Глава 5

1. Fear of the Canaanites. 2. Joshua resumes circumcision. 10. Celebrating the Passover in Gilgal. 12. Stopping the sending of manna. 13. The leader of the army of the Lord. The crossing of the Jordan showed the Israeli leader and people that among them there is a living God, Whom nothing on earth can resist. But God’s omnipotent help was promised in the fulfillment of His will, expressed in the law (Joshua 1:7–8). One of the most important commandments of the law was the commandment to circumcise all males. The fulfillment of the latter was required, in particular, for every Israeli and stranger who wanted to participate in the celebration of Passover, the time of which was approaching. The simultaneous performance of this rite over the majority of the people who had just entered the enemy’s land presented, without a doubt, great difficulties and dangers (Gen. 34:25), which could only be overcome by hope for the all-powerful help of the Lord of the whole earth. The basis for this hope was what the people experienced when crossing the Jordan. This hope was also reinforced by the effect that the passage of the Israelites across the Jordan had on the Canaanite peoples. Chapter 5 begins with an indication of the latter. Joshua 5:1. When all the kings of the Amorites who dwelt on this side of the Jordan to the sea, and all the kings of Canaan who are by the sea, heard that the Lord [God] dried up the waters of the Jordan before the children of Israel while they were crossing, then their hearts fainted, [they were horrified] and there was no more spirit in them against the children of Israel. The passage of the Israeli people through the Jordan, which was impassable in the flood, had a striking effect on all the Canaanite kings and the peoples they ruled and intensified to the extreme the decline of spirit that had already begun (Josh. 2:10-11). In such a depressed state, the Canaanite kings could not immediately begin to fight the enemy who had invaded their land. “All the kings of the Amorites... and all the kings of Canaan” are named here as the kings of the two strongest peoples who owned the main regions of the country - mountains and plains; in the Greek-Slavic translation, “Canaanite... kings” are called βασιλεῖς τῆς Φοινίκης - “Phoenic kings”, i.e. the kings of a separate Canaanite tribe - the Canaanites, who lived by the sea, according to which these kings can be called “Canaanite” for greater clarity. “They crossed over.” The corresponding Hebrew expression, as printed in the text (“averenu”), means “we passed,” from which some concluded that the writer of the book was himself an eyewitness to the event he described. Such a conclusion cannot be considered plausible if only because Jewish scholars did not recognize this spelling of the Hebrew word as correct and replaced it with another (“averam”), meaning “they crossed over”; 70 interpreters did not recognize the first outline of the Hebrew word as correct, as the Greco-Slavic translation shows: ἐν τῷ διαβαίνειν αὐτούς - “pass by them”, agreeing with the second, changed outline of the Hebrew word. It is also necessary to keep in mind that if the expression “averanu” - “we crossed over” - remained unchanged in the Hebrew text, it could have been used by a writer who was not an eyewitness to the event instead of the name of the people to which he belonged, i.e. instead of "sons of Israel". Examples of such use of a personal pronoun instead of the name of the people - which is still common today - are other places in this book (Josh. 4:23 about the drying up of the Red Sea: “before us until we crossed it”; Josh. 5:6: “give us a land”) and Ps.65:6 (Heb. LXVI), where the psalmist, sending up to the Lord, apparently on behalf of his people, a song of joy for turning the sea into dry land and crossing the river with his feet, exclaims: “there we rejoiced in Him.” The expression “they were horrified” serves as a rendering of the Greek LXX κατεπλάγησαν, read in the Vatican, Alexandrian and other copies; it represents, in all likelihood, a secondary, clearer translation of the Hebrew word “vaimmas” used here, which was translated too literally in the LXX: ἐτάκησαν – “istayasha” (“their thoughts”); the unusualness in the speech of this expression led, in all likelihood, to the fact that a new translation was made, one of which was “horrified” (there were other translations of it, see Holmes). Joshua 5:2. At that time the Lord said to Joshua: Make yourself sharp [stone] knives and circumcise the children of Israel a second time. Joshua 5:3. And Joshua made himself sharp [stone] knives and circumcised the children of Israel at [the place called]: The Hill of Circumcision. At a time when the people of Israel were encamped near a hill called Gilgal, and the kings and tribes of Canaan were in a state of numbness from the fear that gripped them, Joshua received a divine command that he should prepare stone knives and make