before you.”

[10:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “Joshua came upon them suddenly, all the night he went up from Gilgal.”

[10:10]  ⁸ tn Or “caused to panic.”

[10:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “he.” The referent is probably Israel (mentioned at the end of the previous sentence in the verse; cf. NIV, NRSV), but it is also possible that the Lord should be understood as the referent (cf. NASB “and He slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon”), or even Joshua (cf. NEB “and Joshua defeated them utterly in Gibeon”).

[10:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “struck them down with a great striking down.”

[10:10]  ¹¹ tn Or “ascent.”

[10:11]  ¹² tn Heb “on the descent of.”

[10:11]  ¹³ tn Or “heaven” (also in v. 13). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[10:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day the Lord placed the Amorites before the sons of Israel and he said in the eyes of Israel.” It is uncertain whether the phrase “before the sons of Israel” modifies the verb “placed” (as in the present translation, “delivered the Amorites over to the Israelites”) or the verb “spoke” (“Joshua spoke to the Lord before the sons of Israel in the day the Lord delivered over the Amorites”).

[10:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Is it not written down in the Scroll of the Upright One.” Many modern translations render, “the Scroll [or Book] of Jashar,” leaving the Hebrew name “Jashar” (which means “Upright One”) untranslated.

[10:13]  sn The Scroll of the Upright One was apparently an ancient Israelite collection of songs and prayers (see also 2 Sam 1:18).

[10:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and did not hurry to set [for] about a full day.”

[10:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “listened to the voice of.”