Joshua 1

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Joshua 1:2 tn Heb “Get up!”
2. Joshua 1:2 tn Heb “this Jordan”; the word “River” has been supplied in the translation for clarity (likewise in v. 11).
3. Joshua 1:2 tc Heb “Cross over this Jordan, you and all these people, to the land that I am giving to them, to the children of Israel.” The final phrase, “to the children of Israel,” is probably a later scribal addition specifying the identity of “these people/them.”
4. Joshua 1:3 tn Heb “Every place on which the sole of your foot walks, to you I have given it, as I said to Moses.” The second person pronouns in vv. 3-4 are plural, indicating that all the people are addressed here. The verbal form נְתַתִּיו (n^etattiv, “I have given it”) is probably a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of the action. Another option is to translate, “I have already assigned it.” In this case the verb would probably refer to the Lord’s decree to Abraham that he would give this land to his descendants.
5. Joshua 1:4 tn A מִדְבָּר (midbar, “wilderness, desert”) refers to a dry region which is characterized by receiving less than twelve inches of rain per year. It therefore cannot support trees, yet may have sparse vegetation if it receives more than six inches of rain. If it receives less than six inches, then “desert” is an appropriate term (usually not a sandy desert). Most cases of the term are rendered as “wilderness” in NET. Here it refers to the southern border of the nation which stretches down into Sinai.
6. Joshua 1:4 tn Heb “all the land of the Hittites.” The expression “the land of the Hittites” does not refer to Anatolia (modern Turkey), where the ancient Hittite kingdom of the second millennium b.c. was located, but rather to Syria, the “Hatti land” mentioned in inscriptions of the first millennium b.c. (see HALOT 363-64 s.v. חִתִּי). The phrase is omitted in the LXX and may be a scribal addition.
7. Joshua 1:4 tn Heb “the Great Sea,” the typical designation for the Mediterranean Sea.
8. Joshua 1:4 tn Heb “From the wilderness and this Lebanon even to the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, even to the great sea [at] the place where the sun sets, your territory will be.”
9. Joshua 1:5 tn Heb “A man will not stand before you.” The second person pronouns in this verse are singular, indicating Joshua is the addressee.
10. Joshua 1:6 tn Heb “For you will cause these people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give to them.” The pronoun “them” at the end of the verse refers to either the people or to the fathers.
11. Joshua 1:7 tn Or “Only be.”
12. Joshua 1:7 tn Heb “so you can be careful to do.” The use of the infinitive לִשְׁמֹר (lishmor, “to keep”) after the imperatives suggests that strength and bravery will be necessary for obedience. Another option is to take the form לִשְׁמֹר as a vocative lamed (ל) with imperative (see Isa 38:20 for an example of this construction), which could be translated, “Indeed, be careful!”
13. Joshua 1:7 tn Heb “commanded you.”
14. Joshua 1:7 tn Heb “be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.
15. Joshua 1:7 tn Heb “in all which you go.”
16. Joshua 1:8 tn Heb “mouth.”sn This law scroll must not leave your lips. The ancient practice of reading aloud to oneself as an aid to memorization is in view here.
17. Joshua 1:8 tn Heb “read it in undertones,” or “recite it quietly” (see HALOT 237 s.v. I הגה).
18. Joshua 1:8 tn Heb “be careful to do.”
19. Joshua 1:8 tn Heb “you will make your way prosperous.”
20. Joshua 1:8 tn Heb “and be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.
21. Joshua 1:9 tn Heb “Have I not commanded you?” The rhetorical question emphasizes the importance of the following command by reminding the listener that it is being repeated.
22. Joshua 1:9 tn Or perhaps, “don’t get discouraged!”
23. Joshua 1:9 tn Heb “in all which you go.”
24. Joshua 1:10 tn Or “commanded.”
25. Joshua 1:11 tn Heb “to enter to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving to you to possess it.”
26. Joshua 1:13 tn Heb “remember the word which Moses, the Lord’s servant, commanded you.”sn This command can be found in Deut 3:18-20. In vv. 13-15 Joshua paraphrases the command, as the third person reference to Moses in v. 14 indicates.
27. Joshua 1:13 tn Heb “is providing rest for you and is giving to you this land.”sn “This land” refers to the trans-Jordanian lands allotted to these tribes.
28. Joshua 1:14 tn Heb “But you must cross over armed for battle before your brothers, all [you] mighty men of strength.”
29. Joshua 1:15 tn Heb “Then you may return to the land of your possession and possess it, that which Moses, the Lord’s servant, gave to you beyond the Jordan toward the rising of the sun.”
30. Joshua 1:17 tn Heb “listened to.”
31. Joshua 1:17 tn Or “Only.” Here and in v. 18 this word qualifies what precedes (see also v. 7).
32. Joshua 1:18 tn Heb “any man who rebels against your mouth and does not listen to your words, to all which you command us, will be put to death.”
33. Joshua 1:18 tn Or “Only.” Here and in v. 17 this word qualifies what precedes (see also v. 7).