Joshua 6:15-21

6:15 On the seventh day they were up at the crack of dawn ¹  and marched around the city as before – only this time they marched around it seven times. ²  6:16 The seventh time around, the priests blew the rams’ horns and Joshua told the army, ³  “Give the battle cry, ⁴  for the Lord is handing the city over to you! ⁵  6:17 The city and all that is in it must be set apart for the Lord, ⁶  except for Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house, because she hid the spies ⁷  we sent. 6:18 But be careful when you are setting apart the riches for the Lord. If you take any of it, you will make the Israelite camp subject to annihilation and cause a disaster. ⁸  6:19 All the silver and gold, as well as bronze and iron items, belong to the Lord. ⁹  They must go into the Lord’s treasury.”

6:20 The rams’ horns sounded ¹⁰  and when the army ¹¹  heard the signal, ¹²  they gave a loud battle cry. ¹³  The wall collapsed ¹⁴  and the warriors charged straight ahead into the city and captured it. ¹⁵  6:21 They annihilated with the sword everything that breathed in the city, ¹⁶  including men and women, young and old, as well as cattle, sheep, and donkeys.

[6:15]  ¹ tn Heb “On the seventh day they rose early, when the dawn ascended.”

[6:15]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “the people.”

[6:16]  ⁴ tn Or “the shout.”

[6:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “for the Lord has given to you the city.” The verbal form is a perfect, probably indicating certitude here.

[6:17]  ⁶ tn Or “dedicated to the Lord.”

[6:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “messengers.”

[6:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “Only you keep [away] from what is set apart [to the Lord] so that you might not, as you are setting [it] apart, take some of what is set apart [to the Lord] and make the camp of Israel set apart [to destruction by the Lord] and bring trouble on it.”

[6:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “it is holy to the Lord.”

[6:20]  ¹⁰ tc Heb “and the people shouted and they blew the rams’ horns.” The initial statement (“and the people shouted”) seems premature, since the verse goes on to explain that the battle cry followed the blowing of the horns. The statement has probably been accidentally duplicated from what follows. It is omitted in the LXX.

[6:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the people.”

[6:20]  ¹² tn Heb “the sound of the horn.”

[6:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “they shouted with a loud shout.”

[6:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “fell in its place.”

[6:20]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and the people went up into the city, each one straight ahead, and they captured the city.”

[6:21]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “all which was in the city.”