Exodus 7:19

7:19 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over Egypt’s waters – over their rivers, over their canals, ¹  over their ponds, and over all their reservoirs ²  – so that it becomes ³  blood.’ There will be blood everywhere in ⁴  the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.”

Exodus 15:23

15:23 Then they came to Marah, ⁵  but they were not able to drink ⁶  the waters of Marah, because ⁷  they were bitter. ⁸  (That is ⁹  why its name was ¹⁰  Marah.)

Joshua 6:17

6:17 The city and all that is in it must be set apart for the Lord, ¹¹  except for Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house, because she hid the spies ¹²  we sent.

Joshua 6:26

6:26 At that time Joshua made this solemn declaration: ¹³  “The man who attempts to rebuild ¹⁴  this city of Jericho ¹⁵  will stand condemned before the Lord. ¹⁶  He will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations and his youngest son when he erects its gates!” ¹⁷ 

Joshua 6:1

6:1 Now Jericho ¹⁸  was shut tightly ¹⁹  because of the Israelites. No one was allowed to leave or enter. ²⁰ 

Joshua 16:1

Joseph’s Tribal Lands

16:1 The land allotted to Joseph’s descendants extended from the Jordan at Jericho ²¹  to the waters of Jericho to the east, through the desert and on up from Jericho into the hill country of Bethel. ²² 

[7:19]  ¹ tn Or “irrigation rivers” of the Nile.

[7:19]  ² sn The Hebrew term means “gathering,” i.e., wherever they gathered or collected waters, notably cisterns and reservoirs. This would naturally lead to the inclusion of both wooden and stone vessels – down to the smallest gatherings.

[7:19]  ³ tn The imperfect tense with vav (ו) after the imperative indicates the purpose or result: “in order that they [the waters] be[come] blood.”

[7:19]  ⁴ tn Or “in all.”

[15:23]  ⁵ sn The Hebrew word “Marah” means “bitter.” This motif will be repeated four times in this passage to mark the central problem. Earlier in the book the word had been used for the “bitter herbs” in the Passover, recalling the bitter labor in bondage. So there may be a double reference here – to the bitter waters and to Egypt itself – God can deliver from either.

[15:23]  ⁶ tn The infinitive construct here provides the direct object for the verb “to be able,” answering the question of what they were not able to do.

[15:23]  ⁷ tn The causal clause here provides the reason for their being unable to drink the water, as well as a clear motivation for the name.

[15:23]  ⁸ sn Many scholars have attempted to explain these things with natural phenomena. Here Marah is identified with Ain Hawarah. It is said that the waters of this well are notoriously salty and brackish; Robinson said it was six to eight feet in diameter and the water about two feet deep; the water is unpleasant, salty, and somewhat bitter. As a result the Arabs say it is the worst tasting water in the area (W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:398). But that would not be a sufficient amount of water for the number of Israelites in the first place, and in the second, they could not drink it at all. But third, how did Moses change it?

[15:23]  ⁹ tn The עַל־כֵּן (’al-ken) formula in the Pentateuch serves to explain to the reader the reason for the way things were. It does not necessarily mean here that Israel named the place – but they certainly could have.

[15:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “one called its name,” the expression can be translated as a passive verb if the subject is not expressed.

[6:17]  ¹¹ tn Or “dedicated to the Lord.”

[6:17]  ¹² tn Heb “messengers.”

[6:26]  ¹³ tn Normally the Hiphil of שָׁבַע (shava’) has a causative sense (“make [someone] take an oath”; see Josh 2:17, 20), but here (see also Josh 23:7) no object is stated or implied. If Joshua is calling divine judgment down upon the one who attempts to rebuild Jericho, then “make a solemn appeal [to God as judge]” or “pronounce a curse” would be an appropriate translation. However, the tone seems stronger. Joshua appears to be announcing the certain punishment of the violator. 1 Kgs 16:34, which records the fulfillment of Joshua’s prediction, supports this. Casting Joshua in a prophetic role, it refers to Joshua’s statement as the “word of the Lord” spoken through Joshua.

[6:26]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “rises up and builds.”

[6:26]  ¹⁵ tc The LXX omits “Jericho.” It is probably a scribal addition.

[6:26]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew phrase אָרוּר לִפְנֵי יְהוָה (’arur lifney yÿhvah, “cursed [i.e., condemned] before the Lord”) also occurs in 1 Sam 26:19.

[6:26]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “With his firstborn he will lay its foundations and with his youngest he will erect its gates.” The Hebrew verb יַצִּיב (yatsiv, “he will erect”) is imperfect, not jussive, suggesting Joshua’s statement is a prediction, not an imprecation.

[6:1]  ¹⁸ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[6:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “was shutting and shut up.” HALOT 2:743 paraphrases, “blocking [any way of access] and blocked [against any who would leave].”

[6:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “there was no one going out and there was no one coming in.”

[16:1]  ²¹ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[16:1]  ²² tn Heb “The lot went out to the sons of Joseph from the Jordan [at] Jericho to the waters of Jericho to the east, the desert going up from Jericho into the hill country of Bethel.”