all the people circumcised again, as they had been before. "Sharp [stone] knives". The Hebrew text uses here two words “harvot tzurim”, which literally means “stone knives”, as these words are translated in the Vulgate (cultros lapideos). In the LXX, the original translation consisted, one must think, of the words ἐκ πέτρας ἀκροτόμου - “from a sharp stone”, as read in the Alexandrian and some other copies with the omission of the word πετρίνας - “stone”. The word “sharp” represents a later translation of the Hebrew word “tsurim,” which is not recognized as accurate by Western Christian commentators who rely generally on the Hebrew text 45 . The use of stone knives in circumcision was an ancient custom (Ex. 4:25), which retained its force even at the time when iron began to be used in everyday life. “And circumcise the children of Israel the second time,” i.e. again, a second time, make all the people of Israel circumcised as they were when they came out of Egypt. Joshua 5:4. This is the reason why Jesus circumcised [the sons of Israel who were then born on the way, and who of those who came out of Egypt were not then circumcised, Jesus circumcised them all]: all the people who came out of Egypt, males, all those capable of war died in the wilderness on the way, after leaving Egypt; Joshua 5:5. but all the people that came out were circumcised, but all the people that were born in the wilderness on the way, after they came out of Egypt, were not circumcised; Joshua 5:4-5 concludes with an explanation of how the people of Israel as a whole ceased to be circumcised; For a discussion of them, see the end of the chapter. Joshua 5:6. For the children of Israel walked forty [two] years in the wilderness [which is why many were not circumcised], until all the people who were capable of war, who came out of Egypt, died, who did not listen to the voice of the Lord and to whom the Lord swore that they would not see the land, which the Lord promised with an oath to their fathers, to give us a land flowing with milk and honey, “Forty [two]” agrees with most lists and editions of the LXX translation, with the exception, as far as is known, of Vatican List No. 58, 13th century, and the Greek text of the Complutensian Polyglot, which reads one τεσσαράκοντα – 40 without adding: καὶ δύο – and two. With all this, for the original number of years in this place of the biblical text, 40, and not 42, should be accepted with complete confidence, because, firstly, that the first is the only and unchangeable number, which is used in the books of the Old and New Testaments (Exod. 16:35; Num. 32:13; Deut. 1: 3, 2: 7, 8: 2, 4, 29: 5; Neh. 9: 21; Am.2:10,5:25; Acts 13:18) determines the time of the Israelites’ wandering through the desert between leaving Egypt and entering the land of Canaan; and, secondly, because “forty” (“arbaim”) is read in this place according to the Hebrew text. As for the number 42, it, as a definition of the time of wandering through the desert, is nowhere in the Bible, except for this place in the book. Joshua is not listed in most Greek lists. At the same time, another circumstance that deserves attention is that in the Ostrog and First Printed Bibles the number 40 46 is read. The same number (quadraginta) is also read in the translation of Blessed Jerome. For an explanation of the further words of Joshua 5:6, see the end of the chapter. Joshua 5:7. and in their place he raised up their sons. These Jesus circumcised, for they were uncircumcised; because they, [as born] on the way, were not circumcised. Here an explanation is made regarding another part of the people of Israel, which is indicated in the 2nd half of Joshua 5:4 and which consisted of the uncircumcised. Over this greater half of the people (see Joshua 5:4), consisting of the young generation of the Israeli people, which the Lord kept alive by virtue of His continued Covenant with the people in general (Numbers 14:31), Joshua performed circumcision. And the reason that so many remained uncircumcised is stated to be that “they [as born] on the way were not circumcised” or, literally from the Hebrew, “they were not circumcised on the way.” According to the meaning of these words, the reason for the non-circumcision of those born along the way was the very condition of the Israelites as they moved as a whole from place to place and did not have the opportunity to stop for several days in order to perform circumcision and then remain for some time in place. Some of the commentators are not satisfied with this explanation and add another to it, which consists in the fact that the condemnation that befell the older generation fell partly on the younger (Num. 14:35), which bore it for the sins of their fathers, and that this condemnation served as the reason why those born along the way remained uncircumcised, and the latter include precisely those who were born after the indignation of the fathers in Kadesh in the last 