Deuteronomy 4:23-27

4:23 Be on guard so that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he has made with you, and that you do not make an image of any kind, just as he ¹  has forbidden ²  you. 4:24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire; he is a jealous God. ³ 

Threat and Blessing following Covenant Disobedience

4:25 After you have produced children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, ⁴  if you become corrupt and make an image of any kind ⁵  and do other evil things before the Lord your God that enrage him, ⁶  4:26 I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you ⁷  today that you will surely and swiftly be removed ⁸  from the very land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there because you will surely be ⁹  annihilated. 4:27 Then the Lord will scatter you among the peoples and there will be very few of you ¹⁰  among the nations where the Lord will drive you.

Joshua 23:15-16

23:15 But in the same way every faithful promise the Lord your God made to you has been realized, ¹¹  it is just as certain, if you disobey, that the Lord will bring on you every judgment ¹²  until he destroys you from this good land which the Lord your God gave you. 23:16 If you violate the covenantal laws of the Lord your God which he commanded you to keep, ¹³  and follow, worship, and bow down to other gods, ¹⁴  the Lord will be very angry with you and you will disappear ¹⁵  quickly from the good land which he gave to you.”

Joshua 23:1

Joshua Challenges Israel to be Faithful

23:1 A long time ¹⁶  passed after the Lord made Israel secure from all their enemies, ¹⁷  and Joshua was very old. ¹⁸ 

Joshua 9:6-7

9:6 They came to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal and said to him and the men of Israel, “We have come from a distant land. Make a treaty with us.” 9:7 The men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you live near us. ¹⁹  So how can we make a treaty with you?”

Joshua 11:4-8

11:4 These kings came out with their armies; they were as numerous as the sand on the seashore and had a large number of horses and chariots. ²⁰  11:5 All these kings gathered and joined forces ²¹  at the Waters of Merom to fight Israel.

11:6 The Lord told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid of them, for about this time tomorrow I will cause all of them to lie dead before Israel. You must hamstring their horses and burn ²²  their chariots.” 11:7 Joshua and his whole army caught them by surprise at the Waters of Merom and attacked them. ²³  11:8 The Lord handed them over to Israel and they struck them down and chased them all the way to Greater Sidon, ²⁴  Misrephoth Maim, ²⁵  and the Mizpah Valley to the east. They struck them down until no survivors remained.

¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 4:3.

² tn Heb “commanded.”

³ tn The juxtaposition of the Hebrew terms אֵשׁ (’esh, “fire”) and קַנָּא (qanna’, “jealous”) is interesting in light of Deut 6:15 where the Lord is seen as a jealous God whose anger bursts into a destructive fire. For God to be “jealous” means that his holiness and uniqueness cannot tolerate pretended or imaginary rivals. It is not petty envy but response to an act of insubordination that must be severely judged (see H. Peels, NIDOTTE 3:937-40).

⁴ tn Heb “have grown old in the land,” i.e., been there for a long time.

⁵ tn Heb “a form of anything.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, TEV “an idol.”

⁶ tn The infinitive construct is understood here as indicating the result, not the intention, of their actions.

⁷ sn I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you. This stock formula introduces what is known form-critically as a רִיב (riv) or controversy pattern. It is commonly used in the ancient Near Eastern world in legal contexts and in the OT as a forensic or judicial device to draw attention to Israel’s violation of the Lord’s covenant with them (see Deut 30:19; Isa 1:2; 3:13; Jer 2:9). Since court proceedings required the testimony of witnesses, the Lord here summons heaven and earth (that is, all creation) to testify to his faithfulness, Israel’s disobedience, and the threat of judgment.

⁸ tn Or “be destroyed”; KJV “utterly perish”; NLT “will quickly disappear”; CEV “you won’t have long to live.”

⁹ tn Or “be completely” (so NCV, TEV). It is not certain here if the infinitive absolute indicates the certainty of the following action (cf. NIV) or its degree.

¹⁰ tn Heb “you will be left men (i.e., few) of number.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and it will be as every good word which the Lord your God spoke to you has come to pass.”

¹² tn Heb “so the Lord will bring every injurious [or “evil”] word [or “thing”] upon you.”

¹³ tn Heb “when you violate the covenant of the Lord your God which he commanded you.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “and you walk and serve other gods and bow down to them.”

¹⁵ tn Or “perish.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “many days.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “the Lord had given rest to Israel from their enemies all around.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “was old, coming into the days.” This expression, referring to advancing in years, also occurs in the following verse.

¹⁹ tn Heb “in our midst.”

²⁰ tn Heb “They and all their camps with them came out, a people as numerous as the sand which is on the edge of the sea in multitude, and [with] horses and chariots very numerous.”

²¹ tn Heb “and came and camped together.”

²² tn Heb “burn with fire”; the words “with fire” are redundant in English and have not been included in the translation.

²³ tn Heb “Joshua and all the people of war with him came upon them at the Waters of Merom suddenly and fell upon them.”

²⁴ map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

²⁵ tn The meaning of the Hebrew name “Misrephoth Maim” is perhaps “lime-kilns by the water” (see HALOT 2:641).