約書亞記 5
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
在吉甲行割禮
5 在約旦河西岸一帶的亞摩利眾王和沿海一帶的迦南眾王，聽說耶和華為了讓以色列人過河而使約旦河成為乾地，都嚇得膽戰心驚，勇氣盡失。
2 那時，耶和華對約書亞說：「你用火石做成刀子，再次給以色列人行割禮。」 3 約書亞便用火石做成刀子，在割禮山給以色列人行了割禮。 4 約書亞給他們舉行割禮，是因為所有從埃及出來、能夠作戰的男子都死在曠野的路上。 5 從埃及出來的男子都受過割禮，而後來在曠野出生的以色列人都沒有受過割禮。 6 以色列人在曠野飄泊了四十年，直到從埃及出來可以作戰的男子都死了為止，因為他們不聽從耶和華的話。耶和華向他們起誓，不讓他們看見那奶蜜之鄉，衪曾應許他們祖先要把那個地方賜給他們。 7 耶和華立他們的子孫代替他們。這新一代的以色列人沒有受過割禮，因為在路上沒有為他們行過割禮。於是，約書亞為他們行了割禮。
8 全體民眾受了割禮後，都留在自己的營內，直到康復為止。 9 耶和華對約書亞說：「今天我除去了你們在埃及受的羞辱。」因此，那地方叫吉甲[a]，沿用至今。
在迦南守逾越節
10 以色列人都在耶利哥平原上的吉甲紮營，並於一月十四日傍晚在那裡守逾越節。 11 第二天他們就吃當地的穀物，吃無酵餅和烤麥穗。 12 他們吃了當地出產後的第二天，嗎哪便不再降下，以色列人再沒有嗎哪吃了。那一年他們開始吃迦南的出產。
耶和華軍隊的元帥
13 約書亞走近耶利哥，舉目看見一個人手裡拿著拔出來的劍站在他面前。約書亞上前去問道：「你是來幫助我們的，還是來幫助我們敵人的？」 14 那人答道：「都不是，我來是做耶和華軍隊的統帥。」約書亞就俯伏下拜說：「我主，有什麼話要吩咐僕人？」 15 耶和華軍隊的統帥對約書亞說：「把你腳上的鞋脫下！因為你站的地方是聖潔的。」約書亞便把鞋脫下來。
Footnotes
- 5·9 「吉甲」意思是「除去」。
Joshua 5
New English Translation
5 When all the Amorite kings on the west side of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the seacoast heard how the Lord had dried up the water of the Jordan before the Israelites while they[a] crossed, they lost their courage and could not even breathe for fear of the Israelites.[b]
A New Generation is Circumcised
2 At that time the Lord told Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites once again.”[c] 3 So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at the Hill of the Foreskins.[d] 4 This is why Joshua had to circumcise them: All the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt died on the journey through the wilderness after they left Egypt.[e] 5 Now[f] all the men[g] who left were circumcised, but all the sons[h] born on the journey through the wilderness after they left Egypt were uncircumcised. 6 Indeed, for forty years the Israelites traveled through the wilderness until all the men old enough to fight when they left Egypt, the ones who had disobeyed the Lord, died off.[i] For the Lord had sworn a solemn oath to them that he would not let them see the land he had sworn by oath to their ancestors to give them,[j] a land rich in[k] milk and honey. 7 He replaced them with their sons,[l] whom Joshua circumcised. They were uncircumcised; their fathers had not circumcised them along the way. 8 When all the men[m] had been circumcised, they stayed there in the camp until they had healed. 9 The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have taken away[n] the disgrace[o] of Egypt from you.” So that place is called Gilgal[p] even to this day.
10 So the Israelites camped in Gilgal and celebrated the Passover in the evening of the fourteenth day of the month in the rift valley plains of Jericho.[q] 11 They ate some of the produce of the land the day after the Passover, including unleavened bread and roasted grain.[r] 12 The manna stopped appearing the day they ate[s] some of the produce of the land; the Israelites never ate manna again.[t] They ate from the produce of the land of Canaan that year.
Israel Conquers Jericho
13 When Joshua was near[u] Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him holding a drawn sword.[v] Joshua approached him and asked him, “Are you on our side or allied with our enemies?”[w] 14 He answered,[x] “Truly I am the commander of the Lord’s army.[y] Now I have arrived!”[z] Joshua bowed down with his face to the ground[aa] and asked, “What does my master want to say to his servant?” 15 The commander of the Lord’s army answered Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you stand is holy.” Joshua did so.
Footnotes
- Joshua 5:1 tc Another textual tradition has, “while we crossed.”
- Joshua 5:1 tn Heb “their heart[s] melted and there was no longer in them breath (or perhaps “spirit”) because of the sons of Israel.”
- Joshua 5:2 tn Heb “return, circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” The Hebrew term שׁוּב (shuv, “return”) is used here in an adverbial sense to indicate the repetition of an action.
- Joshua 5:3 tn Or “Gibeath Haaraloth.” This name means “Hill of the Foreskins.” Many modern translations simply give the Hebrew name, although an explanatory note giving the meaning of the name is often included.sn The name given to the place, Hill of the Foreskins was an obvious reminder of this important event.
- Joshua 5:4 tn Heb “All the people who went out from Egypt, the males, all the men of war, died in the wilderness in the way when they went out from Egypt.”
- Joshua 5:5 tn Or “indeed.”
