Exodus 19:13

19:13 No hand will touch him ¹  – but he will surely be stoned or shot through, whether a beast or a human being; ²  he must not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast they may ³  go up on the mountain.”

Joshua 6:5

6:5 When you hear the signal from the ram’s horn, ⁴  have the whole army give a loud battle cry. ⁵  Then the city wall will collapse ⁶  and the warriors should charge straight ahead.” ⁷ 

[19:13]  ¹ sn There is some ambiguity here. The clause either means that no man will touch the mountain, so that if there is someone who is to be put to death he must be stoned or shot since they could not go into the mountain region to get him, or, it may mean no one is to touch the culprit who went in to the region of the mountain.

[19:13]  ² tn Heb “a man.”

[19:13]  ³ tn The nuance here is permissive imperfect, “they may go up.” The ram’s horn would sound the blast to announce that the revelation period was over and it was permitted then to ascend the mountain.

[6:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “and it will be at the sounding of the horn, the ram’s horn, when you hear the sound of the ram’s horn.” The text of Josh 6:5 seems to be unduly repetitive, so for the sake of English style and readability, it is best to streamline the text here. The reading in the Hebrew looks like a conflation of variant readings, with the second (“when you hear the sound of the ram’s horn”) being an interpolation that assimilates the text to verse 20 (“when the army heard the sound of the horn”). Note that the words “when you hear the sound of the ram's horn” do not appear in the LXX of verse 5.

[6:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “all the people will shout with a loud shout.”

[6:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “fall in its place.”

[6:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the people will go up, each man straight ahead.”