Joshua 6:2-21

Context
6:2 The Lord told Joshua, “See, I am about to defeat Jericho for you,¹ along with its king and its warriors. 6:3 Have all the warriors march around the city one time;² do this for six days. 6:4 Have seven priests carry seven rams’ horns³ 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,⁴ have the whole army give a loud battle cry.⁵ Then the city wall will collapse⁶ and the warriors should charge straight ahead.”⁷

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 told⁸ the army,⁹ “Move ahead¹⁰ 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,¹¹ 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,¹² “Do not give a battle cry¹³ or raise your voices; say nothing¹⁴ until the day I tell you, ‘Give the battle cry.’¹⁵ Then give the battle cry!”¹⁶ 6:11 So Joshua made sure they marched the ark of the Lord around the city one time.¹⁷ Then they went back to the camp and spent the night there.¹⁸

6:12 Bright and early the next morning Joshua had the priests pick up the ark of the Lord.¹⁹ 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 dawn²⁰ and marched around the city as before – only this time they marched around it seven times.²¹ 6:16 The seventh time around, the priests blew the rams’ horns and Joshua told the army,²² “Give the battle cry,²³ for the Lord is handing the city over to you!²⁴ 6:17 The city and all that is in it must be set apart for the Lord,²⁵ except for Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house, because she hid the spies²⁶ 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.²⁷ 6:19 All the silver and gold, as well as bronze and iron items, belong to the Lord.²⁸ They must go into the Lord’s treasury.”

6:20 The rams’ horns sounded²⁹ and when the army³⁰ heard the signal,³¹ they gave a loud battle cry.³² The wall collapsed³³ and the warriors charged straight ahead into the city and captured it.³⁴ 6:21 They annihilated with the sword everything that breathed in the city,³⁵ including men and women, young and old, as well as cattle, sheep, and donkeys.

[6:2] ¹tn 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] ²tn 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] ³tn Heb “rams’ horns, trumpets.”

[6:5] ⁴tn 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] ⁵tn Heb “all the people will shout with a loud shout.”

[6:5] ⁶tn Heb “fall in its place.”

[6:5] ⁷tn Heb “and the people will go up, each man straight ahead.”

[6:7] ⁸tn 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] ⁹tn Heb “the people.”

[6:7] ¹⁰tn Heb “pass by.”

[6:8] ¹¹tn Heb “when Joshua spoke to the people.”

[6:10] ¹²tn Heb “the people.”

[6:10] ¹³tn Or “the shout.”

[6:10] ¹⁴tn Heb “do not let a word come out of your mouths.”

[6:10] ¹⁵tn Or “the shout.”

[6:10] ¹⁶tn Or “the shout.”

[6:11] ¹⁷tn Heb “and he made the ark of the Lord go around the city, encircling one time.”

[6:11] ¹⁸tn Heb “and they entered the camp and spent the night in the camp.”

[6:12] ¹⁹tn Heb “Joshua rose early in the morning and the priests picked up the ark of the Lord.”

[6:15] ²⁰tn Heb “On the seventh day they rose early, when the dawn ascended.”

[6:15] ²¹tn 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] ²²tn Heb “the people.”

[6:16] ²³tn Or “the shout.”

[6:16] ²⁴tn Heb “for the Lord has given to you the city.” The verbal form is a perfect, probably indicating certitude here.

[6:17] ²⁵tn Or “dedicated to the Lord.”

[6:17] ²⁶tn Heb “messengers.”

[6:18] ²⁷tn 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] ²⁸tn Heb “it is holy to the Lord.”

[6:20] ²⁹tc 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] ³⁰tn Heb “the people.”

[6:20] ³¹tn Heb “the sound of the horn.”

[6:20] ³²tn Heb “they shouted with a loud shout.”

[6:20] ³³tn Heb “fell in its place.”

[6:20] ³⁴tn Heb “and the people went up into the city, each one straight ahead, and they captured the city.”

[6:21] ³⁵tn Heb “all which was in the city.”