Joshua 9:24-25

9:24 They said to Joshua, “It was carefully reported to your subjects ¹  how the Lord your God commanded Moses his servant to assign you the whole land and to destroy all who live in the land from before you. Because of you we were terrified ²  we would lose our lives, so we did this thing. 9:25 So now we are in your power. ³  Do to us what you think is good and appropriate. ⁴ 

Joshua 10:28

Joshua Launches a Southern Campaign

10:28 That day Joshua captured Makkedah and put the sword to it and its king. He annihilated everyone who lived in it; he left no survivors. He did to its king what he had done to the king of Jericho. ⁵ 

Joshua 10:39

10:39 They ⁶  captured it, its king, and all its surrounding cities and put the sword to them. They annihilated everyone who lived there; they ⁷  left no survivors. They ⁸  did to Debir and its king what they ⁹  had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron. ¹⁰ 

Joshua 11:14

11:14 The Israelites plundered all the goods of these cities and the cattle, but they totally destroyed all the people ¹¹  and allowed no one who breathed to live.

Deuteronomy 2:34

2:34 At that time we seized all his cities and put every one of them ¹²  under divine judgment, ¹³  including even the women and children; we left no survivors.

Deuteronomy 7:2-3

7:2 and he ¹⁴  delivers them over to you and you attack them, you must utterly annihilate ¹⁵  them. Make no treaty ¹⁶  with them and show them no mercy! 7:3 You must not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons,

Deuteronomy 7:16

Exhortation to Destroy Canaanite Paganism

7:16 You must destroy ¹⁷  all the people whom the Lord your God is about to deliver over to you; you must not pity them or worship ¹⁸  their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

Deuteronomy 20:16-17

Laws Concerning War with Canaanite Nations

20:16 As for the cities of these peoples that ¹⁹  the Lord your God is going to give you as an inheritance, you must not allow a single living thing ²⁰  to survive. 20:17 Instead you must utterly annihilate them ²¹  – the Hittites, ²²  Amorites, ²³  Canaanites, ²⁴  Perizzites, ²⁵  Hivites, ²⁶  and Jebusites ²⁷  – just as the Lord your God has commanded you,

Deuteronomy 20:1

Laws Concerning War with Distant Enemies

20:1 When you go to war against your enemies and see chariotry ²⁸  and troops ²⁹  who outnumber you, do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, is with you.

Deuteronomy 15:3

15:3 You may exact payment from a foreigner, but whatever your fellow Israelite ³⁰  owes you, you must remit.

Deuteronomy 15:8

15:8 Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend ³¹  him whatever he needs. ³² 

Deuteronomy 15:18-19

15:18 You should not consider it difficult to let him go free, for he will have served you for six years, twice ³³  the time of a hired worker; the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

Giving God the Best

15:19 You must set apart ³⁴  for the Lord your God every firstborn male born to your herds and flocks. You must not work the firstborn of your bulls or shear the firstborn of your flocks.

Deuteronomy 15:1

Release for Debt Slaves

15:1 At the end of every seven years you must declare a cancellation ³⁵  of debts.

Deuteronomy 20:1

Laws Concerning War with Distant Enemies

20:1 When you go to war against your enemies and see chariotry ³⁶  and troops ³⁷  who outnumber you, do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, is with you.

Psalms 137:8-9

137:8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated! ³⁸ 

How blessed will be the one who repays you

for what you dished out to us! ³⁹ 

137:9 How blessed will be the one who grabs your babies

and smashes them on a rock! ⁴⁰ 

Jeremiah 48:18

48:18 Come down from your place of honor;

sit on the dry ground, ⁴¹  you who live in Dibon. ⁴² 

For the one who will destroy Moab will attack you;

he will destroy your fortifications.

Revelation 18:21

18:21 Then ⁴³  one powerful angel picked up a stone like a huge millstone, threw it into the sea, and said,

“With this kind of sudden violent force ⁴⁴ 

Babylon the great city will be thrown down ⁴⁵ 

and it will never be found again!

[9:24]  ¹ tn Heb “your servants.”

[9:24]  ² tn Or “we were very afraid.”

[9:25]  ³ tn Heb “so now, look, we are in your hand.”

[9:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “according to what is good and according to what is upright in your eyes to do us, do.”

[10:28]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[10:39]  ⁶ tn Heb “He”; the implied subject may be Israel, or Joshua (as the commanding general of the army).

[10:39]  ⁷ tn Heb “he”; the implied subject may be Israel, or Joshua (as the commanding general of the army).

[10:39]  ⁸ tn Heb “He”; the implied subject may be Israel, or Joshua (as the commanding general of the army).

[10:39]  ⁹ tn Heb “he”; the implied subject may be Israel, or Joshua (as the commanding general of the army).

[10:39]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “as he did to Hebron, so he did to Debir and its king, and as he did to Libnah and its king.” The clauses have been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[11:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “but all the people they struck down with the edge of the sword until they destroyed them.”

[2:34]  ¹² tn Heb “every city of men.” This apparently identifies the cities as inhabited.

