Joshua 2:1

Joshua Sends Spies into the Land

2:1 Joshua son of Nun sent two spies out from Shittim secretly and instructed them: ¹  “Find out what you can about the land, especially Jericho.” ²  They stopped at the house of a prostitute named Rahab and spent the night there. ³ 

Joshua 2:3

2:3 So the king of Jericho sent this order to Rahab: ⁴  “Turn over ⁵  the men who came to you ⁶  – the ones who came to your house ⁷  – for they have come to spy on the whole land!”

Joshua 2:9

2:9 She said to the men, “I know the Lord is handing this land over to you. ⁸  We are absolutely terrified of you, ⁹  and all who live in the land are cringing before ¹⁰  you. ¹¹ 

Joshua 2:11

2:11 When we heard the news we lost our courage and no one could even breathe for fear of you. ¹²  For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below!

Joshua 2:14

2:14 The men said to her, “If you ¹³  die, may we die too! ¹⁴  If you do not report what we’ve been up to, ¹⁵  then, when the Lord hands the land over to us, we will show unswerving allegiance ¹⁶  to you.” ¹⁷ 

Joshua 4:5

4:5 Joshua told them, “Go in front of the ark of the Lord your God to the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to put a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the Israelite tribes.

Joshua 5:13

Israel Conquers Jericho

5:13 When Joshua was near ¹⁸  Jericho, ¹⁹  he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him holding a drawn sword. ²⁰  Joshua approached him and asked him, “Are you on our side or allied with our enemies?” ²¹ 

Joshua 6:5

6:5 When you hear the signal from the ram’s horn, ²²  have the whole army give a loud battle cry. ²³  Then the city wall will collapse ²⁴  and the warriors should charge straight ahead.” ²⁵ 

Joshua 6:20

6:20 The rams’ horns sounded ²⁶  and when the army ²⁷  heard the signal, ²⁸  they gave a loud battle cry. ²⁹  The wall collapsed ³⁰  and the warriors charged straight ahead into the city and captured it. ³¹ 

Joshua 6:26

6:26 At that time Joshua made this solemn declaration: ³²  “The man who attempts to rebuild ³³  this city of Jericho ³⁴  will stand condemned before the Lord. ³⁵  He will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations and his youngest son when he erects its gates!” ³⁶ 

Joshua 7:5

7:5 The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them and chased them from in front of the city gate all the way to the fissures ³⁷  and defeated them on the steep slope. ³⁸  The people’s ³⁹  courage melted away like water. ⁴⁰ 

Joshua 8:20

8:20 When the men of Ai turned around, they saw ⁴¹  the smoke from the city ascending into the sky and were so shocked they were unable to flee in any direction. ⁴²  In the meantime the men who were retreating to the desert turned against their pursuers.

Joshua 10:6

10:6 The men of Gibeon sent this message to Joshua at the camp in Gilgal, “Do not abandon ⁴³  your subjects! ⁴⁴  Rescue us! Help us! For all the Amorite kings living in the hill country are attacking us.” ⁴⁵ 

Joshua 14:6

14:6 The men of Judah approached Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said about you and me to Moses, the man of God, at Kadesh Barnea. ⁴⁶ 

Joshua 17:1

17:1 The tribe of Manasseh, Joseph’s firstborn son, was also allotted land. ⁴⁷  The descendants of Makir, Manasseh’s firstborn and the father of Gilead, received land, for they were warriors. ⁴⁸  They were assigned Gilead and Bashan. ⁴⁹ 

Joshua 21:44

21:44 The Lord made them secure, ⁵⁰  in fulfillment of all he had solemnly promised their ancestors. ⁵¹  None of their enemies could resist them. ⁵² 

Joshua 22:14

22:14 He was accompanied by ten leaders, one from each of the Israelite tribes, each one a family leader among the Israelite clans. ⁵³ 

Joshua 22:20

22:20 When Achan son of Zerah disobeyed the command about the city’s riches, the entire Israelite community was judged, ⁵⁴  though only one man had sinned. He most certainly died for his sin!’” ⁵⁵ 

[2:1]  ¹ tn Heb “Joshua, son of Nun, sent from Shittim two men, spies, secretly, saying.”

[2:1]  ² tn Heb “go, see the land, and Jericho.”

[2:1]  ³ tn Heb “they went and entered the house of a woman, a prostitute, and her name was Rahab, and they slept there.”

[2:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying.”

[2:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “bring out.”

[2:3]  ⁶ tn The idiom “come to” (בוֹא אֶל, bo’ ’el) probably has sexual connotations here, as it often does elsewhere when a man “comes to” a woman. If so, the phrase could be translated “your clients.” The instructions reflect Rahab’s perspective as to the identity of the men.

[2:3]  ⁷ tn The words “the ones who came to your house” (Heb “who came to your house”) may be a euphemistic scribal addition designed to blur the sexual connotation of the preceding words.

[2:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “has given the land to you.” Rahab’s statement uses the Hebrew perfect, suggesting certitude.

[2:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “terror of you has fallen upon us.”

[2:9]  ⁹ tn Or “melting away because of.”

