Deuteronomy 3:28

3:28 Commission ¹  Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, because he will lead these people over and will enable them to inherit the land you will see.”

Deuteronomy 31:7-8

31:7 Then Moses called out to Joshua ²  in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will accompany these people to the land that the Lord promised to give their ancestors, ³  and you will enable them to inherit it. 31:8 The Lord is indeed going before you – he will be with you; he will not fail you or abandon you. Do not be afraid or discouraged!”

Deuteronomy 31:14

The Commissioning of Joshua

31:14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The day of your death is near. Summon Joshua and present yourselves in the tent ⁴  of meeting ⁵  so that I can commission him.” ⁶  So Moses and Joshua presented themselves in the tent of meeting.

Deuteronomy 31:23

31:23 and the Lord ⁷  commissioned Joshua son of Nun, “Be strong and courageous, for you will take the Israelites to the land I have promised them, and I will be with you.” ⁸ 

Numbers 27:18-23

27:18 The Lord replied ⁹  to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is such a spirit, ¹⁰  and lay your hand on him; ¹¹  27:19 set him ¹²  before Eleazar the priest and before the whole community, and commission ¹³  him publicly. ¹⁴  27:20 Then you must delegate ¹⁵  some of your authority ¹⁶  to him, so that the whole community of the Israelites will be obedient. ¹⁷  27:21 And he will stand before Eleazar the priest, who ¹⁸  will seek counsel ¹⁹  for him before the Lord by the decision of the Urim. ²⁰  At his command ²¹  they will go out, and at his command they will come in, he and all the Israelites with him, the whole community.”

27:22 So Moses did as the Lord commanded him; he took Joshua and set ²²  him before Eleazar the priest and before the whole community. 27:23 He laid his hands on him and commissioned him, just as the Lord commanded, ²³  by the authority ²⁴  of Moses.

Joshua 1:1

The Lord Commissions Joshua

1:1 After Moses the Lord’s servant died, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant:

Joshua 1:6-9

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. ²⁵  1:7 Make sure you are ²⁶  very strong and brave! Carefully obey ²⁷  all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep! ²⁸  Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful ²⁹  in all you do. ³⁰  1:8 This law scroll must not leave your lips! ³¹  You must memorize it ³²  day and night so you can carefully obey ³³  all that is written in it. Then you will prosper ³⁴  and be successful. ³⁵  1:9 I repeat, ³⁶  be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic, ³⁷  for I, the Lord your God, am with you in all you do.” ³⁸ 

[3:28]  ¹ tn Heb “command”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “charge Joshua.”

[31:7]  ² tn The Hebrew text includes “and said to him.” This has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[31:7]  ³ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 20).

[31:14]  ⁴ tc The LXX reads “by the door of the tent” in line with v. 10 but also, perhaps, as a reflection of its tendency to avoid over-familiarity with Yahweh and his transcendence.

[31:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “tent of assembly” (מוֹעֵד אֹהֶל, ’ohel mo’ed); this is not always the same as the tabernacle, which is usually called מִשְׁכָּן (mishkan, “dwelling-place”), a reference to its being invested with God’s presence. The “tent of meeting” was erected earlier than the tabernacle and was the place where Yahweh occasionally appeared, especially to Moses (cf. Exod 18:7-16; 33:7-11; Num 11:16, 24, 26; 12:4).

[31:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will command him.”

[31:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “he.” Since the pronoun could be taken to refer to Moses, the referent has been specified as “the Lord” in the translation for clarity. See also the note on the word “you” later in this verse.

[31:23]  ⁸ tc The LXX reads, “as the Lord promised them, and he will be with you.” This relieves the problem of Moses apparently promising to be with Joshua as the MT reads on the surface (“I will be with you”). However, the reading of the LXX is clearly an attempt to clarify an existing obscurity and therefore is unlikely to reflect the original.

[27:18]  ⁹ tn Or “said.”

[27:18]  ¹⁰ sn The word “spirit” probably refers to the Holy Spirit, in which case it would be rendered “in whom is the Spirit.” This would likely be a permanent endowment for Joshua. But it is also possible to take it to refer to a proper spirit to do all the things required of such a leader (which ultimately is a gift from the Spirit of God). The Hebrew text simply says “in whom is a spirit.”

[27:18]  ¹¹ sn This symbolic act would indicate the transfer of leadership to Joshua.

[27:19]  ¹² tn This could be translated “position him,” or “have him stand,” since it is the causative stem of the verb “to stand.”

[27:19]  ¹³ tn The verb is the Piel perfect of צִוָּה (tsivvah, literally “to command”). The verb has a wide range of meanings, and so here in this context the idea of instructing gives way to a more general sense of commissioning for duty. The verb in sequence is equal to the imperfect of instruction.

[27:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in their eyes.”

[27:20]  ¹⁵ tn The verb is simply “give,” but in this context giving some of Moses’ honor to Joshua in the presence of the people is essentially passing the leadership to him, or delegating the authority to him with the result that people would follow him.

[27:20]  ¹⁶ tc The Greek, Syriac, and Vulgate read “glory” for this form that occurs only here in the Pentateuch. Elsewhere it is rendered “majesty, splendor” (see Ps 96:6). It could even be “vitality” here. The authority being transferred here is both spiritual and civil.

[27:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “hear.”

[27:21]  ¹⁸ tn The passage simply has “and he will ask,” but Eleazar is clearly the subject now.

[27:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “ask.”

[27:21]  ²⁰ sn The new leader would not have the privilege that Moses had in speaking to God face to face. Rather, he would have to inquire of the Lord through the priest, and the priest would seek a decision by means of the Urim. The Urim and the Thummim were the sacred lots that the priest had in his pouch, the “breastplate” as it has traditionally been called. Since the Law had now been fully established, there would be fewer cases that the leader would need further rulings. Now it would simply be seeking the Lord’s word for matters such as whether to advance or not. The size, shape or substance of these objects is uncertain. See further C. Van Dam, The Urim and Thummim.

[27:21]  ²¹ tn Heb “mouth,” meaning what he will say.

[27:22]  ²² tn Heb “stood.”

[27:23]  ²³ tn Heb “spoke.”

[27:23]  ²⁴ tn Heb “hand.”

[1:6]  ²⁵ tn 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.

[1:7]  ²⁶ tn Or “Only be.”

[1:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “so you can be careful to do.” The use of the infinitive לִשְׁמֹר (lishmor, “to keep”) after the imperatives suggests that strength and bravery will be necessary for obedience. Another option is to take the form לִשְׁמֹר as a vocative lamed (ל) with imperative (see Isa 38:20 for an example of this construction), which could be translated, “Indeed, be careful!”

[1:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “commanded you.”

[1:7]  ²⁹ tn Heb “be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.

[1:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “in all which you go.”

[1:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “mouth.”

[1:8]  ³² tn Heb “read it in undertones,” or “recite it quietly” (see HALOT 1:237).

[1:8]  ³³ tn Heb “be careful to do.”

[1:8]  ³⁴ tn Heb “you will make your way prosperous.”

[1:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.

[1:9]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Have I not commanded you?” The rhetorical question emphasizes the importance of the following command by reminding the listener that it is being repeated.

[1:9]  ³⁷ tn Or perhaps, “don’t get discouraged!”

[1:9]  ³⁸ tn Heb “in all which you go.”