31:14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The day of your death is near. Summon Joshua and present yourselves in the tent 4 of meeting 5 so that I can commission him.” 6 So Moses and Joshua presented themselves in the tent of meeting.
27:18 The Lord replied 9 to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is such a spirit, 10 and lay your hand on him; 11 27:19 set him 12 before Eleazar the priest and before the whole community, and commission 13 him publicly. 14 27:20 Then you must delegate 15 some of your authority 16 to him, so that the whole community of the Israelites will be obedient. 17 27:21 And he will stand before Eleazar the priest, who 18 will seek counsel 19 for him before the Lord by the decision of the Urim. 20 At his command 21 they will go out, and at his command they will come in, he and all the Israelites with him, the whole community.”
27:22 So Moses did as the Lord commanded him; he took Joshua and set 22 him before Eleazar the priest and before the whole community. 27:23 He laid his hands on him and commissioned him, just as the Lord commanded, 23 by the authority 24 of Moses.
1:1 After Moses the Lord’s servant died, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant:
1 tn Heb “command”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “charge Joshua.”
2 tn The Hebrew text includes “and said to him.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
3 tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 20).
3 tc The LXX reads “by the door of the tent” in line with v. 10 but also, perhaps, as a reflection of its tendency to avoid over-familiarity with Yahweh and his transcendence.
4 tn Heb “tent of assembly” (מוֹעֵד אֹהֶל, ’ohel mo’ed); this is not always the same as the tabernacle, which is usually called מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan, “dwelling-place”), a reference to its being invested with God’s presence. The “tent of meeting” was erected earlier than the tabernacle and was the place where Yahweh occasionally appeared, especially to Moses (cf. Exod 18:7-16; 33:7-11; Num 11:16, 24, 26; 12:4).
5 tn Heb “I will command him.”
4 tn Heb “he.” Since the pronoun could be taken to refer to Moses, the referent has been specified as “the
5 tc The LXX reads, “as the
5 tn Or “said.”
6 sn The word “spirit” probably refers to the Holy Spirit, in which case it would be rendered “in whom is the Spirit.” This would likely be a permanent endowment for Joshua. But it is also possible to take it to refer to a proper spirit to do all the things required of such a leader (which ultimately is a gift from the Spirit of God). The Hebrew text simply says “in whom is a spirit.”
7 sn This symbolic act would indicate the transfer of leadership to Joshua.
6 tn This could be translated “position him,” or “have him stand,” since it is the causative stem of the verb “to stand.”
7 tn The verb is the Piel perfect of צִוָּה (tsivvah, literally “to command”). The verb has a wide range of meanings, and so here in this context the idea of instructing gives way to a more general sense of commissioning for duty. The verb in sequence is equal to the imperfect of instruction.
8 tn Heb “in their eyes.”
7 tn The verb is simply “give,” but in this context giving some of Moses’ honor to Joshua in the presence of the people is essentially passing the leadership to him, or delegating the authority to him with the result that people would follow him.
8 tc The Greek, Syriac, and Vulgate read “glory” for this form that occurs only here in the Pentateuch. Elsewhere it is rendered “majesty, splendor” (see Ps 96:6). It could even be “vitality” here. The authority being transferred here is both spiritual and civil.
9 tn Heb “hear.”
8 tn The passage simply has “and he will ask,” but Eleazar is clearly the subject now.
9 tn Heb “ask.”
10 sn The new leader would not have the privilege that Moses had in speaking to God face to face. Rather, he would have to inquire of the
11 tn Heb “mouth,” meaning what he will say.
9 tn Heb “stood.”
10 tn Heb “spoke.”
11 tn Heb “hand.”
11 tn Heb “For you will cause these people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give to them.” The pronoun “them” at the end of the verse refers to either the people or to the fathers.
12 tn Or “Only be.”
13 tn Heb “so you can be careful to do.” The use of the infinitive לִשְׁמֹר (lishmor, “to keep”) after the imperatives suggests that strength and bravery will be necessary for obedience. Another option is to take the form לִשְׁמֹר as a vocative lamed (ל) with imperative (see Isa 38:20 for an example of this construction), which could be translated, “Indeed, be careful!”
14 tn Heb “commanded you.”
15 tn Heb “be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.
16 tn Heb “in all which you go.”
13 tn Heb “mouth.”
14 tn Heb “read it in undertones,” or “recite it quietly” (see HALOT 1:237).
15 tn Heb “be careful to do.”
16 tn Heb “you will make your way prosperous.”
17 tn Heb “and be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.
14 tn Heb “Have I not commanded you?” The rhetorical question emphasizes the importance of the following command by reminding the listener that it is being repeated.
15 tn Or perhaps, “don’t get discouraged!”
16 tn Heb “in all which you go.”