Joshua 1:4

1:4 Your territory will extend from the wilderness in the south to Lebanon in the north. It will extend all the way to the great River Euphrates in the east (including all of Syria) ¹  and all the way to the Mediterranean Sea ²  in the west. ³ 

Joshua 24:2-3

24:2 Joshua told all the people, “Here is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘In the distant past your ancestors ⁴  lived beyond the Euphrates River, ⁵  including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor. They worshiped ⁶  other gods, 24:3 but I took your father Abraham from beyond the Euphrates ⁷  and brought him into ⁸  the entire land of Canaan. I made his descendants numerous; I gave him Isaac,

Joshua 24:14-15

24:14 Now ⁹  obey ¹⁰  the Lord and worship ¹¹  him with integrity and loyalty. Put aside the gods your ancestors ¹²  worshiped ¹³  beyond the Euphrates ¹⁴  and in Egypt and worship ¹⁵  the Lord. 24:15 If you have no desire ¹⁶  to worship ¹⁷  the Lord, choose today whom you will worship, ¹⁸  whether it be the gods whom your ancestors ¹⁹  worshiped ²⁰  beyond the Euphrates, ²¹  or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family ²²  will worship ²³  the Lord!”

[1:4]  ¹ tn Heb “all the land of the Hittites.” The expression “the land of the Hittites” does not refer to Anatolia (modern Turkey), where the ancient Hittite kingdom of the second millennium b.c. was located, but rather to Syria, the “Hatti land” mentioned in inscriptions of the first millennium b.c. (see HALOT 1:363). The phrase is omitted in the LXX and may be a scribal addition.

[1:4]  ² tn Heb “the Great Sea,” the typical designation for the Mediterranean Sea.

[1:4]  ³ tn Heb “From the wilderness and this Lebanon even to the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, even to the great sea [at] the place where the sun sets, your territory will be.”

[24:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “your fathers.”

[24:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:2]  ⁶ tn Or “served.”

[24:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:3]  ⁸ tn Or “through.”

[24:14]  ¹⁰ sn Joshua quotes the Lord’s words in vv. 2b-13 (note that the Lord speaks in the first person in these verses); in vv. 14-15 Joshua himself exhorts the people (note the third person references to the Lord).

[24:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “fear.”

[24:14]  ¹² tn Or “and serve.”

[24:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “your fathers.”

[24:14]  ¹⁴ tn Or “served.”

[24:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity; see v. 3.

[24:14]  ¹⁶ tn Or “and serve.”

[24:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “if it is bad in your eyes.”

[24:15]  ¹⁴ tn Or “to serve.”

[24:15]  ¹⁵ tn Or “will serve.”

[24:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “your fathers.”

[24:15]  ¹⁷ tn Or “served.”

[24:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity; see v. 3.

[24:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “house.”

[24:15]  ²⁰ tn Or “will serve.”