Joshua 2:11

2:11 When we heard the news we lost our courage and no one could even breathe for fear of you. ¹  For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below!

Joshua 4:23

4:23 For the Lord your God dried up the water of the Jordan before you while you crossed over. It was just like when the Lord your God dried up the Red Sea before us while we crossed it. ² 

Joshua 22:22

22:22 “El, God, the Lord! ³  El, God, the Lord! He knows the truth! ⁴  Israel must also know! If we have rebelled or disobeyed the Lord, ⁵  don’t spare us ⁶  today!

Joshua 24:19

24:19 Joshua warned ⁷  the people, “You will not keep worshiping ⁸  the Lord, for ⁹  he is a holy God. ¹⁰  He is a jealous God who will not forgive ¹¹  your rebellion or your sins.

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¹ tn Heb “And we heard and our heart[s] melted and there remained no longer breath in a man because of you.”

² tn Heb “just as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea when he dried [it] up before us while we crossed over.”

³ sn Israel’s God is here identified with three names: (1) אֵל (’el), “El” (or “God”); (2) אֱלֹהִים (’elohim), “Elohim” (or “God”), and (3) יְהוָה (yÿhvah), “Yahweh” (or “the Lord”). The name אֵל (’el, “El”) is often compounded with titles, for example, El Elyon, “God Most High.”

⁴ tn Heb “he knows.”

⁵ tn Heb “if in rebellion or if in unfaithfulness against the Lord.”

⁶ tn Heb “do not save us.” The verb form is singular, being addressed to either collective Israel or the Lord himself. The LXX translates in the third person.

⁷ tn Heb “said to.”

⁸ tn Heb “you are not able to serve.”

⁹ sn For an excellent discussion of Joshua’s logical argument here, see T. C. Butler, Joshua (WBC), 274-75.

¹⁰ tn In the Hebrew text both the divine name (אֱלֹהִים, ’elohim) and the adjective (קְדֹשִׁים, qÿdoshim, “holy”) are plural. Normally the divine name, when referring to the one true God, takes singular modifiers, but this is a rare exception where the adjective agrees grammatically with the honorific plural noun. See GKC §124.i and IBHS 122.

¹¹ tn Heb “lift up” or “take away.”

sn This assertion obviously needs qualification, for the OT elsewhere affirms that God does forgive. Joshua is referring to the persistent national rebellion against the Mosaic covenant that eventually cause God to decree unconditionally the nation’s exile.