translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: JDG

label: NET translator note

text: Heb “the land that I had sworn to your fathers.”


text: Heb “their altars.”


text: Heb “you have not listened to my voice.”


text: Heb “What is this you have done?”


text: Heb “And I also said.” The use of the perfect tense here suggests that the messenger is recalling an earlier statement (see Josh 23:12-13 ). However, some translate, “And I also say,” understanding the following words as an announcement of judgment upon those gathered at Bokim.


text: The words “If you disobey” are supplied in the translation for clarity. See Josh 23:12-13 .


text: Heb “them”; the referent (the Canaanites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: The meaning of the Hebrew word צִדִּים ( tsiddim ) is uncertain in this context. It may be related to an Akkadian cognate meaning “snare.” If so, a more literal translation would be “they will become snares to you.” Normally the term in question means “sides,” but this makes no sense here. On the basis of Num 33:55 some suggest the word for “thorns” has been accidentally omitted. If this word is added, the text would read, “they will become [thorns] in your sides” (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT).


text: Heb “their gods will become a snare to you.”


text: Heb “lifted their voices and wept.”


text: Or “sent away.”


text: Heb “the Israelites went each to his inheritance.”


text: Or “served”; or “followed.”


text: Or perhaps “elders,” which could be interpreted to mean “leaders.”


text: Heb “all the days of Joshua and all the days of the old men who outlived him, who had seen.”


text: Heb “the great work of the Lord which he had done for Israel.”


text: Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “in the territory of his inheritance.”


text: Heb “All that generation were gathered to their fathers.”


text: Heb “arose after them.”


text: Heb “that did not know the Lord or the work which he had done for Israel.” The expressions “personally experienced” and “seen” are interpretive.


text: Heb “in the eyes of.”


text: Or “serving”; or “following.”


text: Or “fathers.”


text: Or “bowed before” (the same expression occurs in the following verse).


text: Some English translations simply transliterate the plural Hebrew term (“Ashtaroth,” cf. NAB, NASB), pluralize the transliterated Hebrew singular form (“Ashtoreths,” cf. NIV), or use a variation of the name (“Astartes,” cf. NRSV). sn The Ashtars were local manifestations of the goddess Astarte.


text: Or “The Lord ’s anger burned [or “raged”] against Israel.”


text: Heb “robbers who robbed them.” (The verb שָׁסָה [ shasah ] appears twice in the verse.) sn The expression robbers who plundered them is a derogatory reference to the enemy nations, as the next line indicates.


text: Heb “sold them into the hands of.”


text: The word “attacks” is supplied in the translation both for clarity and for stylistic reasons.


text: The expression “to fight” is interpretive.


text: Heb “the Lord ’s hand was against them for harm.”


text: Heb “just as he had said and just as he had sworn to them.”


text: Or “they experienced great distress.”


text: Or more traditionally, “judges” (also in vv. 17, 18 [3x], 19). Since these figures carried out more than a judicial function, also serving as rulers and (in several instances) as military commanders, the translation uses the term “leaders.”


text: Heb “and they delivered them from the hand of the ones robbing them.”


text: Or “did not listen to.”


text: Or “bowed before.”


text: Or “way [of life].”


text: Heb “…walked, obeying the Lord ’s commands. They did not do this.”


text: Heb “them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: The phrase “for them” is supplied in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “the ones oppressing them and afflicting them.” The synonyms “oppressing” and “afflicting” are joined together in the translation as “harsh oppressors” to emphasize the cruel character of their enemies.


text: Heb “they”; the referent (the next generation) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: The verb שׁוּב ( shuv , “to return; to turn”) is sometimes translated “turn back” here, but it is probably used in an adverbial sense, indicating that the main action (“act wickedly”) is being repeated.


text: Heb “their fathers.” sn The statement the next generation would again act more wickedly than the previous one must refer to the successive sinful generations after Joshua, not Joshua’s godly generation (cf. vv. 7, 17 ).


text: Or “serving [them]”; or “following [them].”


text: Or “drop.”


text: Heb “Because this nation.”


text: Heb “my covenant which I commanded their fathers.”


text: Heb “and has not listened to my voice.” The expression “to not listen to [God’s] voice” is idiomatic here for disobeying him.


text: The words “Joshua left those nations” are interpretive. The Hebrew text of v. 22 simply begins with “to test.” Some subordinate this phrase to “I will no longer remove” (v. 21 ). In this case the Lord announces that he has now decided to leave these nations as a test for Israel. Another possibility is to subordinate “to test” to “He said” (v. 20 ; see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5 , 111). In this case the statement recorded in vv. 20 b-21 is the test in that it forces Israel to respond either positively (through repentance) or negatively to the Lord ’s declaration. A third possibility (the one reflected in the present translation) is to subordinate “to test” to “left unconquered” (v. 21 ). In this case the Lord recalls that Joshua left these nations as a test. Israel has failed the test (v. 20 ), so the Lord announces that the punishment threatened earlier ( Josh 23:12-13 ; see also Judg 2:3 ) will now be implemented. As B. G. Webb ( Judges [JSOTSup], 115) observes, “The nations which were originally left as a test are now left as a punishment.” This view best harmonizes v. 23 , which explains that the Lord did not give all the nations to Joshua, with v. 22 . (For a grammatical parallel, where the infinitive construct of נָסָה [ nasah ] is subordinated to the perfect of עָזַב [’ azav ], see 2 Chr 32:31 .)


text: The Hebrew text includes the phrase “by them,” but this is somewhat redundant in English and has been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: The words “I [i.e., the Lord ] wanted to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification.


text: Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Or “way [of life].”


text: “The words “marked out by” are interpretive.


text: Or “fathers.”


text: The words “this is why” are interpretive.


text: Or “quickly.”