Joshua 1:9
1:9 I repeat, 1 be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic, 2 for I, the Lord your God, am with you in all you do.” 3
Joshua 5:14
5:14 He answered, 4 “Truly I am the commander of the Lord’s army. 5 Now I have arrived!” 6 Joshua bowed down with his face to the ground 7 and asked, “What does my master want to say to his servant?”
Joshua 13:6
13:6 I will drive out before the Israelites all who live in the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, 8 all the Sidonians; you be sure to parcel it out to Israel as I instructed you.” 9
Joshua 14:7
14:7 I was forty years old when Moses, the Lord’s servant, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy on the land and I brought back to him an honest report. 10
1 tn Heb “Have I not commanded you?” The rhetorical question emphasizes the importance of the following command by reminding the listener that it is being repeated.
2 tn Or perhaps, “don’t get discouraged!”
3 tn Heb “in all which you go.”
4 tc Heb “He said, “Neither.” An alternative reading is לוֹ (lo, “[He said] to him”; cf. NEB). This reading is supported by many Hebrew mss, as well as the LXX and Syriac versions. The traditional reading of the MT (לֹא, lo’, “no, neither”) is probably the product of aural confusion (the two variant readings sound the same in Hebrew). Although followed by a number of modern translations (cf. NIV, NRSV), this reading is problematic, for the commander of the Lord’s army would hardly have declared himself neutral.
5 sn The Lord’s heavenly army, like an earthly army, has a commander who leads the troops. For the phrase שַׂר־צְבָא (sar-tsÿva’, “army commander”) in the human sphere, see among many other references Gen 21:22, 32; 26:26; Judg 4:2, 7; 1 Sam 12:9.
6 sn The commander’s appearance seems to be for Joshua’s encouragement. Joshua could now lead Israel into battle knowing that the Lord’s invisible army would ensure victory.
7 tn Heb “Joshua fell on his face to the ground and bowed down.”
8 tn The meaning of the Hebrew name “Misrephoth Maim” is perhaps “lime-kilns by the water” (see HALOT 2:641).
9 tn Heb “only you, assign it by lots to Israel as an inheritance as I commanded you.”
10 tn Heb “and I brought back to him a word just as [was] in my heart.”