Joshua 5:13--6:5

Israel Conquers Jericho

5:13 When Joshua was near ¹  Jericho, ²  he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him holding a drawn sword. ³  Joshua approached him and asked him, “Are you on our side or allied with our enemies?” ⁴  5:14 He answered, ⁵  “Truly I am the commander of the Lord’s army. ⁶  Now I have arrived!” ⁷  Joshua bowed down with his face to the ground ⁸  and asked, “What does my master want to say to his servant?” 5:15 The commander of the Lord’s army answered Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you stand is holy.” Joshua did so.

6:1 Now Jericho ⁹  was shut tightly ¹⁰  because of the Israelites. No one was allowed to leave or enter. ¹¹  6:2 The Lord told Joshua, “See, I am about to defeat Jericho for you, ¹²  along with its king and its warriors. 6:3 Have all the warriors march around the city one time; ¹³  do this for six days. 6:4 Have seven priests carry seven rams’ horns ¹⁴  in front of the ark. On the seventh day march around the city seven times, while the priests blow the horns. 6:5 When you hear the signal from the ram’s horn, ¹⁵  have the whole army give a loud battle cry. ¹⁶  Then the city wall will collapse ¹⁷  and the warriors should charge straight ahead.” ¹⁸ 

[5:13]  ¹ tn Heb “in.”

[5:13]  ² map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[5:13]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

[5:14]  ⁵ tc Heb “He said, “Neither.” An alternative reading is לוֹ (lo, “[He said] to him”; cf. NEB). This reading is supported by many Hebrew mss, as well as the LXX and Syriac versions. The traditional reading of the MT (לֹא, lo’, “no, neither”) is probably the product of aural confusion (the two variant readings sound the same in Hebrew). Although followed by a number of modern translations (cf. NIV, NRSV), this reading is problematic, for the commander of the Lord’s army would hardly have declared himself neutral.

[5:14]  ⁶ sn The Lord’s heavenly army, like an earthly army, has a commander who leads the troops. For the phrase שַׂר־צְבָא (sar-tsÿva’, “army commander”) in the human sphere, see among many other references Gen 21:22, 32; 26:26; Judg 4:2, 7; 1 Sam 12:9.

[5:14]  ⁷ sn The commander’s appearance seems to be for Joshua’s encouragement. Joshua could now lead Israel into battle knowing that the Lord’s invisible army would ensure victory.

[5:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “Joshua fell on his face to the ground and bowed down.”

[6:1]  ⁹ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[6:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “was shutting and shut up.” HALOT 2:743 paraphrases, “blocking [any way of access] and blocked [against any who would leave].”

[6:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “there was no one going out and there was no one coming in.”

[6:2]  ¹² tn Heb “I have given into your hand Jericho.” The Hebrew verb נָתַתִּי (natatti, “I have given”) is probably best understood as a perfect of certitude, indicating the certainty of the action. The Hebrew pronominal suffix “your” is singular, being addressed to Joshua as the leader and representative of the nation. To convey to the modern reader what is about to happen and who is doing it, the translation “I am about to defeat Jericho for you” has been used.

[6:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “and go around the city, all [you] men of war, encircling the city one time.” The Hebrew verb וְסַבֹּתֶם (vÿsabbotem, “and go around”) is plural, being addressed to the whole army.

[6:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “rams’ horns, trumpets.”

[6:5]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “all the people will shout with a loud shout.”

[6:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “fall in its place.”

[6:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and the people will go up, each man straight ahead.”