38 years 47 . This explanation of the special reason for not performing circumcision on those born on the way seems plausible because the writer of the book. Joshua, not without a special purpose, begins here to explain what caused the renewal of circumcision, by pointing to the condemnation to which the older generation of the Israeli people was subjected. Such an instruction tends to connect with this condemnation the failure to perform circumcision on those born during the execution of the latter. It is very likely that the fathers who broke the Covenant with God and came under condemnation did not care that their children bore the seal of the Covenant. Joshua 5:8. When all the people were circumcised, he remained in his place in the camp until he was healed. Joshua 5:9. And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have taken away the shame of Egypt from you.” That is why that place is called Gilgal, even to this day. The number of uncircumcised people, who ranged in age from one week (Gen. 17:27) to 38 years (see explanation of Joshua 5:4–5), was significantly greater than the number of those who had circumcision; not without reason it is determined from 600 to 700 thousand 48. The performance of a sacred rite over such a large number of persons could, however, be accomplished quickly, within one day, i.e. On the 11th of the first month (see Joshua 4:19), thanks to the large number of its performers, which could be all the circumcision, which, as was noted, amounted to about 300 thousand. The fact that the people freely agreed to circumcise more than half of their male population in an unconquered country testifies to their different mood than 38 years (Num. 14:1) ago - about their faith in God, which made them worthy to wear the sign of the Covenant on their body. The performance of circumcision in Canaan also had the significance for the Israeli people that this marked the end of the “Egyptian reproach,” i.e. ridicule on the part of the Egyptians over the people of Israel, which consisted, as can be seen from the prayerful appeals of Moses to the Lord (Ex. 32:12-13; Num. 14:13-16; Deut. 9:29), that, having left Egypt, he had not achieved anything better, had not taken possession of the land of his fathers and was only perishing in the desert from the wrath of the God he professed. When, under the omnipotent protection of the Lord, the people entered the land of Canaan and, through circumcision, received a guarantee of fellowship with Him and His favor, the reproach of the Egyptians ceased to weigh upon them; it “fell off him” like a stone falls off a mountain. From this “rolling down” or “removing” the reproach from the Israelites, the very place where this happened received the name Gilgal, which means “rolling down, dumping.” For the place of Gilgal, see Joshua 4:20. Joshua 5:10. And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening in the plains of Jericho; Joshua 5:11. and on the next day of Passover they began to eat from the produce of this land, unleavened bread and dried grain on that very day; Joshua 5:12. and the manna ceased to fall the next day after they began to eat the produce of the land, and the children of Israel had no more manna, but they ate that year the produce of the land of Canaan. The presence of the entire people in the Covenant with God made it possible for them to celebrate Easter, which occurred in two days. The diseased state of the circumcised could not serve as an obstacle to this (Num. 9:10), and those who were previously circumcised could prepare the Passover lamb; They also protected the Israeli camp from enemy attacks, from which they were also protected by the fear brought upon them. Passover was celebrated on the 14th day of the first month (cf. Joshua 4:19) in the evening, i.e. in accordance with the regulations (Ex.12:6; Lev.23:5, etc.). By “another day of Passover,” from which the Israelites “began to eat the produce of the land,” one cannot mean here the 15th day of the first month, as in Numbers 33:3, on the grounds that the law (Lev.23:14,10) forbade eating new bread before bringing a sheaf of a new harvest to the sanctuary, and this offering had to be made (Josh. 5:11) “on the next day of the festival” (literally from the Hebrew “Sabbath”), which means the 15th day of the first month, i.e. Easter, which was celebrated as Saturday. Thus, eating the produce of the earth from the new harvest began on the 16th day of the first month. After the Israelites began to eat the produce of the land of Canaan, the sending of manna, as no longer necessary, ceased. Joshua 5:13. Jesus, being near Jericho, looked and saw, and behold, a man stood before him, and in his hand was a drawn sword. Jesus came to him and said to him, “Are you one of ours, or one of our enemies?” Joshua 5:14. He said: no; I am the captain of the army of the Lord, now I have come [here]. Jesus fell with his face to the ground, and bowed