Joshua 9:21

9:21 The leaders then added, ¹  “Let them live.” So they became ²  woodcutters and water carriers for the whole community, as the leaders had decided. ³ 

Joshua 9:18-19

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. ⁴  The whole community criticized ⁵  the leaders, 9:19 but all the leaders told the whole community, “We swore an oath to them in the name of ⁶  the Lord God of Israel. So now we can’t hurt ⁷  them!

Joshua 17:4

17:4 They went before Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders and said, “The Lord told Moses to assign us land among our relatives.” ⁸  So Joshua ⁹  assigned them land among their uncles, as the Lord had commanded. ¹⁰ 

¹ tc Heb “and the leaders said to them.” The LXX omits the words “and the leaders said to them.”

² tn The vav (ו) consecutive construction in the Hebrew text suggests that the narrative resumes at this point. The LXX reads here, “and they will be,” understanding what follows to be a continuation of the leaders’ words rather than a comment by the narrator.

³ tn Heb “as the leaders said to them.”

⁴ tn Heb “by the Lord God of Israel.”

⁵ tn Or “grumbled against.”

⁷ tn Heb “to them by….”

⁸ tn Or “touch.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “The Lord commanded Moses to assign to us an inheritance in the midst of our brothers.” Since Zelophehad had no sons, “brothers” must refer to their uncles, as the next sentence makes clear.

¹¹ tn Heb “he.” The referent is probably Joshua, although Eleazar is mentioned first in the preceding list.

¹² tn Heb “and he assigned to them in accordance with the mouth [i.e., command] of the Lord an inheritance in the midst of the brothers of their father.”