Joshua 10:9-14

10:9 Joshua attacked them by surprise after marching all night from Gilgal. ¹  10:10 The Lord routed ²  them before Israel. Israel ³  thoroughly defeated them ⁴  at Gibeon. They chased them up the road to the pass ⁵  of Beth Horon and struck them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. 10:11 As they fled from Israel on the slope leading down from ⁶  Beth Horon, the Lord threw down on them large hailstones from the sky, ⁷  all the way to Azekah. They died – in fact, more died from the hailstones than the Israelites killed with the sword.

10:12 The day the Lord delivered the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua prayed to the Lord before Israel: ⁸ 

“O sun, stand still over Gibeon!

O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon!”

10:13 The sun stood still and the moon stood motionless while the nation took vengeance on its enemies. The event is recorded in the Scroll of the Upright One. ⁹  The sun stood motionless in the middle of the sky and did not set for about a full day. ¹⁰  10:14 There has not been a day like it before or since. The Lord obeyed ¹¹  a man, for the Lord fought for Israel!

[10:9]  ¹ tn Heb “Joshua came upon them suddenly, all the night he went up from Gilgal.”

[10:10]  ² tn Or “caused to panic.”

[10:10]  ³ tn Heb “he.” The referent is probably Israel (mentioned at the end of the previous sentence in the verse; cf. NIV, NRSV), but it is also possible that the Lord should be understood as the referent (cf. NASB “and He slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon”), or even Joshua (cf. NEB “and Joshua defeated them utterly in Gibeon”).

[10:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “struck them down with a great striking down.”

[10:10]  ⁵ tn Or “ascent.”

[10:11]  ³ tn Heb “on the descent of.”

[10:11]  ⁴ tn Or “heaven” (also in v. 13). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[10:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day the Lord placed the Amorites before the sons of Israel and he said in the eyes of Israel.” It is uncertain whether the phrase “before the sons of Israel” modifies the verb “placed” (as in the present translation, “delivered the Amorites over to the Israelites”) or the verb “spoke” (“Joshua spoke to the Lord before the sons of Israel in the day the Lord delivered over the Amorites”).

[10:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “Is it not written down in the Scroll of the Upright One.” Many modern translations render, “the Scroll [or Book] of Jashar,” leaving the Hebrew name “Jashar” (which means “Upright One”) untranslated.

[10:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “and did not hurry to set [for] about a full day.”

[10:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “listened to the voice of.”