Yosua 6:26

6:26 At that time Joshua made this solemn declaration: ¹  “The man who attempts to rebuild ²  this city of Jericho ³  will stand condemned before the Lord. ⁴  He will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations and his youngest son when he erects its gates!” ⁵ 

Yosua 2:19

2:19 Anyone who leaves your house will be responsible for his own death – we are innocent in that case! ⁶  But if anyone with you in the house is harmed, we will be responsible. ⁷ 

Yosua 19:51

19:51 These are the land assignments which Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the Israelite tribal leaders ⁸  made by drawing lots in Shiloh before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ⁹  So they finished dividing up the land.

Yosua 6:1

6:1 Now Jericho ¹⁰  was shut tightly ¹¹  because of the Israelites. No one was allowed to leave or enter. ¹² 

Yosua 2:5

2:5 When it was time to shut the city gate for the night, the men left. ¹³  I don’t know where they were heading. Chase after them quickly, for you have time to catch them!”

Yosua 2:7

2:7 Meanwhile ¹⁴  the king’s men tried to find them on the road to the Jordan River ¹⁵  near the fords. ¹⁶  The city gate was shut as soon as they set out in pursuit of them. ¹⁷ 

Yosua 20:4

20:4 The one who committed manslaughter ¹⁸  should escape to one of these cities, stand at the entrance of the city gate, and present his case to the leaders of that city. ¹⁹  They should then bring him into the city, give him a place to stay, and let him live there. ²⁰ 

Yosua 10:18

10:18 Joshua said, “Roll large stones over the mouth of the cave and post guards in front of it. ²¹ 

Yosua 10:22

10:22 Joshua said, “Open the cave’s mouth and bring the five kings ²²  out of the cave to me.”

Yosua 7:5

7:5 The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them and chased them from in front of the city gate all the way to the fissures ²³  and defeated them on the steep slope. ²⁴  The people’s ²⁵  courage melted away like water. ²⁶ 

Yosua 8:29

8:29 He hung the king of Ai on a tree, leaving him exposed until evening. ²⁷  At sunset Joshua ordered that his corpse be taken down from the tree. ²⁸  They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and erected over it a large pile of stones (it remains to this very day). ²⁹ 

Yosua 8:17

8:17 No men were left in Ai or Bethel; ³⁰  they all went out after Israel. ³¹  They left the city wide open and chased Israel.

Yosua 10:27

10:27 At sunset Joshua ordered his men to take them down from the trees. ³²  They threw them into the cave where they had hidden and piled large stones over the mouth of the cave. (They remain to this very day.) ³³ 

[6:26]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “rises up and builds.”

[6:26]  ³ tc The LXX omits “Jericho.” It is probably a scribal addition.

[6:26]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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.

[2:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “Anyone who goes out from the doors of your house to the outside, his blood is on his head. We are innocent.”

[2:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “But anyone who is with you in the house, his blood is on our head if a hand should be on him.”

[19:51]  ⁸ tn Heb “the leaders of the fathers of the tribes.”

[19:51]  ⁹ tn Heb “at the entrance of the tent of assembly.”

[19:51]  sn On the tent of meeting see Exod 33:7-11.

[6:1]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[6:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “was shutting and shut up.” HALOT 2:743 paraphrases, “blocking [any way of access] and blocked [against any who would leave].”

[6:1]  ¹² tn Heb “there was no one going out and there was no one coming in.”

[2:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “And the gate was to be shut in the darkness and the men went out.”

[2:7]  ¹⁴ tn Another way to translate vv. 6-7 would be, “While she took them up to the roof and hid them…, the king’s men tried to find them….” Both of the main clauses have the subject prior to the predicate, perhaps indicating simultaneous action. (On the grammatical point, see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 42, §235.) In this case Rahab moves the Israelite spies from the hiding place referred to in v. 4 to a safer and less accessible hiding place.

[2:7]  ¹⁵ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarity.

[2:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “And the men chased after them [on] the road [leading to] the Jordan to the fords.” The text is written from the perspective of the king’s men. As far as they were concerned, they were chasing the spies.

[2:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “And they shut the gate after – as soon as the ones chasing after them went out.” The expressions “after” and “as soon as” may represent a conflation of alternate readings.

[20:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the one who accidentally kills another, cf. v. 2) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and speak into the ears of the elders of that city his words.”

[20:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and they should gather him into the city to themselves, give to him a place, and he will live with them.”

[10:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “and appoint by it men to guard them.”

[10:22]  ²² tn Heb “these five kings.”

[7:5]  ²³ tn The meaning and correct translation of the Hebrew word שְׁבָרִים (shÿvarim) is uncertain. The translation “fissures” is based on usage of the plural form of the noun in Ps 60:4 HT (60:2 ET), where it appears to refer to cracks in the earth caused by an earthquake. Perhaps deep ravines or gorges are in view, or the word is a proper noun (“all the way to Shebarim”).

[7:5]  ²⁴ sn The precise geographical location of the Israelite defeat at this “steep slope” is uncertain.

[7:5]  ²⁵ tn Or “army’s.”

[7:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and the heart of the people melted and became water.”

[8:29]  ²⁷ tn Heb “on a tree until evening.” The words “leaving him exposed” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:29]  ²⁸ sn For the legal background of this action, see Deut 21:22-23.

[8:29]  ²⁹ tn Heb “to this day.”

[8:17]  ³⁰ tc The LXX omits the words “or Bethel.”

[8:17]  map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[8:17]  ³¹ tn Heb “who did not go out after Israel.”

[10:27]  ³² sn For the legal background of the removal of the corpses before sundown, see Deut 21:22-23.

[10:27]  ³³ tn Heb “to this very day.” The words “They remain” are supplied in the translation for clarification.