Psalms 33:6

33:6 By the Lord’s decree ¹  the heavens were made;

by a mere word from his mouth all the stars in the sky were created. ² 

Genesis 32:2

32:2 When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, ³  “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim. ⁴ 

Joshua 5:14

5:14 He answered, ⁵  “Truly I am the commander of the Lord’s army. ⁶  Now I have arrived!” ⁷  Joshua bowed down with his face to the ground ⁸  and asked, “What does my master want to say to his servant?”

Joshua 5:1

5:1 When all the Amorite kings on the west side of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the seacoast heard how the Lord had dried up the water of the Jordan before the Israelites while they ⁹  crossed, they lost their courage and could not even breathe for fear of the Israelites. ¹⁰ 

Joshua 22:19

22:19 But if your own land ¹¹  is impure, ¹²  cross over to the Lord’s own land, ¹³  where the Lord himself lives, ¹⁴  and settle down among us. ¹⁵  But don’t rebel against the Lord or us ¹⁶  by building for yourselves an altar aside from the altar of the Lord our God.

Joshua 22:2

22:2 and told them: “You have carried out all the instructions of Moses the Lord’s servant, and you have obeyed all I have told you. ¹⁷ 

Joshua 18:18

18:18 It crossed to the slope in front of the Arabah to the north and descended into the Arabah.

Luke 2:13

2:13 Suddenly ¹⁸  a vast, heavenly army ¹⁹  appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹ tn Heb “word.”

² tn Heb “and by the breath of his mouth all their host.” The words “were created” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons; they are understood by ellipsis (note “were made” in the preceding line). The description is consistent with Gen 1:16, which indicates that God spoke the heavenly luminaries into existence.

³ tn Heb “and Jacob said when he saw them.”

⁴ sn The name Mahanaim apparently means “two camps.” Perhaps the two camps were those of God and of Jacob.

⁵ tc Heb “He said, “Neither.” An alternative reading is לוֹ (lo, “[He said] to him”; cf. NEB). This reading is supported by many Hebrew mss, as well as the LXX and Syriac versions. The traditional reading of the MT (לֹא, lo’, “no, neither”) is probably the product of aural confusion (the two variant readings sound the same in Hebrew). Although followed by a number of modern translations (cf. NIV, NRSV), this reading is problematic, for the commander of the Lord’s army would hardly have declared himself neutral.

⁶ sn The Lord’s heavenly army, like an earthly army, has a commander who leads the troops. For the phrase שַׂר־צְבָא (sar-tsÿva’, “army commander”) in the human sphere, see among many other references Gen 21:22, 32; 26:26; Judg 4:2, 7; 1 Sam 12:9.

⁷ sn The commander’s appearance seems to be for Joshua’s encouragement. Joshua could now lead Israel into battle knowing that the Lord’s invisible army would ensure victory.

⁸ tn Heb “Joshua fell on his face to the ground and bowed down.”

⁹ tc Another textual tradition has, “while we crossed.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “their heart[s] melted and there was no longer in them breathe because of the sons of Israel.”

¹¹ tn Heb “the land of your possession.”

¹² sn The western tribes here imagine a possible motive for the action of the eastern tribes. T. C. Butler explains the significance of the land’s “impurity”: “East Jordan is impure because it is not Yahweh’s possession. Rather it is simply ‘your possession.’ That means it is land where Yahweh does not live, land which his presence has not sanctified and purified” (Joshua [WBC], 247).

¹³ tn Heb “the land of the possession of the Lord.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “where the dwelling place of the Lord resides.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “and take for yourselves in our midst.”

¹⁶ tc Heb “and us to you rebel.” The reading of the MT, the accusative sign with suffix (וְאֹתָנוּ, vÿ’otanu), is problematic with the verb “rebel” (מָרַד, marad). Many Hebrew mss correctly read the negative particle אַל (’al) for the preposition אֶל (’el, “to”).

¹⁷ tn Heb “You have kept all which Moses, the Lord’s servant, commanded you, and you have listened to my voice, to all which I commanded you.”

¹⁸ tn Grk “And suddenly.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁹ tn Grk “a multitude of the armies of heaven.”