Joshua 1:1-18

Joshua 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24


1:1: VA YEHI ACHAREY MOT MOSHEH EVED YHVH VA YOMER YHVH EL YEHOSHU'A BIN NUN MESHARET MOSHEH LEMOR

וַיְהִי אַחֲרֵי מֹות מֹשֶׁה עֶבֶד יְהוָה וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל יְהֹושֻׁעַ בִּן נוּן מְשָׁרֵת מֹשֶׁה לֵאמֹר

KJ (King James translation): Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying,

BN: (BibleNet translation) Now after the death of Mosheh, the servant of YHVH, it came to pass that YHVH spoke to Yehoshu'a bin Nun, Mosheh's senior minister, saying:


MESHARET: I have added the word "senior" in order to make a clear distinction between the clerical and secular uses of this word; Yehoshua's was a seat in Cabinet, not a gown-hook in the Chapel vestry.

Note that the god in this book is always YHVH, never Elohim.

And before we start, we have to ask the question that Wellhausen first raised more than a century ago, and which, if you look it up online (try here for example) or in the library, will be rejected by virtually every scholar. And why? Because virtually every scholar comes with a Jewish or Christian agenda, and Wellhausen's theory simply does not fit that agenda, indeed challenges it, and at multiple levels. And yet the text, as we shall see, indeed as we have seen several times already, fully justifies the hypothesising, even if it cannot prove the matter one way or the other (time-travel alone will enable that!).

But I haven't said what this hypothesis is. It is known as the "Hexateuch", and it promulgates that the original Torah was not five books, but six, of which Joshua was number six, a natural continuation of the story of the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land; or, if it was five books, then that did not include Genesis, which has nothing to do with the journey, but is simply its prequel; but it did include Joshua.

I do not propose to interrogate the matter in an essay now; I have pointed out repeatedly the overlaps between Mosheh and Yehoshu'a in terms of the Ach-Mousa uprising against the Hyksos, and will continue to do so as they arise. The same for other overlaps, inter-connections and viable pieces of evidence; though I will also point out if and when the hypothesis falls down. But always in context, verse by verse, which is the only laboratory in which such a test can be meaningfully undertaken.

As to the "sources" of these tales, which are central both to Wellhausen's hypothesis and method, and to the theological arguments against Wellhausen: the Tanach did not exist in any written form that we know of when Ezra began the redaction in the mid 5th century BCE; anything that had previously been written down was destroyed or pillaged in the conquests of 720 and 586 BCE; everything else was based on oral tradition, and mostly the bardic memories of the priests and scholars of the time; so whether Ezra wrote down Joshua, or it came at the start of the Hasmonean period, the "sources" are identical; and the issue with them can only be a matter of selection or omission. I shall not therefore be wasting my time trying to prove the matter one way or the other from non-existant "sources".

Having said all of which, verse 1 is clearly a continuation of Deuteronomy 34, pickin up at exactly the point where that book ended; though of course it is entirely possible that this was a choice by a different writer, seeing no need to tell any of Yehoshu'a earlier life-story, as anything you want to know can be found from Exodus onwards.


1:2 MOSHEH AVDI MET VE ATAH KUM AVOR ET HA YARDEN HA ZEH ATAH VE CHOL HA AM HA ZEH EL HA ARETS ASHER ANOCHI NOTEN LAHEM LIVNEY YISRA-EL

מֹשֶׁה עַבְדִּי מֵת וְעַתָּה קוּם עֲבֹר אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן הַזֶּה אַתָּה וְכָל הָעָם הַזֶּה אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי נֹתֵן לָהֶם לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל

KJ: Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.

BN: Mosheh my servant is dead. Now, therefore, get up and cross this river Yarden, you, and all this people, into the land which I am giving to them, to the Beney Yisra-El...


AVDI: See my note at Deuteronomy 34:5.


1:3 KOL MAKOM ASHER TIDROPH KAPH RAGLECHEM BO LACHEM NETATIV KA ASHER DIBARTI EL MOSHEH


כָּל מָקֹום אֲשֶׁר תִּדְרֹךְ כַּף רַגְלְכֶם בֹּו לָכֶם נְתַתִּיו כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתִּי אֶל מֹשֶׁה

KJ: Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

BN: Every piece of ground on which the sole of your foot shall tread, that I shall give to you, as I promised Mosheh.


Yes, but there may be people already living on some of those footprints, who will resist; presumably YHVH doesn't tell Yehoshu'a this, because he knows that Yehoshu'a already knows.