down, and said to him, “What will my lord say to his servant?” Joshua 5:15. The captain of the Lord's army said to Jesus, “Take off your sandals from off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” Jesus did just that. Joshua 5:16. Jericho shut up and was shut up for fear of the children of Israel: no one came out [of it] and no one entered. When, through circumcision and Passover, the people strengthened their communion with the Lord and thus internally prepared for the upcoming feat, the duty of the Israeli leader was to begin the task itself and, first of all, to conquer the fortified city closest to the Israeli camp, i.e. Jericho. While he, occupied, of course, with the thought of this, was near the city, he received a new divine revelation regarding its conquest. The revelation was communicated through the Angel of the Lord, appearing in the form of a man with a drawn sword. Mistaken for an ordinary warrior, the one who appeared revealed himself through the announcement of his angelic rank: “chief of the army of the Lord” - and an indication of the holiness of the place. The drawn sword and the title of the one who appeared as the leader of the army of the Lord showed Joshua the readiness of the heavenly forces to help in the upcoming struggle with the Canaanite peoples. The reason for seeing the Angel of the Lord in the one who appeared to Joshua is that he, like the one who appeared in the bush (Ex. 3:2-5), requires the removal of shoes, just like what the one who appeared here wears (Josh. 6:1), as in the book. Exodus, the name is Lord and reveals himself as Lord. Blessed Theodoret did not agree, however, with those who saw God the Word in what appeared to Joshua; in his opinion, “it was Archangel Michael” 49. “He said, No,” according to the current Hebrew text. Instead of “no” it is read αὐτῷ – “to him” in ancient and later Greek copies and other translations, as well as in the Slavic Bible (in this case, the translators, instead of the Hebrew “lo” with “aleph”, as in the current Jewish text, obviously read “lo” with “vav cholem”, which is also found in some Jewish copies) 50. The Greco-Slavic translation “to him”, both in view of the significant amount of evidence in its favor, and the fact that with it the answer of the one who appeared to Joshua receives greater certainty by indicating to whom it is addressed, deserves in any case to be noted. “The army of the Lord” is called here not the army of Israel, as in Exodus 7:4, 12:41, but the army of heaven, as in 1 Kings 22:19, Ps.149:2, for the Israeli army already had a leader, appointed by God. “Here” was brought from the Slavic Bible; there is no corresponding word for this word either in the Hebrew text or in the Greek lists. As far as is known, the words “my lord” serve as a rendering of the Hebrew word “adoni” in its current form. In the most ancient Greek copies and later ones, as well as editions of the Greek translation, Δέσποτα is read here, which in the Old Slavic translation was rendered by the word “Lord Lord” 51, or “Lord”, as in the current Slavic Bible. The Greek translation shows that in the Septuagint the corresponding Hebrew word was read here in the same way as in other places where it is used in the sense of a divine name (Gen. 15: 2, 18: 30, 31, etc.), i.e. "Adonai." This translation seems more appropriate because in the one who appeared, in the leader of the army of the Lord, Joshua should have, in any case, seen a supernatural being or an Angel. The requirement to remove shoes with an indication of the holiness of the place was supposed to remind the Epiphany to Moses at Horeb and show with greater clarity the Angel of the Lord who appeared, in which the Lord Himself is revealed, as the one who appeared in the next chapter is called. Before conveying the revelation itself, the writer of the book made a brief comment about the condition of the city to which it referred (Joshua 5:16). He says precisely that this city - Jericho - was strongly fortified, which in the Hebrew text is expressed by the repetition of the same verb “sagar” - “to lock” in two forms of the participle, which expression can literally be conveyed by the words (“Jericho”) “locking, was locked”, according to the Greek-Slavic translation “imprisoned and fenced”. The further words “no one went out... and no one entered” further strengthen the idea of ​​​​the fortification of the city due to the walls surrounding it on all sides and at the same time indicate that it was ready to defend itself from an attack by the Israelis. From Joshua 6:1 it is clear that in Jericho there were brave people who could defend their city. “From fear” was added to round off Russian speech; instead, in some of the Greek lists it reads ἀπὸ προσώπον, according to which in the Slavic Bible: “on behalf of the children of Israel.” Joshua 5:16 in other editions of the Greek translation serves as the opening verse of chapter VI. Explanation of Joshua 