- Joshua 5:5 tn Heb “people.”
- Joshua 5:5 tn Heb “all the people.”
- Joshua 5:6 tn Heb “all the nation, the men of war who went out from Egypt, who did not listen to the voice of the Lord, came to an end.”
- Joshua 5:6 tn Some Hebrew mss, as well as the Syriac version, support this reading. Most ancient witnesses read “us.”
- Joshua 5:6 tn Heb “flowing with.”sn The word picture a land rich in milk and honey depicts the land as containing many grazing areas (which would produce milk) and flowering plants (which would support the bees that produced honey).
- Joshua 5:7 tn Heb “their sons he raised up in their place.”
- Joshua 5:8 tn Heb “nation.”
- Joshua 5:9 tn Heb “rolled away.”
- Joshua 5:9 sn One might take the disgrace of Egypt as a reference to their uncircumcised condition (see Gen 34:14), but the generation that left Egypt was circumcised (see v. 5). It more likely refers to the disgrace they experienced in Egyptian slavery. When this new generation reached the promised land and renewed their covenantal commitment to the Lord by submitting to the rite of circumcision, the Lord’s deliverance of his people from slavery, which had begun with the plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea, reached its climax. See T. C. Butler, Joshua (WBC), 59.
- Joshua 5:9 sn The name Gilgal sounds like the Hebrew verb “roll away” (גַּלַל, galal).
- Joshua 5:10 sn This is the area of the rift valley basin in the vicinity of Jericho (see the note at Josh 4:13).
- Joshua 5:11 tn The Hebrew text adds, “on this same day.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has not been translated.
- Joshua 5:12 tn Heb “the day after, when they ate.” The present translation assumes this means the day after the Passover, though it is possible it refers to the day after they began eating the land’s produce.
- Joshua 5:12 tn Heb “and the sons of Israel had no more manna.”
- Joshua 5:13 tn Heb “in.”
- Joshua 5:13 tn Heb “he lifted up his eyes and looked. And look, a man was standing in front of him, and his sword was drawn in his hand.” The verb הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) invites the reader to view the scene through Joshua’s eyes. By calling the stranger “a man,” the author reflects Joshua’s perspective. The text shortly reveals his true identity (vv. 14-15).
- Joshua 5:13 tn Heb “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
- Joshua 5:14 tc Heb “He said, “Neither.” An alternative reading is לוֹ (lo, “[He said] to him”; cf. NEB). This reading is supported by many Hebrew mss, as well as the LXX and Syriac versions. The traditional reading of the MT (לֹא, loʾ, “no, neither”) is probably the product of aural confusion (the two variant readings sound the same in Hebrew). Although followed by a number of modern translations (cf. NIV, NRSV), this reading is problematic, for the commander of the Lord’s army would hardly have declared himself neutral.
- Joshua 5:14 sn The Lord’s heavenly army, like an earthly army, has a commander who leads the troops. For the phrase שַׂר־צְבָא (sar tsevaʾ, “army commander”) in the human sphere, see among many other references Gen 21:22, 32; 26:26; Judg 4:2, 7; 1 Sam 12:9.
- Joshua 5:14 sn The commander’s appearance seems to be for Joshua’s encouragement. Joshua could now lead Israel into battle knowing that the Lord’s invisible army would ensure victory.
- Joshua 5:14 tn Heb “Joshua fell on his face to the ground and bowed down.”
Joshua 5
New King James Version
The Second Generation Circumcised
5 So it was, when all the kings of the Amorites who were on the west side of the Jordan, and all the kings of the Canaanites (A)who were by the sea, (B)heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel until [a]we had crossed over, that [b]their heart melted; (C)and there was no spirit in them any longer because of the children of Israel.
2 At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make (D)flint knives for yourself, and circumcise the sons of Israel again the second time.” 3 So Joshua made flint knives for himself, and circumcised the sons of Israel at [c]the hill of the foreskins. 4 And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: (E)All the people who came out of Egypt who were males, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way, after they had come out of Egypt. 5 For all the people who came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness, on the way as they came out of Egypt, had not been circumcised. 6 For the children of Israel walked (F)forty years in the wilderness, till all the people who were men of war, who came out of Egypt, were [d]consumed, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord—to whom the Lord swore that (G)He would not show them the land which the Lord had sworn to their fathers that He would give us, (H)“a land flowing with milk and honey.” 7 Then Joshua circumcised (I)their sons whom He raised up in their place; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.
8 So it was, when they had finished circumcising all the people, that they stayed in their places in the camp (J)till they were healed. 9 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “This day I have rolled away (K)the reproach of Egypt from you.” Therefore the name of the place is called (L)Gilgal[e] to this day.
10 Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover (M)on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight on the plains of Jericho. 11 And they ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and [f]parched grain, on the very same day. 12 Then (N)the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.
The Commander of the Army of the Lord
13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, (O)a Man stood opposite him (P)with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?”
14 So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.”
And Joshua (Q)fell on his face to the earth and (R)worshiped, and said to Him, “What does my Lord say to His servant?”
15 Then the Commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, (S)“Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.
Footnotes
- Joshua 5:1 So with Kt.; Qr., some Heb. mss. and editions, LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. they
- Joshua 5:1 their courage failed
- Joshua 5:3 Heb. Gibeath Haaraloth
- Joshua 5:6 destroyed
- Joshua 5:9 Lit. Rolling
- Joshua 5:11 roasted
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