1:4 ME HA MIDBAR VE HA LEVANON HA ZEH VE AD HA NAHAR HA GADOL NEHAR PERAT KOL ERETS HA CHITIM VE AD HA YAM HA GADOL ME VO HA SHAMESH YIHEYEH GEVULCHEM


מֵהַמִּדְבָּר וְהַלְּבָנֹון הַזֶּה וְעַד הַנָּהָר הַגָּדֹול נְהַר פְּרָת כֹּל אֶרֶץ הַחִתִּים וְעַד הַיָּם הַגָּדֹול מְבֹוא הַשָּׁמֶשׁ יִהְיֶה גְּבוּלְכֶם

KJ: From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.

BN: From the wilderness and this Levanon even as far as the great river, the river Perat, all the land of the Chitim; and the great sea, toward the sunset, shall be your border.


So we have our first significant difference (you see, I am not taking sides; I happen to think they are both wrong, and I shall point out whatever the text offers). When YHVH took Mosheh to the summit of Mount Hebrews (Avarim) in Deuteronomy 34, he made him look out at the land that would be his inheritance. Starting at verse 1, with Mosheh in Mo-Av, which is east of the Yarden 
(Jordan river), he looks north, across Gil'ad, which we would call the Golan Heights today, as far as eastern Lebanon (Dan/La'ish), and everything else is west of the Yarden.

But not Perat (the Euphrates river), which is hundreds of miles to the east; at no point in Yisra-Eli history has Mesopotamia been part of Yisra-El, nor even attempted, nor even dreamed of, except by a handful of right wing fanatics today; and most of them use this verse as their Biblical reference to support the claim. 

Note that he refers to it as the land of the Chitim (Hittites). Kena'an (Canaan) was part of the Hittite empire, occupied by them, conquered in almost its entirety, and it hugely influenced the culture and religion - Ephron, for example, from whom Av-Raham purchased the Cave of Machpelah, is called Ephron the Hittite, and in the Phoenician version he is Phoroneus, whose sister Io gave her name to the Ionian sea, became Yah in the Yehudit version, and was associated by the Greeks with Eshet (Isis) in Egypt. But "the land of the Chitim" was far more than just Kena'an: the first empire that historians and archaeologists have yet discovered, it went as far as the Indus valley in the east, across Greece and the Balkans in the west, and even parts of Lower Egypt - see the map and details at the link, here. What makes the choice of name particularly significant is that the second Hittite Empire, sometimes called "The New Kingdom", ruled this part of the world at exactly the dates associated with Yehoshu'a, between 1400 and 1200 BCE; so the border extending to Perat makes rather more sense.

It is highly probable, though he didn't know it, that the "Common Source" conjectured by William Jones was Hittite.


1:5 LO YITYATSEV ISH LEPHANEYCHA KOL YEMEY CHAYECHA KA ASHER HAYIYTI IM MOSHEH EHEYEH IMACH LO ARPECHA VE LO E'EZVECHA

לֹא יִתְיַצֵּב אִישׁ לְפָנֶיךָ כֹּל יְמֵי חַיֶּיךָ כַּאֲשֶׁר הָיִיתִי עִם מֹשֶׁה אֶהְיֶה עִמָּךְ לֹא אַרְפְּךָ וְלֹא אֶעֶזְבֶךָּ

KJ:There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

BN: No man will be able to prevail over you all the days of your life. As I was with Mosheh, so I shall be with you. I will not fail you, nor forsake you.


Are these, and the following verses, the formal words, recited by the Kohen Gadol, the senior High Priest, as the script of the coronation ceremony?


1:6 CHAZAK VE EMATS KI ATAH TANCHIL ET HA AM HA ZEH ET HA ARETS ASHER NISHBA'TI LA AVOTAM LATET LAHEM

חֲזַק וֶאֱמָץ כִּי אַתָּה תַּנְחִיל אֶת הָעָם הַזֶּה אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי לַאֲבֹותָם לָתֵת לָהֶם

KJ: Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.

BN: Be strong and of good courage, for you shall divide this land among this people for their inheritance, which I swore to their ancestors that I would give them.


The historical narrative requires this: "YHVH gave the land" begins with Lech Lecha (Genesis 12:1). However the god at that time was El Shadai, not YHVH, not Elohim.


