2:1 Joshua son of Nun sent two spies out from Shittim secretly and instructed them: 1 “Find out what you can about the land, especially Jericho.” 2 They stopped at the house of a prostitute named Rahab and spent the night there. 3
20:18 Plans 4 are established by counsel,
so 5 make war 6 with guidance.
24:6 for with guidance you wage your war,
and with numerous advisers there is victory. 7
10:16 “I 8 am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves, 9 so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
5:15 Therefore be very careful how you live – not as unwise but as wise,
1 tn Heb “Joshua, son of Nun, sent from Shittim two men, spies, secretly, saying.”
2 tn Heb “go, see the land, and Jericho.”
3 tn Heb “they went and entered the house of a woman, a prostitute, and her name was Rahab, and they slept there.”
4 tn The noun form is plural, but the verb is singular, suggesting either an abstract plural or a collective plural is being used here.
5 tn The clause begins with vav (ו) on “with guidance.” But the clause has an imperative for its main verb. One could take the imperfect tense in the first colon as an imperfect of injunction, and then this clause would be also instructional. But the imperfect tense is a Niphal, and so it is better to take the first colon as the foundational clause and the second colon as the consequence (cf. NAB): If that is true, then you should do this.
6 sn There have been attempts by various commentators to take “war” figuratively to mean life’s struggles, litigation, or evil inclinations. But there is no need and little justification for such interpretations. The proverb simply describes the necessity of taking counsel before going to war.
7 sn The point of the saying is that wise counsel is necessary in war. Victory, strategy, and counsel are more important than mere military strength – many great armies have been destroyed because of their unwise leaders. See on this theme 11:14; 20:18; and 21:22.
8 tn Grk “Behold I.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
9 sn This imagery of wolves is found in intertestamental Judaism; see Pss. Sol. 8:23, 30.