Joshua 3:6

3:6 Joshua told the priests, “Pick up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they picked up the ark of the covenant and went ahead of the people.

Joshua 3:8

3:8 Instruct the priests carrying the ark of the covenant, ‘When you reach the bank of the Jordan River, ¹  wade into the water.’” ² 

Joshua 3:14-17

3:14 So when the people left their tents to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ³  ahead of them. 3:15 When the ones carrying the ark reached the Jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the ark touched the surface ⁴  of the water – (the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest time) ⁵  – 3:16 the water coming downstream toward them stopped flowing. ⁶  It piled up far upstream ⁷  at Adam (the city near Zarethan); there was no water at all flowing to the sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea). ⁸  The people crossed the river opposite Jericho. ⁹  3:17 The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan. All Israel crossed over on dry ground until the entire nation was on the other side. ¹⁰ 

Joshua 4:10

4:10 Now the priests carrying the ark of the covenant were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people was accomplished, in accordance with all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people went across quickly,

Joshua 6:6

6:6 So Joshua son of Nun summoned the priests and instructed them, “Pick up the ark of the covenant, and seven priests must carry seven rams’ horns in front of the ark of the Lord.”

Numbers 4:15

4:15 “When Aaron and his sons have finished ¹¹  covering ¹²  the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is ready to journey, then ¹³  the Kohathites will come to carry them; ¹⁴  but they must not touch ¹⁵  any ¹⁶  holy thing, or they will die. ¹⁷  These are the responsibilities ¹⁸  of the Kohathites with the tent of meeting.

Deuteronomy 31:9

The Deposit of the Covenant Text

31:9 Then Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carry the ark of the Lord’s covenant, and to all Israel’s elders.

Deuteronomy 31:25

31:25 he ¹⁹  commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the Lord’s covenant,

Deuteronomy 31:2

31:2 He said to them, “Today I am a hundred and twenty years old. I am no longer able to get about, ²⁰  and the Lord has said to me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan.’

Deuteronomy 6:3

6:3 Pay attention, Israel, and be careful to do this so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in number ²¹  – as the Lord, God of your ancestors, ²²  said to you, you will have a land flowing with milk and honey.

Deuteronomy 6:13

6:13 You must revere the Lord your God, serve him, and take oaths using only his name.

Deuteronomy 6:1

Exhortation to Keep the Covenant Principles

6:1 Now these are the commandments, ²³  statutes, and ordinances that the Lord your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed ²⁴ 

Deuteronomy 15:11

15:11 There will never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I am commanding you to make sure you open ²⁵  your hand to your fellow Israelites ²⁶  who are needy and poor in your land.

Deuteronomy 15:1

Release for Debt Slaves

15:1 At the end of every seven years you must declare a cancellation ²⁷  of debts.

Deuteronomy 15:12

Release of Debt Slaves

15:12 If your fellow Hebrew ²⁸  – whether male or female ²⁹  – is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant ³⁰  go free. ³¹ 

[3:8]  ¹ tn Heb “the edge of the waters of the Jordan.” The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied for clarity.

[3:8]  ² tn Heb “stand in the Jordan.” Here the repetition of the word “Jordan” would be redundant according to contemporary English style, so it was not included in the translation.

[3:14]  ¹ tn The verb, though not in the Hebrew, is added for clarification.

[3:15]  ¹ tn Heb “dipped into the edge.”

[3:15]  ² tn Heb “and the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest.”

[3:16]  ¹ tn Heb “the waters descending from above stood still.”

[3:16]  ² tn Heb “they stood in one pile very far away.”

[3:16]  ³ tn Heb “the [waters] descending toward the sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) were completely cut off.”

[3:16]  ⁴ map For the location of Jericho see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[3:17]  ¹ tn Heb “and all Israel was crossing over on dry ground until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.”

[4:15]  ¹ tn The verb form is the Piel perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive; it continues the future sequence, but in this verse forms a subordinate clause to the parallel sequential verb to follow.

[4:15]  ² tn The Piel infinitive construct with the preposition serves as the direct object of the preceding verbal form, answering the question of what it was that they finished.

[4:15]  ³ tn Heb “after this.”

[4:15]  ⁴ tn The form is the Qal infinitive construct from נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to lift, carry”); here it indicates the purpose clause after the verb “come.”

[4:15]  ⁵ tn The imperfect tense may be given the nuance of negated instruction (“they are not to”) or negated obligation (“they must not”).

[4:15]  ⁶ tn Here the article expresses the generic idea of any holy thing (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 19, §92).

[4:15]  ⁷ tn The verb is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, following the imperfect tense warning against touching the holy thing. The form shows the consequence of touching the holy thing, and so could be translated “or they will die” or “lest they die.” The first is stronger.

[4:15]  ⁸ tn The word מַשָּׂא (massa’) is normally rendered “burden,” especially in prophetic literature. It indicates the load that one must carry, whether an oracle, or here the physical responsibility.

[31:25]  ¹ tn Heb “Moses.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

[31:2]  ¹ tn Or “am no longer able to lead you” (NIV, NLT); Heb “am no longer able to go out and come in.”

[6:3]  ¹ tn Heb “may multiply greatly” (so NASB, NRSV); the words “in number” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[6:3]  ² tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 10, 18, 23).

[6:1]  ¹ tn Heb “commandment.” The word מִצְוָה (mitsvah) again is in the singular, serving as a comprehensive term for the whole stipulation section of the book. See note on the word “commandments” in 5:31.

[6:1]  ² tn Heb “where you are going over to possess it” (so NASB); NRSV “that you are about to cross into and occupy.”

[15:11]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “make sure.”

[15:11]  ² tn Heb “your brother.”

[15:1]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term שְׁמִטָּת (shÿmittat), a derivative of the verb שָׁמַט (shamat, “to release; to relinquish”), refers to the cancellation of the debt and even pledges for the debt of a borrower by his creditor. This could be a full and final remission or, more likely, one for the seventh year only. See R. Wakely, NIDOTTE 4:155-60. Here the words “of debts” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied. Cf. NAB “a relaxation of debts”; NASB, NRSV “a remission of debts.”

[15:12]  ¹ sn Elsewhere in the OT, the Israelites are called “Hebrews” (עִבְרִי, ’ivriy) by outsiders, rarely by themselves (cf. Gen 14:13; 39:14, 17; 41:12; Exod 1:15, 16, 19; 2:6, 7, 11, 13; 1 Sam 4:6; Jonah 1:9). Thus, here and in the parallel passage in Exod 21:2-6 the term עִבְרִי may designate non-Israelites, specifically a people well-known throughout the ancient Near East as ’apiru or habiru. They lived a rather vagabond lifestyle, frequently hiring themselves out as laborers or mercenary soldiers. While accounting nicely for the surprising use of the term here in an Israelite law code, the suggestion has against it the unlikelihood that a set of laws would address such a marginal people so specifically (as opposed to simply calling them aliens or the like). More likely עִבְרִי is chosen as a term to remind Israel that when they were “Hebrews,” that is, when they were in Egypt, they were slaves. Now that they are free they must not keep their fellow Israelites in economic bondage. See v. 15.

[15:12]  ² tn Heb “your brother, a Hebrew (male) or Hebrew (female).”

[15:12]  ³ tn Heb “him.” The singular pronoun occurs throughout the passage.

[15:12]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text includes “from you.”