Joshua 7:21

7:21 I saw among the goods we seized a nice robe from Babylon, ¹  two hundred silver pieces, ²  and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels. I wanted them, so I took them. They are hidden in the ground right in the middle of my tent with the silver underneath.”

Joshua 18:7

18:7 But the Levites will not have an allotted portion among you, for their inheritance is to serve the Lord. ³  Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their allotted land ⁴  east of the Jordan which Moses the Lord’s servant assigned them.”

Joshua 20:9

20:9 These were the cities of refuge ⁵  appointed for all the Israelites and for resident foreigners living among them. Anyone who accidentally killed someone could escape there and not be executed by ⁶  the avenger of blood, at least until his case was reviewed by the assembly. ⁷ 

Joshua 22:19

22:19 But if your own land ⁸  is impure, ⁹  cross over to the Lord’s own land, ¹⁰  where the Lord himself lives, ¹¹  and settle down among us. ¹²  But don’t rebel against the Lord or us ¹³  by building for yourselves an altar aside from the altar of the Lord our God.

Joshua 22:31

22:31 Phinehas, son of Eleazar, the priest, said to the Reubenites, Gadites, and the Manassehites, ¹⁴  “Today we know that the Lord is among us, because you have not disobeyed the Lord in this. ¹⁵  Now ¹⁶  you have rescued the Israelites from the Lord’s judgment.” ¹⁷ 

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¹ tn Heb “Shinar,” a reference to Babylon (cf. Gen 10:10; 11:2; 14:1). Many modern translations retain the Hebrew name “Shinar” (cf. NEB, NRSV) but some use the more familiar “Babylon” (cf. NIV, NLT).

² tn Heb “shekels.”

³ tn Or “the priesthood of the Lord.”

⁴ tn Or “inheritance.”

⁵ tn The Hebrew text reads simply “the cities.” The words “for refuge” are supplied for clarification.

⁶ tn Heb “and not die by the hand of.”

⁷ tn Heb “until he stands before the assembly.” The words “at least” are supplied for clarification.

⁸ tn Heb “the land of your possession.”

⁹ sn The western tribes here imagine a possible motive for the action of the eastern tribes. T. C. Butler explains the significance of the land’s “impurity”: “East Jordan is impure because it is not Yahweh’s possession. Rather it is simply ‘your possession.’ That means it is land where Yahweh does not live, land which his presence has not sanctified and purified” (Joshua [WBC], 247).

¹⁰ tn Heb “the land of the possession of the Lord.”

¹¹ tn Heb “where the dwelling place of the Lord resides.”

sn The phrase where the Lord himself lives refers to the tabernacle.

¹² tn Heb “and take for yourselves in our midst.”

¹³ tc Heb “and us to you rebel.” The reading of the MT, the accusative sign with suffix (וְאֹתָנוּ, vÿ’otanu), is problematic with the verb “rebel” (מָרַד, marad). Many Hebrew mss correctly read the negative particle אַל (’al) for the preposition אֶל (’el, “to”).

¹⁴ tn Heb “the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh.”

¹⁵ tn Heb “because you were not unfaithful with this unfaithfulness against the Lord.”

¹⁶ tn On the use of אָז in a logical sense, see Waltke-O’Connor, Hebrew Syntax, 667.

¹⁷ tn Heb “the hand (i.e., power) of the Lord.”