Joshua 8:1

Israel Conquers Ai

8:1 The Lord told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid and don’t panic! ¹  Take the whole army with you and march against Ai! ²  See, I am handing over to you ³  the king of Ai, along with his people, city, and land.

Joshua 8:20

8:20 When the men of Ai turned around, they saw ⁴  the smoke from the city ascending into the sky and were so shocked they were unable to flee in any direction. ⁵  In the meantime the men who were retreating to the desert turned against their pursuers.

Joshua 22:19

22:19 But if your own land ⁶  is impure, ⁷  cross over to the Lord’s own land, ⁸  where the Lord himself lives, ⁹  and settle down among us. ¹⁰  But don’t rebel against the Lord or us ¹¹  by building for yourselves an altar aside from the altar of the Lord our God.

Joshua 22:29

22:29 Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord by turning back today from following after the Lord by building an altar for burnt offerings, sacrifices, and tokens of peace ¹²  aside from the altar of the Lord our God located in front of his dwelling place!” ¹³ 

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¹ tn Or perhaps “and don’t get discouraged!”

² tn Heb “Take with you all the people of war and arise, go up against Ai!”

³ tn Heb “I have given into our hand.” The verbal form, a perfect, is probably best understood as a perfect of certitude, indicating the certainty of the action.

⁴ tn Heb “and they saw, and look.” The Hebrew term הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) draws attention to the scene and invites the audience to view the events from the perspective of the men of Ai.

⁵ tn Heb “and there was not in them hands to flee here or there.” The Hebrew term יָדַיִם (yadayim, “hands”) is idiomatic for “strength.”

⁶ tn Heb “the land of your possession.”

⁷ 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).

⁸ tn Heb “the land of the possession of the Lord.”

⁹ tn Heb “where the dwelling place of the Lord resides.”

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

¹⁰ tn Heb “and take for yourselves in our midst.”

¹¹ 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”).

¹² tn Or “peace offerings.”

¹³ sn The Lord’s dwelling place here refers to the tabernacle.