[2:34]  ¹³ tn Heb “under the ban” (נַחֲרֵם, nakharem). The verb employed is חָרַם (kharam, usually in the Hiphil) and the associated noun is חֵרֶם (kherem). See J. Naudé, NIDOTTE, 2:276-77, and, for a more thorough discussion, Susan Niditch, War in the Hebrew Bible, 28-77.

[7:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[7:2]  ¹⁵ tn In the Hebrew text the infinitive absolute before the finite verb emphasizes the statement. The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here. Cf. ASV “shalt (must NRSV) utterly destroy them”; CEV “must destroy them without mercy.”

[7:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “covenant” (so NASB, NRSV); TEV “alliance.”

[7:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “devour” (so NRSV); KJV, NAB, NASB “consume.” The verbal form (a perfect with vav consecutive) is understood here as having an imperatival or obligatory nuance (cf. the instructions and commands that follow). Another option is to take the statement as a continuation of the preceding conditional promises and translate “and you will destroy.”

[7:16]  ¹⁸ tn Or “serve” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[20:16]  ¹⁹ tn The antecedent of the relative pronoun is “cities.”

[20:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “any breath.”

[20:17]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “utterly.” Cf. CEV “completely wipe out.”

[20:17]  ²² sn Hittite. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 b.c.) they were at their zenith, establishing outposts and colonies near and far. Some elements were obviously in Canaan at the time of the Conquest (1400-1350 b.c.).

[20:17]  ²³ sn Amorite. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200 b.c. or thereabouts.

[20:17]  ²⁴ sn Canaanite. These were the indigenous peoples of the land of Palestine, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000 b.c.). The OT identifies them as descendants of Ham (Gen 10:6), the only Hamites to have settled north and east of Egypt.

[20:17]  ²⁵ sn Perizzite. This probably refers to a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).

[20:17]  ²⁶ sn Hivite. These are usually thought to be the same as the Hurrians, a people well-known in ancient Near Eastern texts. They are likely identical to the Horites (see note on “Horites” in Deut 2:12).

[20:17]  ²⁷ tc The LXX adds “Girgashites” here at the end of the list in order to list the full (and usual) complement of seven (see note on “seven” in Deut 7:1).

[20:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “horse and chariot.”

[20:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “people.”

[15:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “your brother.”

[15:8]  ³¹ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute before both verbs. The translation indicates the emphasis with the words “be sure to” and “generously,” respectively.

[15:8]  ³² tn Heb “whatever his need that he needs for himself.” This redundant expression has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[15:18]  ³³ tn The Hebrew term מִשְׁנֶה (mishneh, “twice”) could mean “equivalent to” (cf. NRSV) or, more likely, “double” (cf. NAB, NIV, NLT). The idea is that a hired worker would put in only so many hours per day whereas a bondslave was available around the clock.

[15:19]  ³⁴ tn Heb “sanctify” (תַּקְדִּישׁ, taqdish), that is, put to use on behalf of the Lord.

[15:1]  ³⁵ tn The Hebrew term שְׁמִטָּת (shÿmittat), a derivative of the verb שָׁמַט (shamat, “to release; to relinquish”), refers to the cancellation of the debt and even pledges for the debt of a borrower by his creditor. This could be a full and final remission or, more likely, one for the seventh year only. See R. Wakely, NIDOTTE 4:155-60. Here the words “of debts” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied. Cf. NAB “a relaxation of debts”; NASB, NRSV “a remission of debts.”

[20:1]  ³⁶ tn Heb “horse and chariot.”

[20:1]  ³⁷ tn Heb “people.”

[137:8]  ³⁸ tn Heb “O devastated daughter of Babylon.” The psalmist dramatically anticipates Babylon’s demise.

[137:8]  ³⁹ tn Heb “O the happiness of the one who repays you your wage which you paid to us.”

[137:9]  ⁴⁰ sn For other references to the wholesale slaughter of babies in the context of ancient Near Eastern warfare, see 2 Kgs 8:12; Isa 13:16; Hos 13:16; Nah 3:10.

[48:18]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “sit in thirst.” The abstract “thirst” is put for the concrete, i.e., thirsty or parched ground (cf. Deut 8:19; Isa 35:7; Ps 107:33) for the concrete. There is no need to emend to “filth” (צֹאָה [tso’ah] for צָמָא [tsama’]) as is sometimes suggested.

[48:18]  ⁴² tn Heb “inhabitant of Daughter Dibon.” “Daughter” is used here as often in Jeremiah for the personification of a city, a country, or its inhabitants. The word “inhabitant” is to be understood as a collective as also in v. 19.

[18:21]  ⁴³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[18:21]  ⁴⁴ tn On ὅρμημα ({ormhma) BDAG 724 s.v. states, “violent rush, onset ὁρμήματι βληθήσεται Βαβυλών Babylon will be thrown down with violence Rv 18:21.” L&N 68.82 refers to the suddenness of the force or violence.

[18:21]  ⁴⁵ sn Thrown down is a play on both the words and the action. The angel’s action with the stone illustrates the kind of sudden violent force with which the city will be overthrown.