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Joshua 7:5-7
New English Translation
Joshua 7:5-7
New English Translation
5 The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them and chased them from in front of the city gate all the way to the fissures[a] and defeated them on the steep slope.[b] The people’s[c] courage melted away like water.[d]
6 Joshua tore his clothes;[e] he and the leaders[f] of Israel lay face down on the ground before the ark of the Lord until evening[g] and threw dirt on their heads.[h] 7 Joshua prayed,[i] “O, Sovereign Lord! Why did you bring these people across the Jordan to hand us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us? If only we had been satisfied to live on the other side of the Jordan!
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Joshua 7:5 tn The meaning and correct translation of the Hebrew word שְׁבָרִים (shevarim) is uncertain. The translation “fissures” is based on usage of the plural form of the noun in Ps 60:4 HT (60:2 ET), where it appears to refer to cracks in the earth caused by an earthquake. Perhaps deep ravines or gorges are in view, or the word is a proper noun (“all the way to Shebarim”).
- Joshua 7:5 sn The precise geographical location of the Israelite defeat at this “steep slope” is uncertain.
- Joshua 7:5 tn Or “army’s.”
- Joshua 7:5 tn Heb “and the heart of the people melted and became water.”
- Joshua 7:6 sn Tearing one’s clothes was an outward expression of extreme sorrow (see Gen 37:34; 44:13).
- Joshua 7:6 tn Or “elders.”
- Joshua 7:6 tn Heb “and fell on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel.”
- Joshua 7:6 sn Throwing dirt on one’s head was an outward expression of extreme sorrow (see Lam 2:10; Ezek 27:30).
- Joshua 7:7 tn Heb “said.”
New English Translation (NET)
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