Numbers 21:2-3

21:2 So Israel made a vow ¹  to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver ²  this people into our ³  hand, then we will utterly destroy ⁴  their cities.” 21:3 The Lord listened to the voice of Israel and delivered up the Canaanites, ⁵  and they utterly destroyed them and their cities. So the name of the place was called ⁶  Hormah.

Joshua 6:26

6:26 At that time Joshua made this solemn declaration: ⁷  “The man who attempts to rebuild ⁸  this city of Jericho ⁹  will stand condemned before the Lord. ¹⁰  He will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations and his youngest son when he erects its gates!” ¹¹ 

Joshua 8:28

8:28 Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanently uninhabited mound (it remains that way to this very day). ¹² 

Isaiah 17:1

The Lord Will Judge Damascus

17:1 Here is a message about Damascus:

“Look, Damascus is no longer a city,

it is a heap of ruins!

Isaiah 25:2

25:2 Indeed, ¹³  you have made the city ¹⁴  into a heap of rubble,

the fortified town into a heap of ruins;

the fortress of foreigners ¹⁵  is no longer a city,

it will never be rebuilt.

Jeremiah 49:2

49:2 Because you did that,

I, the Lord, affirm that ¹⁶  a time is coming

when I will make Rabbah, the capital city of Ammon,

hear the sound of the battle cry.

It will become a mound covered with ruins. ¹⁷ 

Its villages will be burned to the ground. ¹⁸ 

Then Israel will take back its land

from those who took their land from them.

I, the Lord, affirm it! ¹⁹ 

Micah 1:6

1:6 “I will turn Samaria ²⁰  into a heap of ruins in an open field –

vineyards will be planted there! ²¹ 

I will tumble ²²  the rubble of her stone walls ²³  down into the valley,

and tear down her fortifications to their foundations. ²⁴ 

[21:2]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative with the verb: They vowed a vow. The Israelites were therefore determined with God’s help to defeat Arad.

[21:2]  ² tn The Hebrew text has the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of נָתַן (natan) to stress the point – if you will surely/indeed give.”

[21:2]  ³ tn Heb “my.”

[21:2]  ⁴ tn On the surface this does not sound like much of a vow. But the key is in the use of the verb for “utterly destroy” – חָרַם (kharam). Whatever was put to this “ban” or “devotion” belonged to God, either for his use, or for destruction. The oath was in fact saying that they would take nothing from this for themselves. It would simply be the removal of what was alien to the faith, or to God’s program.

[21:3]  ⁵ tc Smr, Greek, and Syriac add “into his hand.”

[21:3]  ⁶ tn In the Hebrew text the verb has no expressed subject, and so here too is made passive. The name “Hormah” is etymologically connected to the verb “utterly destroy,” forming the popular etymology (or paronomasia, a phonetic wordplay capturing the significance of the event).

[6:26]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “rises up and builds.”

[6:26]  ⁹ tc The LXX omits “Jericho.” It is probably a scribal addition.

[6:26]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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.

[8:28]  ¹² tn Heb “and made it a permanent mound, a desolation, to this day.”

[25:2]  ¹³ tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[25:2]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text has “you have made from the city.” The prefixed mem (מ) on עִיר (’ir, “city”) was probably originally an enclitic mem suffixed to the preceding verb. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:456, n. 3.

[25:2]  ¹⁵ tc Some with support from the LXX emend זָרִים (zarim, “foreigners”) to זֵדִים (zedim, “the insolent”).

[49:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[49:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a desolate tel.” For the explanation of what a “tel” is see the study note on 30:18.

[49:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Its daughters will be burned with fire.” For the use of the word “daughters” to refer to the villages surrounding a larger city see BDB 123 s.v. I בַּת 4 and compare the usage in Judg 1:27.

[49:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “says the Lord.” The first person is used to maintain the first person address throughout.

[1:6]  ²⁰ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[1:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “into a planting place for vineyards.”

[1:6]  ²² tn Heb “pour” (so NASB, NIV); KJV, NRSV “pour down”; NAB “throw down”; NLT “roll.”

[1:6]  ²³ tn Heb “her stones.” The term stones is a metonymy for the city walls whose foundations were constructed of stone masonry.

[1:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “I will uncover her foundations.” The term “foundations” refers to the lower courses of the stones of the city’s outer fortification walls.