Discovery BoxJoshua 9:18-21 
Context9:18 The Israelites did not attack them because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them in the name of the Lord God of Israel. 1 The whole community criticized 2 the leaders, 9:19 but all the leaders told the whole community, “We swore an oath to them in the name of 3 the Lord God of Israel. So now we can’t hurt 4 them! 9:20 We must let them live so we can escape the curse attached to the oath we swore to them.” 5 9:21 The leaders then added, 6 “Let them live.” So they became 7 woodcutters and water carriers for the whole community, as the leaders had decided. 8
1 tn Heb “by the
2 tn Or “grumbled against.”
3 tn Heb “to them by….”
4 tn Or “touch.”
5 tn Heb “This is what we will do to them, keeping them alive so there will not be upon us anger concerning the oath which we swore to them.”
6 tc Heb “and the leaders said to them.” The LXX omits the words “and the leaders said to them.”
7 tn The vav (ו) consecutive construction in the Hebrew text suggests that the narrative resumes at this point. The LXX reads here, “and they will be,” understanding what follows to be a continuation of the leaders’ words rather than a comment by the narrator.
8 tn Heb “as the leaders said to them.”
