Joshua 5:2-5

A New Generation is Circumcised

5:2 At that time the Lord told Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites once again.” ¹  5:3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites on the Hill of the Foreskins. ²  5:4 This is why Joshua had to circumcise them: All the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt died on the journey through the desert after they left Egypt. ³  5:5 Now ⁴  all the men ⁵  who left were circumcised, but all the sons ⁶  born on the journey through the desert after they left Egypt were uncircumcised.

[5:2]  ¹ tn Heb “return, circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” The Hebrew term שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) is used here in an adverbial sense to indicate the repetition of an action.

[5:3]  ² tn Or “Gibeath Haaraloth.” This name means “Hill of the Foreskins.” Many modern translations simply give the Hebrew name, although an explanatory note giving the meaning of the name is often included.

[5:4]  ³ tn Heb “All the people who went out from Egypt, the males, all the men of war, died in the desert in the way when they went out from Egypt.”

[5:5]  ⁴ tn Or “indeed.”

[5:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “people.”

[5:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “all the people.”