¹tn Heb “You have kept all which Moses, the Lord’s servant, commanded you, and you have listened to my voice, to all which I commanded you.”
²tn Heb “your brothers” (also in vv. 4, 7), but this does not refer to siblings or necessarily even to relatives. It refers to the Israelites of the remaining tribes.
³tn Heb “these many days.”
⁴tn Heb “you have kept the charge of the command of the Lord your God.”
⁵tn Heb “has given rest to your brothers.”
⁶tn Heb “tents.”
⁷tn Heb “the land of your possession.”
⁸tn Heb “But be very careful to do the commandment and the law which Moses, the Lord’s servant, commanded you, to love.”
⁹tn Heb “walk in all his paths.”
¹⁰tn Or “keep.”
¹¹tn Heb “hug him.”
¹²tn Or “soul.”
¹³tn Heb “blessed.” However, see v. 8, where rewards are given.
¹⁴tn Heb “and they went to their tents.”
¹⁵tn Heb “to their tents.”
¹⁶tn Heb “blessed.”
¹⁷tn Heb “return to your tents with.”
¹⁸tn Heb “very many cattle.”
¹⁹tn Heb “very much clothing.”
²⁰tn Heb “returned and went from the sons of Israel, from Shiloh which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession.”
²¹tn Heb “and they went to Geliloth of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, and the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar near the Jordan, an altar great with respect to appearance.”
²²tn Heb “the sons of Israel heard, saying.”
²³tn Heb “toward the front of.”
²⁴tn Heb “to go up against them for battle.”
²⁵tn Heb “ten leaders with him, one leader, one leader for a paternal house, for all the tribes of Israel, and each a head of the house of their father, they belong to the clans of Israel.”
²⁶tn Heb “What is this unfaithfulness with which you have been unfaithful against the God of Israel, turning today from after the Lord, when you built for yourselves an altar, rebelling today against the Lord?”
²⁷tn Heb “Was the sin of Peor too insignificant for us, from which we have not made purification to this day? And there was a plague in the assembly of the Lord.”
²⁸tn Heb “you are turning back.”
²⁹tn Or “he will be angry with.”
³⁰tn Heb “the land of your possession.”
³¹sn 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).
³²tn Heb “the land of the possession of the Lord.”
³³tn Heb “where the dwelling place of the Lord resides.”
sn The phrase where the Lord himself lives refers to the tabernacle.
³⁴tn Heb “and take for yourselves in our midst.”
³⁵tc Heb “and us to you rebel.” The reading of the MT, the accusative sign with suffix (Wnt*a)w+), is problematic with the verb “rebel” (drm). Many Hebrew mss correctly read the negative particle la^ for the preposition la#, “to.”
³⁶tn Heb “Is it not [true that] Achan son of Zerah was unfaithful with unfaithfulness concerning what was set apart [to the Lord] and against all the assembly of Israel there was anger?”
³⁷tn The second half of the verse reads literally, “and he [was] one man, he did not die for his sin.” There are at least two possible ways to explain this statement: (1) One might interpret the statement to mean that Achan was not the only person who died for his sin. In this case it could be translated, “and he was not the only one to die because of his sin.” (2) Another option, the one reflected in the translation, is to take the words dj*a# vya! aWhw+, “and he [was] one man,” as a concessive clause and join it with what precedes. The remaining words (onou&B^ uw~g` aO) must then be taken as a rhetorical question (“Did he not die for his sin?”). Taking the last sentence as interrogative is consistent with the first part of the verse, a rhetorical question introduced with the interrogative particle. The present translation has converted these rhetorical questions into affirmative statements to bring out more clearly the points they are emphasizing. For further discussion, see T. C. Butler, Joshua (WBC), 240.
³⁸tn Heb “answered and spoke to the heads of.”
³⁹sn Israel’s God is here identified with three names: la@, “El” (or “God”), <yh!Oa$, “Elohim” (or “God”), and hwhy, “Yahweh” (or “the Lord”). The name la@ (“El”) is often compounded with titles, for example, El Elyon, “God Most High.”
⁴⁰tn Heb “he knows.”
⁴¹tn Heb “if in rebellion or if in unfaithfulness against the Lord.”
⁴²tn Heb “do not save us.” The verb form is singular, being addressed to either collective Israel or the Lord himself. The LXX translates in the third person.
⁴³tn Heb “by building.” The prepositional phrase may be subordinated to what precedes, “if in unfaithfulness…by building.”
⁴⁴tn Heb “or if to offer up.”
⁴⁵tn Heb “or if to make.”
⁴⁶tn Or “peace offerings.”
⁴⁷tn Heb “the Lord, he will seek.” Perhaps this is a self-imprecation in an oath, “may the Lord himself punish us.”
⁴⁸tn Heb “Surely, from worry concerning a matter we have done this, saying.”
⁴⁹tn Heb “What is there to you and to the Lord God of Israel?” The rhetorical question is sarcastic in tone and anticipates a response, “Absolutely none!”
⁵⁰tn Heb “You have no portion in the Lord.”
⁵¹tn Heb “fearing.”
⁵²tn Heb “but it is a witness between us and you.”
⁵³tn Heb “to do the service of the Lord before him.”
⁵⁴tn Or “peace offerings.”
⁵⁵tn Heb “You have no portion in the Lord.”
⁵⁶tn The words “such a thing” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
⁵⁷tn Heb “fathers.”
⁵⁸tn Heb “but it is a witness between us and you.”
⁵⁹tn Or “peace offerings.”
⁶⁰sn The Lord’s dwelling place here refers to the tabernacle.
⁶¹tn Heb “the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh.”
⁶²tn Heb “it was good in their eyes.”
⁶³tn Heb “the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh.”
⁶⁴tn Heb “because you were not unfaithful with this unfaithfulness against the Lord.”
⁶⁵tn On the use of za* in a logical sense, see Waltke-O’Connor, Hebrew Syntax, 667.
⁶⁶tn Heb “the hand (i.e., power) of the Lord.”
⁶⁷tn Heb “and Phinehas…returned from the sons of Reuben and from the sons of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the sons of Israel. And they brought back to them a word.”
⁶⁸tn Heb “and the word was good in the eyes of the sons of Israel and the sons of Israel blessed God.”
⁶⁹tn Heb “and they did not speak about going up against them for battle to destroy the land in which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad were living.”
⁷⁰tn Heb “a witness between us.”