Joshua 9:11

9:11 Our leaders and all who live in our land told us, ‘Take provisions for your journey and go meet them. Tell them, “We are willing to be your subjects. ¹  Make a treaty with us.”’

Joshua 9:23

9:23 Now you are condemned to perpetual servitude as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.” ² 

Joshua 9:25

9:25 So now we are in your power. ³  Do to us what you think is good and appropriate. ⁴ 

Joshua 9:27

9:27 and that day made them woodcutters and water carriers for the community and for the altar of the Lord at the divinely chosen site. (They continue in that capacity to this very day.) ⁵ 

Genesis 9:25-26

9:25 So he said,

“Cursed ⁶  be Canaan! ⁷ 

The lowest of slaves ⁸ 

he will be to his brothers.”

9:26 He also said,

“Worthy of praise is ⁹  the Lord, the God of Shem!

May Canaan be the slave of Shem! ¹⁰ 

Deuteronomy 20:11

20:11 If it accepts your terms ¹¹  and submits to you, all the people found in it will become your slaves. ¹² 

Deuteronomy 20:1

Laws Concerning War with Distant Enemies

20:1 When you go to war against your enemies and see chariotry ¹³  and troops ¹⁴  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 9:20-21

9:20 The Lord was also angry enough at Aaron to kill him, but at that time I prayed for him ¹⁵  too. 9:21 As for your sinful thing ¹⁶  that you had made, the calf, I took it, melted it down, ¹⁷  ground it up until it was as fine as dust, and tossed the dust into the stream that flows down the mountain.

Deuteronomy 9:2

9:2 They include the Anakites, ¹⁸  a numerous ¹⁹  and tall people whom you know about and of whom it is said, “Who is able to resist the Anakites?”

Deuteronomy 10:5

10:5 Then I turned, went down the mountain, and placed the tablets into the ark I had made – they are still there, just as the Lord commanded me.

¹ tn Heb “your servants.”

² tn Heb “Now you are cursed and a servant will not be cut off from you, woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”

³ tn Heb “so now, look, we are in your hand.”

⁴ tn Heb “according to what is good and according to what is upright in your eyes to do us, do.”

⁴ tn Heb “and Joshua made them in that day woodcutters and water carriers for the community, and for the altar of the Lord to this day at the place which he chooses.”

⁵ sn For more on the curse, see H. C. Brichto, The Problem of “Curse” in the Hebrew Bible (JBLMS), and J. Scharbert, TDOT 1:405-18.

⁶ sn Cursed be Canaan. The curse is pronounced on Canaan, not Ham. Noah sees a problem in Ham’s character, and on the basis of that he delivers a prophecy about the future descendants who will live in slavery to such things and then be controlled by others. (For more on the idea of slavery in general, see E. M. Yamauchi, “Slaves of God,” BETS 9 [1966]: 31-49). In a similar way Jacob pronounced oracles about his sons based on their revealed character (see Gen 49).

⁷ tn Heb “a servant of servants” (עֶבֶד עֲבָדִים, ’eved ’avadim), an example of the superlative genitive. It means Canaan will become the most abject of slaves.

⁶ tn Heb “blessed be.”

⁷ tn Heb “a slave to him”; the referent (Shem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Heb “if it answers you peace.”

⁸ tn Heb “become as a vassal and will serve you.” The Hebrew term translated slaves (מַס, mas) refers either to Israelites who were pressed into civil service, especially under Solomon (1 Kgs 5:27; 9:15, 21; 12:18), or (as here) to foreigners forced as prisoners of war to become slaves to Israel. The Gibeonites exemplify this type of servitude (Josh 9:3-27; cf. Josh 16:10; 17:13; Judg 1:28, 30-35; Isa 31:8; Lam 1:1).

⁸ tn Heb “horse and chariot.”

⁹ tn Heb “people.”

⁹ tn Heb “Aaron.” The pronoun is used in the translation to avoid redundancy.

¹⁰ tn Heb “your sin.” This is a metonymy in which the effect (sin) stands for the cause (the metal calf).

¹¹ tn Heb “burned it with fire.”

¹¹ sn Anakites. See note on this term in Deut 1:28.

¹² tn Heb “great and tall.” Many English versions understand this to refer to physical size or strength rather than numbers (cf. “strong,” NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT).