Joshua 6:16-27

6:16 The seventh time around, the priests blew the rams’ horns and Joshua told the army, ¹  “Give the battle cry, ²  for the Lord is handing the city over to you! ³  6:17 The city and all that is in it must be set apart for the Lord, ⁴  except for Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house, because she hid the spies ⁵  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. ⁶  6:19 All the silver and gold, as well as bronze and iron items, belong to the Lord. ⁷  They must go into the Lord’s treasury.”

6:20 The rams’ horns sounded ⁸  and when the army ⁹  heard the signal, ¹⁰  they gave a loud battle cry. ¹¹  The wall collapsed ¹²  and the warriors charged straight ahead into the city and captured it. ¹³  6:21 They annihilated with the sword everything that breathed in the city, ¹⁴  including men and women, young and old, as well as cattle, sheep, and donkeys. 6:22 Joshua told the two men who had spied on the land, “Enter the prostitute’s house ¹⁵  and bring out the woman and all who belong to her as you promised her.” ¹⁶  6:23 So the young spies went and brought out Rahab, her father, mother, brothers, and all who belonged to her. They brought out her whole family and took them to a place outside ¹⁷  the Israelite camp. 6:24 But they burned ¹⁸  the city and all that was in it, except for the silver, gold, and bronze and iron items they put in the treasury of the Lord’s house. ¹⁹  6:25 Yet Joshua spared ²⁰  Rahab the prostitute, her father’s family, ²¹  and all who belonged to her. She lives in Israel ²²  to this very day because she hid the messengers Joshua sent to spy on Jericho. ²³  6:26 At that time Joshua made this solemn declaration: ²⁴  “The man who attempts to rebuild ²⁵  this city of Jericho ²⁶  will stand condemned before the Lord. ²⁷  He will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations and his youngest son when he erects its gates!” ²⁸  6:27 The Lord was with Joshua and he became famous throughout the land. ²⁹ 

[6:16]  ¹ tn Heb “the people.”

[6:16]  ² tn Or “the shout.”

[6:16]  ³ tn Heb “for the Lord has given to you the city.” The verbal form is a perfect, probably indicating certitude here.

[6:17]  ⁴ tn Or “dedicated to the Lord.”

[6:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “messengers.”

[6:18]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “it is holy to the Lord.”

[6:20]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “the people.”

[6:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the sound of the horn.”

[6:20]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they shouted with a loud shout.”

[6:20]  ¹² tn Heb “fell in its place.”

[6:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “and the people went up into the city, each one straight ahead, and they captured the city.”

[6:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “all which was in the city.”

[6:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the house of the woman, the prostitute.”

[6:22]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her as you swore on oath to her.”

[6:23]  ¹⁷ tn Or “placed them outside.”

[6:24]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew text adds “with fire.”

[6:24]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the treasury of the house of the Lord.” Technically the Lord did not have a “house” yet, so perhaps this refers to the tabernacle using later terminology.

[6:25]  ²⁰ tn Heb “kept alive.”

[6:25]  ²¹ tn Heb the house of her father.”

[6:25]  ²² tn Or “among the Israelites”; Heb “in the midst of Israel.”

[6:25]  ²³ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[6:26]  ²⁴ tn Normally the Hiphil of שָׁבַע (shava’) has a causative sense (“make [someone] take an oath”; see Josh 2:17, 20), but here (see also Josh 23:7) no object is stated or implied. If Joshua is calling divine judgment down upon the one who attempts to rebuild Jericho, then “make a solemn appeal [to God as judge]” or “pronounce a curse” would be an appropriate translation. However, the tone seems stronger. Joshua appears to be announcing the certain punishment of the violator. 1 Kgs 16:34, which records the fulfillment of Joshua’s prediction, supports this. Casting Joshua in a prophetic role, it refers to Joshua’s statement as the “word of the Lord” spoken through Joshua.

[6:26]  ²⁵ tn Heb “rises up and builds.”

[6:26]  ²⁶ tc The LXX omits “Jericho.” It is probably a scribal addition.

[6:26]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew phrase אָרוּר לִפְנֵי יְהוָה (’arur lifney yÿhvah, “cursed [i.e., condemned] before the Lord”) also occurs in 1 Sam 26:19.

[6:26]  ²⁸ tn Heb “With his firstborn he will lay its foundations and with his youngest he will erect its gates.” The Hebrew verb יַצִּיב (yatsiv, “he will erect”) is imperfect, not jussive, suggesting Joshua’s statement is a prediction, not an imprecation.

[6:27]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and the report about him was in all the land.” The Hebrew term אֶרֶץ (’erets, “land”) may also be translated “earth.”