Joshua 9:21-27

9:21 The leaders then added, ¹  “Let them live.” So they became ²  woodcutters and water carriers for the whole community, as the leaders had decided. ³ 

9:22 ⁴ Joshua summoned the Gibeonites ⁵  and said to them, “Why did you trick ⁶  us by saying, ‘We live far away from you,’ when you really live nearby? ⁷  9:23 Now you are condemned to perpetual servitude as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.” ⁸  9:24 They said to Joshua, “It was carefully reported to your subjects ⁹  how the Lord your God commanded Moses his servant to assign you the whole land and to destroy all who live in the land from before you. Because of you we were terrified ¹⁰  we would lose our lives, so we did this thing. 9:25 So now we are in your power. ¹¹  Do to us what you think is good and appropriate. ¹²  9:26 Joshua did as they said; he kept the Israelites from killing them ¹³  9:27 and that day made them woodcutters and water carriers for the community and for the altar of the Lord at the divinely chosen site. (They continue in that capacity to this very day.) ¹⁴ 

Ezra 2:43

2:43 The temple servants: the descendants of Ziha, the descendants of Hasupha, the descendants of Tabbaoth,

Ezra 2:58

2:58 All the temple servants and the descendants of the servants of Solomon: 392.

Ezra 8:20

8:20 and some of the temple servants that David and his officials had established for the work of the Levites – 220 of them. They were all designated by name.

Nehemiah 7:60

7:60 All the temple servants and the descendants of the servants of Solomon, 392.

Nehemiah 7:73

7:73 The priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and all the rest of Israel lived in their cities.

The People Respond to the Reading of the Law

When the seventh month arrived and the Israelites ¹⁵  were settled in their cities, ¹⁶ 

Nehemiah 11:3

11:3 These are the provincial leaders ¹⁷  who settled in Jerusalem. (While other Israelites, the priests, the Levites, the temple attendants, and the sons of the servants of Solomon settled in the cities of Judah, each on his own property in their cities,

Nehemiah 11:21

11:21 The temple attendants were living on Ophel, and Ziha and Gishpa were over them. ¹⁸ 

[9:21]  ¹ tc Heb “and the leaders said to them.” The LXX omits the words “and the leaders said to them.”

[9:21]  ² tn The vav (ו) consecutive construction in the Hebrew text suggests that the narrative resumes at this point. The LXX reads here, “and they will be,” understanding what follows to be a continuation of the leaders’ words rather than a comment by the narrator.

[9:21]  ³ tn Heb “as the leaders said to them.”

[9:22]  ⁴ sn Verses 22-27 appear to elaborate on v. 21b.

[9:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “them.”

[9:22]  ⁶ tn Or “deceive.”

[9:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “live in our midst?”

[9:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “Now you are cursed and a servant will not be cut off from you, woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.”

[9:24]  ⁹ tn Heb “your servants.”

[9:24]  ¹⁰ tn Or “we were very afraid.”

[9:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “so now, look, we are in your hand.”

[9:25]  ¹² tn Heb “according to what is good and according to what is upright in your eyes to do us, do.”

[9:26]  ¹³ tn Heb “And he did to them so and he rescued them from the hand of the sons of Israel and they did not kill them.”

[9:27]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and Joshua made them in that day woodcutters and water carriers for the community, and for the altar of the Lord to this day at the place which he chooses.”

[7:73]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the sons of Israel.” So also in vv. 14, 17; 9:1.

[7:73]  ¹⁶ tn The traditional understanding of the chapter and verse division here is probably incorrect. The final part of v. 73 is best understood as belonging with 8:1.

[11:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the heads of the province.”

[11:21]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the temple attendants.” The pronoun “them” has been substituted in the translation for stylistic reasons.