1:7 RAK CHAZAK VE EMATS ME'OD LISHMOR LA'ASOT KE CHOL HA TORAH ASHER TSIVCHA MOSHEH AVDI AL TASUR MIMENU YAMIN U SEM'OL LEMA'AN TASKIL BE CHOL ASHER TELECH

רַק חֲזַק וֶאֱמַץ מְאֹד לִשְׁמֹר לַעֲשֹׂות כְּכָל הַתֹּורָה אֲשֶׁר צִוְּךָ מֹשֶׁה עַבְדִּי אַל תָּסוּר מִמֶּנּוּ יָמִין וּשְׂמֹאול לְמַעַן תַּשְׂכִּיל בְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר תֵּלֵךְ

KJ: Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.

BN: Only be strong and very courageous, that you may committ yourself to living according to all the law which Mosheh my servant instructed you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.


All the books of the Tanach are written in the past tense, though like all narratives they include people speaking in the present tense or about the future. But the tale is being told at a later date. The starting-question for anyone reading-studying the text - and this applies to every text in the universal library - has to be: who wrote this, and when. So, with Yehoshu'a: did he have a scribe who kept an official diary, and this was the published version, a memorial for Yehoshu'a after he died? No - because alphabetic writing hadn't been invented yet - around 1000 BCE is the earliest posited date, king Shelomoh's time.

At what point then, and why, with what agenda? And then, out of the inability to answer this, the Wellhausen question: from what sources? And why have I placed this paragraph here? As a prelude to the next verse.


1:8 LO YAMUSH SEPHER HA TORAH HA ZEH MI PIYCHA VE HAGIYTA BO YOMAM VA LAILAH LEMA'AN TISHMOR LA'ASOT KE CHOL HA KATUV BO KI AZ TATSLIYACH ET DERACHECHA VE AZ TASKIL


לֹא יָמוּשׁ סֵפֶר הַתֹּורָה הַזֶּה מִפִּיךָ וְהָגִיתָ בֹּו יֹומָם וָלַיְלָה לְמַעַן תִּשְׁמֹר לַעֲשֹׂות כְּכָל הַכָּתוּב בֹּו כִּי אָז תַּצְלִיחַ אֶת דְּרָכֶךָ וְאָז תַּשְׂכִּיל

KJ: This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

BN: This Scroll of the Law shall not depart from your mouth. You shall meditate on it day and night, that you may commit to living according to everything that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.


VE YAMUSH SEPHER HA TORAH: In the previous verse we had LISHMOR LA'ASOT KE CHOL HA TORAH, which is not a problem, because Mosheh has indeed given countless instructions in the form of mitzvot, mishpatim, chokim and general maxims. But SEPHER HA TORAH here is. And yes, we have been told repeatedly that "he wrote them on a scroll (e.g Deuteronomy 31:24), but, as per my comment at the previous paragraph, he obviously didn't, and even if he had, and if he had written it on papyrus (I am ignoring the question: where would he have obtained the papyrus, the quills, the ink), he could only have done so in Egyptian hieroglyphs, so it couldn't be the Torah that we read today. A Torah scroll, in Yehudit, cannot have been created before 1000 BCE, though whether it happened then, and was destroyed at a later date, or it remained oral tradition until Ezra's time, the text here is nevertheless anachronistic.


"Meditate day and night" parallels the Shema; but it is prosperity, not fertility, that is being promised here. Asher and Gad both have the idea of "prosperity" in their names.


1:9 HA LO TSIVIYTIYCHA CHAZAK VE EMATS AL TA'AROTS VE AL TECHAT KI IMCHA YHVH ELOHEYCHA BE CHOL ASHER TELECH

הֲלֹוא צִוִּיתִיךָ חֲזַק וֶאֱמָץ אַל תַּעֲרֹץ וְאַל תֵּחָת כִּי עִמְּךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר תֵּלֵךְ

KJ: Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

BN: Have I not instructed you? Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid, or dismayed, for YHVH your god is with you wherever you may go.


The god as tribal protector; an ancient notion, but new to the Beney Yisra-El. But why the need to say it, and in this way. It sounds like Yehoshu'a interrupted with a moment of anxiety and doubt, only the writer failed to include it.

pey break


1:10 VA YETSAV YEHOSHU'A ET SHOTREY HA AM LEMOR


וַיְצַו יְהֹושֻׁעַ אֶת שֹׁטְרֵי הָעָם לֵאמֹר

KJ: Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying,

BN: Then Yehoshu'a instructed the leaders of the people, saying:


Again this feels like a formal ceremony, the Kohen Gadol reciting the god-words, some formal response of due humility which led to the last paragraph; and now, the god-part exited, leader Yehoshu'a steps up to the inaugural pedestal and delivers his first address.


