Yosua 18:12

18:12 Their northern border started at the Jordan, went up to the slope of Jericho ¹  on the north, ascended westward to the hill country, and extended to the desert of Beth Aven.

Yosua 18:1

The Tribes Meet at Shiloh

18:1 The entire Israelite community assembled at Shiloh and there they set up the tent of meeting. ²  Though they had subdued the land, ³ 

1 Samuel 13:5

13:5 For the battle with Israel the Philistines had amassed 3,000 ⁴  chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and an army as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven.

1 Samuel 14:23

14:23 So the Lord delivered Israel that day, and the battle shifted over to Beth Aven. ⁵ 

Hosea 4:15

Warning to Judah: Do Not Join in Israel’s Apostasy!

4:15 Although you, O Israel, commit adultery,

do not let Judah become guilty!

Do not journey to Gilgal!

Do not go up to Beth Aven! ⁶ 

Do not swear, “As surely as the Lord lives!”

Hosea 5:8

The Prophet’s Declaration of Judgment

5:8 Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah!

Sound the trumpet in Ramah!

Sound the alarm in Beth Aven! ⁷ 

Tremble in fear, ⁸  O Benjamin!

Hosea 10:5

The Calf Idol and Idolaters of Samaria Will Be Exiled

10:5 The inhabitants ⁹  of Samaria will lament ¹⁰  over the calf idol ¹¹  of Beth Aven. ¹² 

Its people will mourn over it;

its idolatrous priests will wail ¹³  over it, ¹⁴ 

because its splendor will be taken from them ¹⁵  into exile.

[18:12]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[18:1]  ² tn Heb “the tent of assembly.”

[18:1]  sn On the tent of meeting see Exod 33:7-11.

[18:1]  ³ tn Heb “and the land was subdued before them.”

[13:5]  ⁴ tn Many English versions (e.g., KJV, NASB, NRSV, TEV) read “30,000” here.

[14:23]  ⁵ tc The LXX includes the following words: “And all the people were with Saul, about ten thousand men. And the battle extended to the entire city on mount Ephraim.”

[4:15]  ⁶ sn Beth Aven means “house of wickedness” in Hebrew; it is a polemic reference to “Bethel,” which means “house of God.” Cf. CEV “at sinful Bethel.”

[5:8]  ⁷ sn See the note on the place name Beth Aven in 4:15.

[5:8]  ⁸ tc The MT reads the anomalous אַחֲרֶיךָ בִּנְיָמִין (’akharekha binyamin, “behind you, O Benjamin”), a reading followed by many English versions. The LXX reads ἐξέστη (exesth) which might reflect an alternate textual tradition of הַחֲרִדוּ בִּנְיָמִין (hakharidu binyamin, “Tremble in fear, O Benjamin”); the verb form would be a Hiphil imperative 2nd person masculine plural from חָרַד (kharad, “to tremble, be terrified”; BDB 353 s.v. חָרַד). For discussion of this textual problem, see D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 5:236.

[10:5]  ⁹ tc The MT reads the singular construct noun שְׁכַן (shÿkhan, “the inhabitant [of Samaria]”), while the LXX and Syriac reflect the plural construct noun שְׁכַנֵי (shÿkhane, “the inhabitants [of Samaria]”). The singular noun may be a collective referring to the population of Samaria as a whole (BDB 1015 s.v. שָׁכֵן; e.g., Isa 33:24). Most English translations view this as a reference to the inhabitants of the city as a whole (KJV, RSV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NJPS, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[10:5]  ¹⁰ tc The MT reads יָגוּרוּ (yaguru, Qal imperfect 3rd person common plural from III גוּר, gur, “to dread”; see BDB 159 s.v. III גוּר 1). This reading is followed by most English versions but is syntactically awkward because III גוּר (“to dread”) is used nowhere else with the preposition לְ (lamed, “they are in dread for…”?). BDB suggests reading יָנוּדוּ (yanudu, Qal imperfect 3rd person common plural from נוּד, nud, “to lament”; BDB 626 s.v. נוּד 2.a) which harmonizes better with the parallelism with אָבַל (’aval, “to mourn”) in the following line. The verb נוּד (“to lament”) is used with the preposition לְ in the idiom “to lament for” (e.g., Isa 51:19; Jer 15:5; 16:5; 48:17; Nah 3:7). This involves simple orthographic confusion between ג (gimel) and נ (nun), as well as ר (resh) and ד (dalet) which were often confused by the scribes.

[10:5]  ¹¹ tc The MT reads the plural לְעֶגְלוֹת (lÿ’eglot, “for the calves”), while some Greek versions (LXX, Theodotion) and the Syriac reflect the singular לְעֵגֶל (“for the calf [calf idol]”). The singular reading is preferred on the basis of internal evidence: the oracle denounces the calf idol worship of Samaria. The plural form probably arose due to the ambiguity of the term “calf” when a scribe did not realize that the term was being used as a metonymy for the worship of the Egyptian calf goddess. Most recent English versions adopt the singular form and relate it to the calf goddess cult (RSV, NASB, NIV, NCV, NJPS, TEV, CEV, NLT); however, older English versions follow the MT plural (KJV, ASV).

[10:5]  ¹² sn See the note on the place name Beth Aven in 4:15.

[10:5]  ¹³ tc The MT appears to read יָגִילוּ (yagilu, “they will rejoice”; Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine plural from גִּיל, gil, “to rejoice”), but this is likely an example of semantic polarization. See F. I. Andersen and D. N. Freedman, Hosea (AB), 556-67. The BHS editors propose the reading יְיֵלִילוּ (yÿyelilu, “they will lament”; Hiphil imperfect 3rd person masculine plural from יָלַל, yalal, “to lament”), which also appears in Hos 7:14. If this reading is original, the textual variant may be attributed to: (1) orthographic confusion between ל (lamed) and ג (gimel), and (2) haplography or dittography of י (yod). English versions are split; some follow the MT (KJV, ASV, NIV, NJPS), others the proposed emendation (RSV, NASB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[10:5]  ¹⁴ tc This line division follows the MT rather than the line division suggested by the BHS editors.

[10:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “from it” (so NAB, NRSV).