Joshua 5:14

5:14 He answered,¹ “Truly I am the commander of the Lord’s army.² Now I have arrived!”³ Joshua bowed down with his face to the ground⁴ and asked, “What does my master want to say to his servant?”

Joshua 6:5

6:5 When you hear the signal from the ram’s horn,⁵ have the whole army give a loud battle cry.⁶ Then the city wall will collapse⁷ and the warriors should charge straight ahead.”⁸

Joshua 6:8

6:8 When Joshua gave the army its orders,⁹ the seven priests carrying the seven rams’ horns before the Lord moved ahead and blew the horns as the ark of the covenant of the Lord followed behind.

Joshua 6:10

6:10 Now Joshua had instructed the army,¹⁰ “Do not give a battle cry¹¹ or raise your voices; say nothing¹² until the day I tell you, ‘Give the battle cry.’¹³ Then give the battle cry!”¹⁴

Joshua 6:16

6:16 The seventh time around, the priests blew the rams’ horns and Joshua told the army,¹⁵ “Give the battle cry,¹⁶ for the Lord is handing the city over to you!¹⁷

Joshua 6:20

6:20 The rams’ horns sounded¹⁸ and when the army¹⁹ heard the signal,²⁰ they gave a loud battle cry.²¹ The wall collapsed²² and the warriors charged straight ahead into the city and captured it.²³

¹tc 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.

²sn 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.

³sn 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.

⁴tn Heb “Joshua fell on his face to the ground and bowed down.”

⁵tn Heb “and it will be at the sounding of the horn, the ram’s horn, when you hear the sound of the ram’s horn.” The text of Josh 6:5 seems to be unduly repetitive, so for the sake of English style and readability, it is best to streamline the text here. The reading in the Hebrew looks like a conflation of variant readings, with the second (“when you hear the sound of the ram’s horn”) being an interpolation that assimilates the text to verse 20 (“when the army heard the sound of the horn”). Note that the words “when you hear the sound of the ram's horn” do not appear in the LXX of verse 5.

⁶tn Heb “all the people will shout with a loud shout.”

⁷tn Heb “fall in its place.”

⁸tn Heb “and the people will go up, each man straight ahead.”

⁹tn Heb “when Joshua spoke to the people.”

¹⁰tn Heb “the people.”

¹¹tn Or “the shout.”

¹²tn Heb “do not let a word come out of your mouths.”

¹³tn Or “the shout.”

¹⁴tn Or “the shout.”

¹⁵tn Heb “the people.”

¹⁶tn Or “the shout.”

¹⁷tn Heb “for the Lord has given to you the city.” The verbal form is a perfect, probably indicating certitude here.

¹⁸tc Heb “and the people shouted and they blew the rams’ horns.” The initial statement (“and the people shouted”) seems premature, since the verse goes on to explain that the battle cry followed the blowing of the horns. The statement has probably been accidentally duplicated from what follows. It is omitted in the LXX.

¹⁹tn Heb “the people.”

²⁰tn Heb “the sound of the horn.”

²¹tn Heb “they shouted with a loud shout.”

²²tn Heb “fell in its place.”

²³tn Heb “and the people went up into the city, each one straight ahead, and they captured the city.”