1:11 IVRU BE KEREV HA MACHANEH VE TSAVU ET HA AM LEMOR HACHIYNU LACHEM TSEYDAH KI BE OD SHELOSHET YAMIM ATEM OVRIM ET HA YARDEN HA ZEH LAVO LARESHET ET HA ARETS ASHER YHVH ELOHEYCHEM NOTEN LACHEM LE RISHTAH


עִבְרוּ בְּקֶרֶב הַמַּחֲנֶה וְצַוּוּ אֶת הָעָם לֵאמֹר הָכִינוּ לָכֶם צֵידָה כִּי בְּעֹוד שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים אַתֶּם עֹבְרִים אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן הַזֶּה לָבֹוא לָרֶשֶׁת אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם נֹתֵן לָכֶם לְרִשְׁתָּהּ

KJ: Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it.

BN: Pass through the camp, and let the people know what is happening. Tell them: Prepare food for yourselves, because three days from now you will be crossing over this river Yarden, to go in to possess the land which YHVH your god is giving you as a possession.


He must have been on tenterhooks for this moment for weeks, months, maybe years. And had to sit patiently through the whole of Mosheh's interminable speech - the entire Book of Deuteronomy indeed - knowing that the army was ready, and that the enemy across the Yarden was spying, and preparing its defense. Three days! Mourning, then ceremony - now move.

samech break


1:12 VE LA RE'U-VENI VE LA GADI VE LA CHATSI SHEVET HA MENASHEH AMAR YEHOSHU'A LEMOR


וְלָראוּבֵנִי וְלַגָּדִי וְלַחֲצִי שֵׁבֶט הַמְנַשֶּׁה אָמַר יְהֹושֻׁעַ לֵאמֹר

KJ: And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying,

BN: And to the Beney Re'u-Ven, and to the Beney Gad, and to half the tribe of Menasheh, Yehoshua spoke, saying:


Why specifically these three, and not all the tribes? Because they are the ones who are not crossing the Yarden; their inheritance is on the east side; this is saying goodbye time, though they are committed to being available, in time of war, or in provison of refuge cities, as per verse 14 below. The original tale of this can be found at Numbers 22.


1:13 ZACHOR ET HA DAVAR ASHER TSIVAH ET'CHEM MOSHEH EVED YHVH LEMOR YHVH ELOHEYCHEM MENIYACH LACHEM VE NATAN LACHEM ET HA ARETS HA ZOT


זָכֹור אֶת הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה אֶתְכֶם מֹשֶׁה עֶבֶד יְהוָה לֵאמֹר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם מֵנִיחַ לָכֶם וְנָתַן לָכֶם אֶת הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת

KJ: Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, The LORD your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land.

BN: Remember the word which Mosheh the servant of YHVH instructed you, saying: YHVH your god has given you rest, and has given you this land.


Rest from what? They have just spent 40 years in the wilderness, so rest would be nice. But he is preparing them for war! Do we need to understand the word MENIYACH differently? No - it is still future promise, not yet present reality: see the next verse where the repetition of the word makes this clear.


1:14 NESHEYCHEM TAPCHEM U MIKNEYCHEM YESHVU BA ARETS ASHER NATAN LACHEM MOSHEH BE EVER HA YARDEN VE ATEM TA'AVRU CHAMUSHIM LIPHNEY ACHEYCHEM KOL GIBOREY HA CHAYIL VA AZARTEM OTAM


נְשֵׁיכֶם טַפְּכֶם וּמִקְנֵיכֶם יֵשְׁבוּ בָּאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לָכֶם מֹשֶׁה בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן וְאַתֶּם תַּעַבְרוּ חֲמֻשִׁים לִפְנֵי אֲחֵיכֶם כֹּל גִּבֹּורֵי הַחַיִל וַעֲזַרְתֶּם אֹותָם

KJ: Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help them;

BN: Your wives, your little ones and your cattle shall remain in the land which Mosheh gave you on this side of the Yarden; but you shall pass out in front of your brothers, armed, every soldier you can muster, and assist them.

This provides the explanation of verse 12 - their tribal territories will be east of the Yarden, in Edom and Mo-Av and parts of Amon.