[2:9]  ¹⁰ tn Both of these statements are actually subordinated to “I know” in the Hebrew text, which reads, “I know that the Lord…and that terror of you…and that all the inhabitants….”

[2:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “And we heard and our heart[s] melted and there remained no longer breath in a man because of you.”

[2:14]  ¹³ tn The second person pronoun is masculine plural, indicating that Rahab’s entire family is in view.

[2:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Our lives in return for you to die.” If the lives of Rahab’s family are not spared, then the spies will pay for the broken vow with their own lives.

[2:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “If you do not report this matter of ours.”

[2:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “allegiance and faithfulness.” These virtual synonyms are joined in the translation as “unswerving allegiance” to emphasize the degree of promised loyalty.

[2:14]  ¹⁷ tn The second person pronoun is feminine singular, referring specifically to Rahab.

[5:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “in.”

[5:13]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[5:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he lifted up his eyes and looked. And look, a man was standing in front of him, and his sword was drawn in his hand.” The verb הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) invites the reader to view the scene through Joshua’s eyes. By calling the stranger “a man,” the author reflects Joshua’s perspective. The text shortly reveals his true identity (vv. 14-15).

[5:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

[6:5]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “all the people will shout with a loud shout.”

[6:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “fall in its place.”

[6:5]  ²² tn Heb “and the people will go up, each man straight ahead.”

[6:20]  ²² tc Heb “and the people shouted and they blew the rams’ horns.” The initial statement (“and the people shouted”) seems premature, since the verse goes on to explain that the battle cry followed the blowing of the horns. The statement has probably been accidentally duplicated from what follows. It is omitted in the LXX.

[6:20]  ²³ tn Heb “the people.”

[6:20]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the sound of the horn.”

[6:20]  ²⁵ tn Heb “they shouted with a loud shout.”

[6:20]  ²⁶ tn Heb “fell in its place.”

[6:20]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and the people went up into the city, each one straight ahead, and they captured the city.”

[6:26]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ tn Heb “rises up and builds.”

[6:26]  ²⁷ tc The LXX omits “Jericho.” It is probably a scribal addition.

[6:26]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ 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.

[7:5]  ²⁸ tn The meaning and correct translation of the Hebrew word שְׁבָרִים (shÿvarim) is uncertain. The translation “fissures” is based on usage of the plural form of the noun in Ps 60:4 HT (60:2 ET), where it appears to refer to cracks in the earth caused by an earthquake. Perhaps deep ravines or gorges are in view, or the word is a proper noun (“all the way to Shebarim”).

[7:5]  ²⁹ sn The precise geographical location of the Israelite defeat at this “steep slope” is uncertain.

[7:5]  ³⁰ tn Or “army’s.”

[7:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “and the heart of the people melted and became water.”

[8:20]  ³¹ tn Heb “and they saw, and look.” The Hebrew term הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) draws attention to the scene and invites the audience to view the events from the perspective of the men of Ai.

[8:20]  ³² tn Heb “and there was not in them hands to flee here or there.” The Hebrew term יָדַיִם (yadayim, “hands”) is idiomatic for “strength.”

[10:6]  ³⁴ tn Heb “do not let your hand drop from us.”

[10:6]  ³⁵ tn Heb “your servants!”

[10:6]  ³⁶ tn Heb “have gathered against us.”

[14:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “You know the word which the Lord spoke to Moses, the man of God, because of me and because of you in Kadesh Barnea.”

[17:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and the lot belonged to the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph.”

[17:1]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “to Makir, the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, for he was a man of war.”

[17:1]  ⁴² tn Heb “Gilead and Bashan belonged to him.”

[21:44]  ⁴³ tn Heb “gave them rest all around.”

[21:44]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “according to all he swore to their fathers.”

[21:44]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “not a man stood from before them from all their enemies.”

[22:14]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “ten leaders with him, one leader, one leader for a paternal house, for all the tribes of Israel, and each a head of the house of their father, they belong to the clans of Israel.”

[22:20]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “Is it not [true that] Achan son of Zerah was unfaithful with unfaithfulness concerning what was set apart [to the Lord] and against all the assembly of Israel there was anger?”

[22:20]  ⁵⁰ tn The second half of the verse reads literally, “and he [was] one man, he did not die for his sin.” There are at least two possible ways to explain this statement: (1) One might interpret the statement to mean that Achan was not the only person who died for his sin. In this case it could be translated, “and he was not the only one to die because of his sin.” (2) Another option, the one reflected in the translation, is to take the words וְהוּא אִישׁ אֶחָד (vÿhu’ ’ish ’ekhad, “and he [was] one man”) as a concessive clause and join it with what precedes. The remaining words (לֹא גָוַע בַּעֲוֹנוֹ, lo’ gava’ ba’avono) must then be taken as a rhetorical question (“Did he not die for his sin?”). Taking the last sentence as interrogative is consistent with the first part of the verse, a rhetorical question introduced with the interrogative particle. The present translation has converted these rhetorical questions into affirmative statements to bring out more clearly the points they are emphasizing. For further discussion, see T. C. Butler, Joshua (WBC), 240.