Joshua 2:18

2:18 When we invade the land ¹ , tie this red rope ²  in the window through which you let us down, and gather together in your house your father, mother, brothers, and all who live in your father’s house. 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 7:6

7:6 Joshua tore his clothes; ⁸  he and the leaders ⁹  of Israel lay face down on the ground before the ark of the Lord until evening ¹⁰  and threw dirt on their heads. ¹¹ 

Joshua 8:21-22

8:21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the city was going up in smoke, ¹²  they turned around and struck down the men of Ai. 8:22 At the same time the men who had taken the city came out to fight, and the men of Ai were trapped in the middle. ¹³  The Israelites struck them down, leaving no survivors or refugees.

Joshua 10:10

10:10 The Lord routed ¹⁴  them before Israel. Israel ¹⁵  thoroughly defeated them ¹⁶  at Gibeon. They chased them up the road to the pass ¹⁷  of Beth Horon and struck them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah.

Joshua 10:27

10:27 At sunset Joshua ordered his men to take them down from the trees. ¹⁸  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.) ¹⁹ 

Joshua 15:18

15:18 One time Acsah ²⁰  came and charmed her father ²¹  so that she could ask him for some land. When she got down from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What would you like?”

Joshua 23:7

23:7 or associate with these nations that remain near ²²  you. You must not invoke or make solemn declarations by the names of their gods! ²³  You must not worship ²⁴  or bow down to them!

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¹ tn Heb “Look! We are about to enter the land.”

² tn Heb “the cord of this red thread.”

³ tn Heb “and your father and your mother and your brothers and all the house of your father gather to yourself to the house.”

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 sn Tearing one’s clothes was an outward expression of extreme sorrow (see Gen 37:34; 44:13).

⁹ tn Or “elders.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “and fell on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel.”

¹¹ sn Throwing dirt on one’s head was an outward expression of extreme sorrow (see Lam 2:10; Ezek 27:30).

¹² tn Heb “and that the smoke of the city ascended.”

¹³ tn Heb “and these went out from the city to meet them and they were for Israel in the middle, some on this side, and others on the other side.”

¹⁴ tn Or “caused to panic.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “he.” The referent is probably Israel (mentioned at the end of the previous sentence in the verse; cf. NIV, NRSV), but it is also possible that the Lord should be understood as the referent (cf. NASB “and He slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon”), or even Joshua (cf. NEB “and Joshua defeated them utterly in Gibeon”).

¹⁶ tn Heb “struck them down with a great striking down.”

¹⁷ tn Or “ascent.”

¹⁸ sn For the legal background of the removal of the corpses before sundown, see Deut 21:22-23.

¹⁹ tn Heb “to this very day.” The words “They remain” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

²⁰ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Acsah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²¹ tn Heb “him.” The referent of the pronoun could be Othniel, in which case the translation would be, “she incited him [Othniel] to ask her father for a field.” This is problematic, however, for Acsah, not Othniel, makes the request in v. 19. The LXX has “he [Othniel] urged her to ask her father for a field.” This appears to be an attempt to reconcile the apparent inconsistency and probably does not reflect the original text. If Caleb is understood as the referent of the pronoun, the problem disappears. For a fuller discussion of the issue, see P. G. Mosca, “Who Seduced Whom? A Note on Joshua 15:18//Judges 1:14,” CBQ 46 (1984): 18-22. This incident is also recorded in Judg 1:14.

²² tn Heb “with.”

²³ tn Heb “and in the name of their gods you must not invoke and you must not make solemn declarations.” The words “and you must not make solemn declarations” are omitted in the LXX and may represent a later scribal addition to elucidate the immediately preceding command. The Hiphil of שָׁבַע (shava’) without an object occurs only here and in Josh 6:26.

²⁴ tn Or “serve.”