1:15 AD ASHER YANIYACH YHVH LA ACHEYCHEM KA CHEM VE YARSHU GAM HEMAH ET HA ARETS ASHER YHVH ELOHEYCHEM NOTEN LAHEM VE SHAVTEM LE ERETS YERUSHAT'CHEM VIYRISHTEM OTAM ASHER NATAN LACHEM MOSHEH EVED YHVH BE EVER HA YARDEN MI ZERACH HA SHAMESH

עַד אֲשֶׁר יָנִיחַ יְהוָה לַאֲחֵיכֶם כָּכֶם וְיָרְשׁוּ גַם הֵמָּה אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם נֹתֵן לָהֶם וְשַׁבְתֶּם לְאֶרֶץ יְרֻשַּׁתְכֶם וִירִשְׁתֶּם אֹותָהּ אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לָכֶם מֹשֶׁה עֶבֶד יְהוָה בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן מִזְרַח הַשָּׁמֶשׁ

KJ: Until the LORD have given your brethren rest, as he hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the LORD your God giveth them: then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and enjoy it, which Moses the LORD'S servant gave you on this side Jordan toward the sunrising.

BN: Until YHVH gives your brothers rest, as he has given you, and they too have possessed the land which YHVH your god is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession, and enjoy it, which Mosheh the servant of YHVH gave you on this side of the Yarden, towards the east.


Which seems to say: your land does not require conquering (why not? and was this really the case?) but you are going to have to fight for the other tribes anyway.

Line-breaks in the Yehudit text suggest that this may not actually be what Yehoshu'a said, but rather the recording of an ancient song or poem that ascribed these words to him, the line breaks indicating lay-out (click here to see them). And indeed, when we go hunting for possible sources, the ancient Bardic tradition suggests that most of these myths and legends would have entered the oral tradition either as songs, play-scripts or liturgy, and were then converted into historical narative when Ezra redacted them in the mid 5th century BCE.


1:16 VA YA'ANU ET YEHOSHU'A LEMOR KOL ASHER TSIVIYTANU NA'ASEH VE EL KOL SHER TISHLACHENU NELECH

וַיַּעֲנוּ אֶת יְהֹושֻׁעַ לֵאמֹר כֹּל אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתָנוּ נַעֲשֶׂה וְאֶל כָּל אֲשֶׁר תִּשְׁלָחֵנוּ נֵלֵךְ

KJ: And they answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest us we will do, and whithersoever thou sendest us, we will go.

BN: And they answered Yehoshu'a, saying: Everything you instruct us we will do, and wherever you send us, we will go.


Which is remarkably similar to Rut's response to Na'ami, Ruth 1:16.


1:17 KE CHOL ASHER SHAMA'NU EL MOSHEH KEN NISHMA ELEYCHA RAK YIHEYEH YHVH ELOHEYCHA IMACH KA ASHER HAYAH IM MOSHEH


כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר שָׁמַעְנוּ אֶל מֹשֶׁה כֵּן נִשְׁמַע אֵלֶיךָ רַק יִהְיֶה יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ עִמָּךְ כַּאֲשֶׁר הָיָה עִם מֹשֶׁה

KJ: According as we hearkened unto Moses in all things, so will we hearken unto thee: only the LORD thy God be with thee, as he was with Moses.

BN: Just as we listened to Mosheh in all things, so will we listen to you, so long as YHVH your god is with you, as he was with Mosheh.


With you? Why not "our god" and "with us"? Commentators suggest that the explanation of this probably lies in the nature of pantheism, where everyone basically has their own ideas of god, or even gods, and quite probably goddesses too, often the same but in a different language, or by another tribal name, sometimes quite different, and each with its own teraphim and idols and ikons and ceremonies et cetera; so "may your god go with you" as we might say today, does not insinuate that your god and my god are the same or even have anything in common, but in this case, as long as whoever Yehoshu'a's gods might be are still supporting him, then he gets the vote. And how will they know? By the success or failure of the wars of conquest.

All of which contradicts everything else the same commentators have ever said on the subject of YHVH as the One God, and all others being "pagan", "heathen" and "heretical" - but there you go! I happen to think the commentators, on this occason, have got it right - and that what applies here, applies to the entire Torah, and most of the rest of the Tanach too.


1:18 KOL ISH ASHER YAMREH ET PIYCHA VE LO YISHMA ET DEVAREYCHA LE CHOL ASHER TETSAVENU YUMAT RAK CHAZAK VE EMATS

כָּל אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יַמְרֶה אֶת פִּיךָ וְלֹא יִשְׁמַע אֶת דְּבָרֶיךָ לְכֹל אֲשֶׁר תְּצַוֶּנּוּ יוּמָת רַק חֲזַק וֶאֱמָץ

KJ: Whosoever he be that doth rebel against thy commandment, and will not hearken unto thy words in all that thou commandest him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.

BN: Anyone who rebels against your orders, or will not listen to your words in all that you instruct him, he shall be put to death: only be strong and of a good courage.


The secular oath of allegiance. So, again, it seems reasonable to conclude that the above chapter took place at a formal ceremony.



Joshua 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24



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