5:4–5. The way these verses are read in Russian and Slavic translations, their meaning is unclear. According to the words of Joshua 5:4, placed in brackets, the uncircumcised among the people of Israel were, firstly, those who were “then born on the way”, and, secondly, those who “from those who came out of Egypt were not then circumcised.” The first of these provisions is expressed equally in the second half of Joshua 5:5: “all the people who were born in the wilderness on the way, after they came out of Egypt, were not circumcised.” Meanwhile, the second position does not find correspondence in the initial words of Joshua 5:5, which says, on the contrary, that “all the people who came out” from Egypt were circumcised. The reason for such a discrepancy between the words of one verse and the words of another is that the Russian-Slavic translation of Joshua 5:4 represents the transmission of two translations: from the Greek LXX and the Hebrew text. The words “the sons of Israel who were then born on the way and who of those who came out of Egypt were not then circumcised, Jesus circumcised them all” serve as a transmission of the LXX translation, as it is read in the most ancient copies: Vatican, Alexandria, etc. 52 In these lists, the second half of Joshua 5:4 and Joshua 5:5, as read in the Russian and Slavic translations, starting with the words “all the people that came out of Egypt...” to the end of Joshua 5:5 is missing 53. It was also absent from the ancient handwritten Slavic translation 54 . What, according to the Slavic-Russian translation, constitutes the second half of Nav.5:4 and Nav.5:5, represents a translation from the current Hebrew text and another Greek text consonant with them, which was made in ancient times and was given by Origen in his Hexaplas 55. Here this second translation was marked with the so-called asterisk 56 as a translation, which, according to the Hebrew text, supplemented the LXX text in common use at that time. And the above-mentioned original Greek translation, the transmission of which makes up the first half of Joshua 5:4 according to the Russian-Slavic translation, was noted in the Hexaplah by the so-called ovel as unnecessary against the Hebrew text. These distinctive signs (asterisk and ovel), placed by Origen, clearly indicated the mutual relationship and significance of these two translations as translations of the same passage of the biblical text. But in subsequent times, when those who were making new copies from the Greek text corrected by Origen stopped displaying the signs he had put in, both of the above periods began to be written one after the other, as if they constituted one whole. Thus, the Greek text of this place appeared, which is found in the Lucian copies in the edition reproduced from them 57, as well as in the Complutensian Polyglot and other editions of the Greek translation of the LXX, including in the Moscow Greek Bible 58. The Complutensian Polyglot was used, one must think, by the correctors of the current Slavic translation. From the above reference with ancient monuments of the biblical text, it is clear that the two Greek translations that served as the original for the Russian-Slavic translation, as precisely different translations of the same place in the biblical text, cannot be combined together, because with such a connection, i.e. when transferring both together, a double transfer is obtained. And from this it naturally follows that when translating a given passage of the biblical text, it is necessary to make a choice between the existing two translations and, having chosen one of them, the most perfect, make a translation based on it. This choice in this place of the book. Joshua is not particularly difficult. Regarding the first, oldest, Greek translation of this passage, Origen pointed out that it does not correspond to the Hebrew text; in particular, it was noted above that the idea he expressed about the Israelites who did not have circumcision when leaving Egypt is in disagreement with the words of the Greek-Slavic translation of Joshua 5:5. To this must be added the fact that this idea of ​​the uncircumcised Israelites leaving Egypt is excluded by the narrative of the book. Exodus. It does not say anywhere that among the Israelites who left Egypt there were uncircumcised people, and yet this phenomenon, if it existed, could not be passed over in silence due to its understandable importance in view of the Lord’s entry into the Covenant with the Israeli people two months after leaving Egypt. If the latter included those who had not been circumcised, this rite would, without a doubt, have been performed on them before the conclusion of the Covenant. If the Angel of the Lord threatened Moses with death for not circumcising his son, then even less could it have been allowed to conclude a Covenant with a people who had uncircumcised people among them. There was enough time to perform