Joshua 2:17

2:17 The men said to her, “We are not bound by this oath you made us swear unless the following conditions are met:¹

Joshua 2:20

2:20 If you should report what we’ve been up to,² 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 community³ sealed it with an oath.⁴

Joshua 1:6

1:6 Be strong and brave! You must lead these people in the conquest of this land that I solemnly promised their ancestors I would hand over to them.⁵

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.⁶ The whole community criticized⁷ the leaders, 9:19 but all the leaders told the whole community, “We swore an oath to them in the name of⁸ the Lord God of Israel. So now we can’t hurt⁹ them! 9:20 We must let them live so we can escape the curse attached to the oath we swore to them.”¹⁰

Joshua 21:43

21:43 So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had solemnly promised to their ancestors,¹¹ and they conquered¹² it and lived in it.

Joshua 23:7

23:7 or associate with these nations that remain near¹³ you. You must not invoke or make solemn declarations by the names of their gods!¹⁴ You must not worship¹⁵ or bow down to them!

Joshua 5:6

5:6 Indeed, for forty years the Israelites traveled through the desert until all the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt, the ones who had disobeyed the Lord, died off.¹⁶ For the Lord had sworn a solemn oath to them that he would not let them see the land he had sworn on oath to give them,¹⁷ a land rich in¹⁸ milk and honey.

Joshua 2:12

2:12 So now, promise me this with an oath sworn in the Lord’s name.¹⁹ Because I have shown allegiance to you, show allegiance to my family.²⁰ Give me a solemn pledge²¹

Joshua 6:22

6:22 Joshua told the two men who had spied on the land, “Enter the prostitute’s house²² and bring out the woman and all who belong to her as you promised her.”²³

Joshua 6:26

6:26 At that time Joshua made this solemn declaration:²⁴ “The man who attempts to rebuild²⁵ this city of Jericho²⁶ will stand condemned before the Lord.²⁷ He will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations and his youngest son when he erects its gates!”²⁸

Joshua 14:9

14:9 That day Moses made this solemn promise:²⁹ ‘Surely the land on which you walked³⁰ will belong to you and your descendants permanently,³¹ for you remained loyal to the Lord your God.’

Joshua 21:44

21:44 The Lord made them secure,³² in fulfillment of all he had solemnly promised their ancestors.³³ None of their enemies could resist them.³⁴

¹tn 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.

²tn Heb “and if you report this matter of ours.”

³tn Or “assembly.”

⁴tn 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.”

⁴tn 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.

⁵tn Heb “by the Lord God of Israel.”

⁶tn Or “grumbled against.”

⁶tn Heb “to them by….”

⁷tn Or “touch.”

⁷tn 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.”

⁸tn Heb “which he had sworn to give to their fathers.”

⁹tn Or “possessed.”

⁹tn Heb “with.”

¹⁰tn Heb “and in the name of their gods you must not invoke and you must not make solemn declarations.” The words “and you must not make solemn declarations” are omitted in the LXX and may represent a later scribal addition to elucidate the immediately preceding command. The Hiphil of שָׁבַע (shava’) without an object occurs only here and in Josh 6:26.

¹¹tn Or “serve.”

¹⁰tn Heb “all the nation, the men of war who went out from Egypt, who did not listen to the voice of the Lord, came to an end.”

¹¹tn Some Hebrew mss, as well as the Syriac version, support this reading. Most ancient witnesses read “us.”

¹²tn Heb “flowing with.”

¹¹tn Heb “Now, swear to me by the Lord.”

¹²tn Heb “with the house of my father.”

¹³tn Heb “true sign,” that is, “an inviolable token or pledge.”

¹²tn Heb “the house of the woman, the prostitute.”

¹³tn Heb “and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her as you swore on oath to her.”

¹³tn Normally the Hiphil of שָׁבַע (shava’) has a causative sense (“make [someone] take an oath”; see Josh 2:17, 20), but here (see also Josh 23:7) no object is stated or implied. If Joshua is calling divine judgment down upon the one who attempts to rebuild Jericho, then “make a solemn appeal [to God as judge]” or “pronounce a curse” would be an appropriate translation. However, the tone seems stronger. Joshua appears to be announcing the certain punishment of the violator. 1 Kgs 16:34, which records the fulfillment of Joshua’s prediction, supports this. Casting Joshua in a prophetic role, it refers to Joshua’s statement as the “word of the Lord” spoken through Joshua.

¹⁴tn Heb “rises up and builds.”

¹⁵tc The LXX omits “Jericho.” It is probably a scribal addition.

¹⁶tn The Hebrew phrase אָרוּר לִפְנֵי יְהוָה (’arur lifney yÿhvah, “cursed [i.e., condemned] before the Lord”) also occurs in 1 Sam 26:19.

¹⁷tn Heb “With his firstborn he will lay its foundations and with his youngest he will erect its gates.” The Hebrew verb יַצִּיב (yatsiv, “he will erect”) is imperfect, not jussive, suggesting Joshua’s statement is a prediction, not an imprecation.

¹⁴tn Heb “swore an oath.”

¹⁵tn Heb “on which your foot has walked.”

¹⁶tn Heb “will belong to you for an inheritance, and to your sons forever.”

¹⁵tn Heb “gave them rest all around.”

¹⁶tn Heb “according to all he swore to their fathers.”

¹⁷tn Heb “not a man stood from before them from all their enemies.”