Joshua 6:5

6:5 When you hear the signal from the ram’s horn, ¹  have the whole army give a loud battle cry. ²  Then the city wall will collapse ³  and the warriors should charge straight ahead.” ⁴ 

Joshua 6:26

6:26 At that time Joshua made this solemn declaration: ⁵  “The man who attempts to rebuild ⁶  this city of Jericho ⁷  will stand condemned before the Lord. ⁸  He will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations and his youngest son when he erects its gates!” ⁹ 

Joshua 8:20

8:20 When the men of Ai turned around, they saw ¹⁰  the smoke from the city ascending into the sky and were so shocked they were unable to flee in any direction. ¹¹  In the meantime the men who were retreating to the desert turned against their pursuers.

Joshua 18:8

18:8 When the men started out, Joshua told those going to map out the land, “Go, walk through the land, map it out, and return to me. Then I will draw lots for you before the Lord here in Shiloh.”

Joshua 24:15

24:15 If you have no desire ¹²  to worship ¹³  the Lord, choose today whom you will worship, ¹⁴  whether it be the gods whom your ancestors ¹⁵  worshiped ¹⁶  beyond the Euphrates, ¹⁷  or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family ¹⁸  will worship ¹⁹  the Lord!”

[6:5]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “all the people will shout with a loud shout.”

[6:5]  ³ tn Heb “fall in its place.”

[6:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the people will go up, each man straight ahead.”

[6:26]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “rises up and builds.”

[6:26]  ⁷ tc The LXX omits “Jericho.” It is probably a scribal addition.

[6:26]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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.

[8:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “and they saw, and look.” The Hebrew term הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) draws attention to the scene and invites the audience to view the events from the perspective of the men of Ai.

[8:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and there was not in them hands to flee here or there.” The Hebrew term יָדַיִם (yadayim, “hands”) is idiomatic for “strength.”

[24:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “if it is bad in your eyes.”

[24:15]  ¹⁴ tn Or “to serve.”

[24:15]  ¹⁵ tn Or “will serve.”

[24:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “your fathers.”

[24:15]  ¹⁷ tn Or “served.”

[24:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity; see v. 3.

[24:15]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “house.”

[24:15]  ²⁰ tn Or “will serve.”