¹ tn Heb “But there should be a distance between you and it, about two thousand cubits in measurement.”

sn The precise distance is uncertain, but the measurement designated אַמָּה (’ammah, “cubit”) was probably equivalent to approximately eighteen inches (one and one-half feet, or 45 cm) in length.

² tn Heb “do not approach it.”

³ tn Heb “know.”

⁴ tn Heb “rolled away.”

⁵ sn One might take the disgrace of Egypt as a reference to their uncircumcised condition (see Gen 34:14), but the generation that left Egypt was circumcised (see v. 5). It more likely refers to the disgrace they experienced in Egyptian slavery. When this new generation reached the promised land and renewed their covenantal commitment to the Lord by submitting to the rite of circumcision, the Lord’s deliverance of his people from slavery, which had begun with the plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea, reached its climax. See T. C. Butler, Joshua (WBC), 59.

⁶ sn The name Gilgal sounds like the Hebrew verb “roll away” (גַּלַל, galal).

⁷ tn Heb “rams’ horns, trumpets.”

⁸ tn Heb “come out after.”

⁹ tn Heb “I have assigned by lots to you these remaining nations as an inheritance for your tribes.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “the Great Sea,” the typical designation for the Mediterranean Sea.

¹¹ tn Heb “from the Jordan and all the nations which I cut off and the Great Sea [at] the place where the sun sets.” The relationship of the second half of the verse, which mentions nations already conquered, to the first half, which speaks of “remaining nations,” is difficult to understand.

¹² tn Heb “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the Lord to serve him.”

¹³ sn Like witnesses in a court of law, Israel’s solemn vow to worship the Lord will testify against them in the divine court if the nation ever violates its commitment.