Joshua 6:1-16

6:1 Now Jericho ¹  was shut tightly ²  because of the Israelites. No one was allowed to leave or enter. ³  6:2 The Lord told Joshua, “See, I am about to defeat Jericho for you, ⁴  along with its king and its warriors. 6:3 Have all the warriors march around the city one time; ⁵  do this for six days. 6:4 Have seven priests carry seven rams’ horns ⁶  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, ⁷  have the whole army give a loud battle cry. ⁸  Then the city wall will collapse ⁹  and the warriors should charge straight ahead.” ¹⁰ 

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.” 6:7 And he told ¹¹  the army, ¹²  “Move ahead ¹³  and march around the city, with armed troops going ahead of the ark of the Lord.”

6:8 When Joshua gave the army its orders, ¹⁴  the seven priests carrying the seven rams’ horns before the Lord moved ahead and blew the horns as the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed behind. 6:9 Armed troops marched ahead of the priests blowing the horns, while the rear guard followed along behind the ark blowing rams’ horns. 6:10 Now Joshua had instructed the army, ¹⁵  “Do not give a battle cry ¹⁶  or raise your voices; say nothing ¹⁷  until the day I tell you, ‘Give the battle cry.’ ¹⁸  Then give the battle cry!” ¹⁹  6:11 So Joshua made sure they marched the ark of the Lord around the city one time. ²⁰  Then they went back to the camp and spent the night there. ²¹ 

6:12 Bright and early the next morning Joshua had the priests pick up the ark of the Lord. ²²  6:13 The seven priests carrying the seven rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord marched along blowing their horns. Armed troops marched ahead of them, while the rear guard followed along behind the ark of the Lord blowing rams’ horns. 6:14 They marched around the city one time on the second day, then returned to the camp. They did this six days in all.

6:15 On the seventh day they were up at the crack of dawn ²³  and marched around the city as before – only this time they marched around it seven times. ²⁴  6:16 The seventh time around, the priests blew the rams’ horns and Joshua told the army, ²⁵  “Give the battle cry, ²⁶  for the Lord is handing the city over to you! ²⁷ 

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

[6:1]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “there was no one going out and there was no one coming in.”

[6:2]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “rams’ horns, trumpets.”

[6:5]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “all the people will shout with a loud shout.”

[6:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “fall in its place.”

[6:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and the people will go up, each man straight ahead.”

[6:7]  ¹¹ tn An alternative reading is “and they said.” In this case the subject is indefinite and the verb should be translated as passive, “[the army] was told.”

[6:7]  ¹² tn Heb “the people.”

[6:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “pass by.”

[6:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “when Joshua spoke to the people.”

[6:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the people.”

[6:10]  ¹⁶ tn Or “the shout.”

[6:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “do not let a word come out of your mouths.”

[6:10]  ¹⁸ tn Or “the shout.”

[6:10]  ¹⁹ tn Or “the shout.”

[6:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and he made the ark of the Lord go around the city, encircling one time.”

[6:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “and they entered the camp and spent the night in the camp.”

[6:12]  ²² tn Heb “Joshua rose early in the morning and the priests picked up the ark of the Lord.”

[6:15]  ²³ tn Heb “On the seventh day they rose early, when the dawn ascended.”

[6:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and they went around the city according to this manner seven times, only on that day they went around the city seven times.”

[6:16]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the people.”

[6:16]  ²⁶ tn Or “the shout.”

[6:16]  ²⁷ tn Heb “for the Lord has given to you the city.” The verbal form is a perfect, probably indicating certitude here.