Joshua 2:12-14

2:12 So now, promise me this with an oath sworn in the Lord’s name. ¹  Because I have shown allegiance to you, show allegiance to my family. ²  Give me a solemn pledge ³  2:13 that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them, and rescue us ⁴  from death.” 2:14 The men said to her, “If you ⁵  die, may we die too! ⁶  If you do not report what we’ve been up to, ⁷  then, when the Lord hands the land over to us, we will show unswerving allegiance ⁸  to you.” ⁹ 

Joshua 2:17-20

2:17 The men said to her, “We are not bound by this oath you made us swear unless the following conditions are met: ¹⁰  2:18 When we invade the land ¹¹ , tie this red rope ¹²  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. ¹³  2:19 Anyone who leaves your house will be responsible for his own death – we are innocent in that case! ¹⁴  But if anyone with you in the house is harmed, we will be responsible. ¹⁵  2:20 If you should report what we’ve been up to, ¹⁶  we are not bound by this oath you made us swear.”

Joshua 9:15

9:15 Joshua made a peace treaty with them and agreed to let them live. The leaders of the community ¹⁷  sealed it with an oath. ¹⁸ 

Joshua 9:18-20

9:18 The Israelites did not attack them because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them in the name of the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁹  The whole community criticized ²⁰  the leaders, 9:19 but all the leaders told the whole community, “We swore an oath to them in the name of ²¹  the Lord God of Israel. So now we can’t hurt ²²  them! 9:20 We must let them live so we can escape the curse attached to the oath we swore to them.” ²³ 

Joshua 9:2

9:2 they formed an alliance to fight against Joshua and Israel. ²⁴ 

Joshua 21:2

21:2 in Shiloh in the land of Canaan and said, “The Lord told Moses to assign us cities in which to live along with the grazing areas for our cattle.”

Joshua 21:7

21:7 Merari’s descendants by their clans were allotted twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

Psalms 15:4

15:4 He despises a reprobate, ²⁵ 

but honors the Lord’s loyal followers. ²⁶ 

He makes firm commitments and does not renege on his promise. ²⁷ 

Ezekiel 17:13

17:13 He took one from the royal family, ²⁸  made a treaty with him, and put him under oath. ²⁹  He then took the leaders of the land

Ezekiel 17:16

17:16 “‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, surely in the city ³⁰  of the king who crowned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke – in the middle of Babylon he will die!

Ezekiel 17:18-19

17:18 He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Take note ³¹  – he gave his promise ³²  and did all these things – he will not escape!

17:19 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will certainly repay him ³³  for despising my oath and breaking my covenant!

Hebrews 11:31

11:31 By faith Rahab the prostitute escaped the destruction of ³⁴  the disobedient, because she welcomed the spies in peace.

[2:12]  ¹ tn Heb “Now, swear to me by the Lord.”

[2:12]  ² tn Heb “with the house of my father.”

[2:12]  ³ tn Heb “true sign,” that is, “an inviolable token or pledge.”

[2:13]  ⁴ tn Or “our lives.”

[2:14]  ⁵ tn The second person pronoun is masculine plural, indicating that Rahab’s entire family is in view.

[2:14]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “If you do not report this matter of ours.”

[2:14]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn The second person pronoun is feminine singular, referring specifically to Rahab.

[2:17]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Look! We are about to enter the land.”

[2:18]  ¹² tn Heb “the cord of this red thread.”

[2:18]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and if you report this matter of ours.”

[9:15]  ¹⁷ tn Or “assembly.”

[9:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Joshua made peace with them and made a treaty with them to let them live, and the leaders of the community swore an oath to them.”

[9:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “by the Lord God of Israel.”

[9:18]  ²⁰ tn Or “grumbled against.”

[9:19]  ²¹ tn Heb “to them by….”

[9:19]  ²² tn Or “touch.”

[9:20]  ²³ tn Heb “This is what we will do to them, keeping them alive so there will not be upon us anger concerning the oath which we swore to them.”

[9:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “they gathered together to fight against Joshua and Israel [with] one mouth.”

[15:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “despised in his eyes [is] a rejected [one].” The Hebrew term נִמְאָס (nim’as, “rejected [one]”) apparently refers here to one who has been rejected by God because of his godless behavior. It stands in contrast to “those who fear God” in the following line.

[15:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “those who fear the Lord.” The one who fears the Lord respects his sovereignty and obeys his commandments. See Ps 128:1; Prov 14:2.

[15:4]  ²⁷ tn Heb “he takes an oath to do harm and does not change.” The phrase “to do harm” cannot mean “do harm to others,” for the preceding verse clearly characterizes this individual as one who does not harm others. In this context the phrase must refer to an oath to which a self-imprecation is attached. The godly individual takes his commitments to others so seriously he is willing to “swear to his own hurt.” For an example of such an oath, see Ruth 1:16-17.

[17:13]  ²⁸ tn Or “descendants”; Heb “seed” (cf. v. 5).

[17:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “caused him to enter into an oath.”

[17:16]  ³⁰ tn Heb “place.”

[17:18]  ³¹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates being aware of or taking notice of something.

[17:18]  ³² sn Heb “hand.” “Giving one’s hand” is a gesture of promise (2 Kgs 10:15).

[17:19]  ³³ tn Heb “place it on his head.”

[11:31]  ³⁴ tn Grk “did not perish together with.”