circumcision before the conclusion of the Covenant (Ex. 19:10–11). Based on all this, the oldest Greek translation of Joshua 5:4-5, which was used by the ancient Slavic translators, must give way to the later one, which has the advantage over it that it is completely consistent with the Hebrew text, as it was read in the time of Origen and Blessed Jerome, the translation of which also does not contain words corresponding to the oldest Greek translation 59, and as it is read at the present time. This later Greek translation also corresponds to the biblical account of the events of the Exodus and the Sinai Epiphany. If, for the reasons given, the words Joshua 5:4–5, which serve as a transmission of the oldest Greek translation and are placed in brackets, are left aside, then the biblical text of these verses has the following meaning: all the Israelites who came out of Egypt, capable of war, i.e. adults who were over 20 years old (Num. 1:3) died in the desert on the way from Egypt; all the people who came out of the latter were circumcised, but all those born in the wilderness during the journey from Egypt were not circumcised. Consequently, of all those who were circumcised when leaving Egypt, only those who at that time were under 20 years old survived, and after crossing the Jordan they were 40 years old and above; and all the other Israelites under 40 years of age were uncircumcised. If the average life expectancy at that time was significantly higher than now (Moses died at 120 years old, Joshua - at 110 years old) and reached 80 years (Ps. 89:10), then the number of uncircumcised people accounted for more than half of the Israeli people, since there are always fewer elderly people (over 40 years old) than young people. Some commentators estimate the number of circumcised Israelites who crossed the Jordan to be between 250–300 thousand. 60 Continued explanation of Joshua 5:6. The further words of Joshua 5:6 “[therefore many were not circumcised] until the whole people died...” also represent a combination of two translations - the Greek-Slavic and another - according to the current Jewish text. The first belongs to the words highlighted in brackets, the second - further words to the end of the verse. Only the initial words were added from the Greek-Slavic translation, and those following them to the end of Joshua 5:6 were replaced by a translation from the Hebrew. In its entirety, the Greek translation of this passage consists of the following words, as they are translated in Slavic: “for this reason, do not circumcise the multitude of those soldiers who came out of the land of Egypt, who did not obey the commandments of the Lord, to whom the Lord determined not to see the land, for which the Lord 61 swore by their father 62 to give us a land boiling with honey and milk.” From Hebrew this place, without any additions or omissions, is translated: “until (literally: “until”) all the people died, the men of war (according to the literal translation), who came out of Egypt, who did not listen to the voice of the Lord, by which the Lord swore that they would not see (literally: “would not let them see”) the land that the Lord promised with an oath (literally: “swore”) to their fathers to give us a land where milk flows and honey." A comparison of both translations shows a significant difference in the thoughts expressed by both. According to the Greek-Slavic translation, the reason is indicated here that many of the soldiers who came out of Egypt were not circumcised, and then turned out to be violators of God’s commandments. This explanation obviously has a close connection with the words of Joshua 5:4: “And you shall not circumcise any of those who came out of Egypt.” According to the translation from Hebrew, it explains why all the adults who came out of Egypt (the men of war) died and points to disobedience to the voice of the Lord as the reason for condemning them to extinction. Introducing the words of the Greek-Slavic translation into this explanation of the biblical writer - “therefore many were not circumcised” - is not appropriate because those condemned to die out in the wilderness belonged to those who were circumcised when leaving Egypt, as stated in the opening words of Joshua 5:5. The words “[therefore many were not circumcised]” (Joshua 5:6) apply only to another part of the people, which consisted of those born in the wilderness, but this part of the Israeli people is spoken of in the following Joshua 5:7. The experiment made in the Russian translation of combining two translations (from Greek and Hebrew) does not therefore turn out to achieve its goal. As a result of this, here too it turns out to be necessary to make a choice of one of two translations of this passage, which serves as the most accurate rendering of the biblical text. The Greek-Slavic cannot serve as this one translation, because it expresses the same idea as in Joshua 5:4, the idea of ​​​​the