Discovery BoxJoshua 22:17-20
Context22:17 The sin we committed at Peor was bad enough. To this very day we have not purified ourselves; it even brought a plague on the community of the Lord. 1 22:18 Now today you dare to turn back 2 from following the Lord! You are rebelling today against the Lord; tomorrow he may break out in anger against 3 the entire community of Israel. 22:19 But if your own land 4 is impure, 5 cross over to the Lord’s own land, 6 where the Lord himself lives, 7 and settle down among us. 8 But don’t rebel against the Lord or us 9 by building for yourselves an altar aside from the altar of the Lord our God. 22:20 When Achan son of Zerah disobeyed the command about the city’s riches, the entire Israelite community was judged, 10 though only one man had sinned. He most certainly died for his sin!’” 11
Ezra 9:7-15
Context9:7 From the days of our fathers until this very day our guilt has been great. Because of our iniquities we, along with our kings and 12 priests, have been delivered over by the local kings 13 to sword, captivity, plunder, and embarrassment – right up to the present time.
9:8 “But now briefly 14 we have received mercy from the Lord our God, in that he has left us a remnant and has given us a secure position 15 in his holy place. Thus our God has enlightened our eyes 16 and has given us a little relief in our time of servitude. 9:9 Although we are slaves, our God has not abandoned us in our servitude. He has extended kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, in that he has revived us 17 to restore the temple of our God and to raise 18 up its ruins and to give us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem. 19
9:10 “And now what are we able to say after this, our God? For we have forsaken your commandments 9:11 which you commanded us through your servants the prophets with these words: 20 ‘The land that you are entering to possess is a land defiled by the impurities of the local residents! 21 With their abominations they have filled it from one end to the other with their filthiness. 9:12 Therefore do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons, and do not take their daughters in marriage for your sons. Do not ever seek their peace or welfare, so that you may be strong and may eat the good of the land and may leave it as an inheritance for your children 22 forever.’
9:13 “Everything that has happened to us has come about because of our wicked actions and our great guilt. Even so, our God, you have exercised restraint 23 toward our iniquities and have given us a remnant such as this. 9:14 Shall we once again break your commandments and intermarry with these abominable peoples? Would you not be so angered by us that you would wipe us out, with no survivor or remnant? 9:15 O Lord God of Israel, you are righteous, for we are left as a remnant this day. Indeed, we stand before you in our guilt. However, because of this guilt 24 no one can really stand before you.”
Daniel 9:5-8
Context9:5 we have sinned! We have done what is wrong and wicked; we have rebelled by turning away from your commandments and standards. 9:6 We have not paid attention to your servants the prophets, who spoke by your authority 25 to our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, 26 and to all the inhabitants 27 of the land as well.
9:7 “You are righteous, 28 O Lord, but we are humiliated this day 29 – the people 30 of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far away in all the countries in which you have scattered them, because they have behaved unfaithfully toward you. 9:8 O LORD, we have been humiliated 31 – our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors – because we have sinned against you.
[22:17] 1 tn Heb “Was the sin of Peor too insignificant for us, from which we have not made purification to this day? And there was a plague in the assembly of the
[22:18] 2 tn Heb “you are turning back.”
[22:18] 3 tn Or “he will be angry with.”
[22:19] 4 tn Heb “the land of your possession.”
[22:19] 5 sn The western tribes here imagine a possible motive for the action of the eastern tribes. T. C. Butler explains the significance of the land’s “impurity”: “East Jordan is impure because it is not Yahweh’s possession. Rather it is simply ‘your possession.’ That means it is land where Yahweh does not live, land which his presence has not sanctified and purified” (Joshua [WBC], 247).
[22:19] 6 tn Heb “the land of the possession of the
[22:19] 7 tn Heb “where the dwelling place of the
[22:19] 8 tn Heb “and take for yourselves in our midst.”
[22:19] 9 tc Heb “and us to you rebel.” The reading of the MT, the accusative sign with suffix (וְאֹתָנוּ, vÿ’otanu), is problematic with the verb “rebel” (מָרַד, marad). Many Hebrew
[22:20] 10 tn Heb “Is it not [true that] Achan son of Zerah was unfaithful with unfaithfulness concerning what was set apart [to the
[22:20] 11 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.
[9:7] 12 tc The MT lacks “and” here, but see the LXX and Vulgate.
[9:7] 13 tn Heb “the kings of the lands.”
[9:8] 14 tn Heb “according to a little moment.”
[9:8] 15 tn Heb “a peg” or “tent peg.” The imagery behind this word is drawn from the experience of nomads who put down pegs as they pitched their tents and made camp after times of travel.
[9:8] 16 tn Heb “to cause our eyes to shine.” The expression is a figure of speech for “to revive.” See DCH 1:160 s.v. אור Hi.7.
[9:9] 17 tn Heb “has granted us reviving.”
[9:9] 18 tn Heb “to cause to stand.”
[9:9] 19 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[9:11] 20 tn Heb “through your servants the prophets, saying.”
[9:11] 21 tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”
[9:12] 22 tn Heb “sons”; cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NLT “children”; NCV, TEV “descendants.”
[9:13] 23 tn Heb “held back downwards from”; KJV “hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve” (NIV, NRSV, NLT all similar).
[9:15] 24 tn Heb “this”; the referent (the guilt mentioned previously) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[9:6] 25 tn Heb “in your name.” Another option is to translate, “as your representatives.”
[9:6] 26 tn Heb “our fathers” (also in vv. 8, 16). The Hebrew term translated “father” can refer to more distant relationships such as grandfathers or ancestors.
[9:7] 28 tn Heb “to you (belongs) righteousness.”
[9:7] 29 tn Heb “and to us (belongs) shame of face like this day.”