existence of many uncircumcised Israelites among those who came out of Egypt. This idea, as explained above, does not agree with the opening words of Joshua 5:5 according to the Greek-Slavic translation: “for all men were circumcised” and with the biblical account of the events of the Exodus and the Sinai legislation. The translation from the Hebrew text, as not containing this idea, deserves preference for this reason. In order to recognize it as an accurate rendering of the biblical text of this place, it also agrees with the translation of Blessed Jerome, in whom it is conveyed in the words: donec consumerentur qui non audierant vocem Domini, et quibus ante iuraverat ut non ostenderet eis terram lacte et melle manantem - “until those who did not listen to the voice of the Lord and to whom he had previously sworn that he would not show them were destroyed land flowing with milk and honey." If, based on the above considerations, we focus attention only on the words of Joshua 5:6, not fenced off by brackets, then their meaning is as follows. The biblical writer explains here how and why the adult Israelites who came out of Egypt died in the desert. This happened, he says, during a 40-year walk in the wilderness, to which all adults were condemned because they disobeyed the Lord; for this, by divine definition ("The Lord swore"), they were deprived of inheritance of the beautiful land promised to their ancestors. Of course, the above comments by Keil and Sook. This is discussed in more detail in Op. “On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Elizabethan Bible,” p. 52–55. An explanation is also given here for the name “Mavdaritida”, read in Joshua 5:6, according to the Slavic Bible. Keil. Iosua, 37–39; Juice. Commentary 2:28–29. Works of Blessed Theodoret, vol. I, p. 277. According to these lists and the editions based on them (Sistine, Tischendorf and Cambridge) Joshua 5:4–5 read: υἱοὺς Ισραηλ, ὃσοι ποτὲ ἐγένοντο ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ καὶ ὃσοι ποτὲ ἀπερίτμητοι ἦσαν τῶν ἐξελυθότων ἐξ Αἰγύπτου, πάντους τούτους περιέτεμεν Ἰησοῦς. Then follows the 6th Art. In the Moscow Greek Bible these words missing from the Alexandrian list are read. The pre-Ostrog translation given here represents the transmission of the LXX translation given in the 52nd note. From this we can see the complete injustice of the opinion expressed by the author of the said work that “the translators of the pre-Ostrog Slavic Bible allowed in their work, at their personal discretion, to make some omissions in comparison with the Greek original.” In fact, they translated what was in the Greek original they had, which was, obviously, a Greek copy, homogeneous with the most ancient Greek copies, and not with the later ones, in which one can read what is not in the first ones. The absence of the second half of Nav.5:4 and Nav.5:5, as it is read in later Greek copies, the text of which was supplemented according to Origen’s Hexapla, serves, among other things, as proof that the original for the ancient Slavic translation was not Lucian’s text, in the copies of which in this place one reads what is missing in the ancient Slavic translation. This second Greek translation consisted of the following words: ἐκπορευόμενοι ἐξ Αἰγύπτου τὸ ἀρσενικὸν , πάντες ἄνδρες πολέμου, οἱ ἀπέθανον ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ, ἐξελθόντων αὑτῶν ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου ὅτι περιτετμηἐνοι ἦσαν πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ὁ ἐξελθών καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς οἱ γεννηθέντες ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἐν τῇ Field). This translation is also read in Lucian and other copies. Ovel and asterisk in the two translations of this passage under consideration were preserved in very few copies. See Field. Origenis Hexapl. t, I, II, p. 344. Of course, the edition de Lagardë Librorum Veteris Testament canonicorum pars prior. These editions read one after the other the original Greek translation of Joshua 5:4–5, given in the eighth footnote, and then the later one, given in the eleventh footnote. In the Moscow Greek Bible, only the initial words of the second Greek translation καὶ οῦτος ὁ λόγος ὃν περιέτεμεν Ἰησοῦς are omitted. Translation of Blessed Jerome according to ed. Tischendorf: Naes autem causa est secundae circum cisionis: Omnis populus, qui egressus est de Aegypto generis masculini, universi bellatores viri, mortui sunt in deserto per longissimos viae circuitus, qui omnes circuincisi erant. Pupulus autem qui natus est in deserto per quadraginta annos itineris latissimae solitudenis in circunicisus erat. Cook. Commentary 2:23, Keil, Iosua, 40 counts from 280 to 330 thousand those who were circumcised. The corresponding Greek ἣν is more correctly attributed to δοῦναι and translated “south.” In the Vatican and Alexandria lists ἡμῶν “ours”. You might be interested in: