Joshua 8:30
New International Version
Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel,

New Living Translation
Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal.

English Standard Version
At that time Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,

Berean Standard Bible
At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the LORD, the God of Israel,

King James Bible
Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in mount Ebal,

New King James Version
Now Joshua built an altar to the LORD God of Israel in Mount Ebal,

New American Standard Bible
Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,

NASB 1995
Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, in Mount Ebal,

NASB 1977
Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, in Mount Ebal,

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Joshua built an altar to Yahweh, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,

Amplified Bible
Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,

Christian Standard Bible
At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the LORD, the God of Israel,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the LORD, the God of Israel,

American Standard Version
Then Joshua built an altar unto Jehovah, the God of Israel, in mount Ebal,

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Then Yeshua built an altar to LORD JEHOVAH, the God of Israel, in the Mountain of Gebal

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord God of Israel in mount Gaebal,

Douay-Rheims Bible
Then Josue built an altar to the Lord the God of Israel in mount Hebal,

English Revised Version
Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD, the God of Israel, in mount Ebal,

GOD'S WORD® Translation
At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the LORD God of Israel.

Good News Translation
Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel.

International Standard Version
Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,

JPS Tanakh 1917
Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD, the God of Israel, in mount Ebal,

Literal Standard Version
Then Joshua builds an altar to YHWH, God of Israel, in Mount Ebal,

Majority Standard Bible
At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the LORD, the God of Israel,

New American Bible
Later, on Mount Ebal, Joshua built to the LORD, the God of Israel, an altar

NET Bible
Then Joshua built an altar for the LORD God of Israel on Mount Ebal,

New Revised Standard Version
Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel,

New Heart English Bible
Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,

Webster's Bible Translation
Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD God of Israel in mount Ebal,

World English Bible
Then Joshua built an altar to Yahweh, the God of Israel, on Mount Ebal,

Young's Literal Translation
Then doth Joshua build an altar to Jehovah, God of Israel, in mount Ebal,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Joshua Renews the Covenant
30At that time Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the LORD, the God of Israel, 31just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: “an altar of uncut stones on which no iron tool has been used.” And on it they offered burnt offerings to the LORD, and they sacrificed peace offerings.…

Cross References
Deuteronomy 27:2
And on the day you cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, set up large stones and coat them with plaster.

Deuteronomy 27:4
And when you have crossed the Jordan, you are to set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I am commanding you today, and you are to coat them with plaster.


Treasury of Scripture

Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD God of Israel in mount Ebal,

built an altar

Genesis 8:20
And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Genesis 12:7,8
And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him…

Joshua 8:33
And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel.

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Joshua 8
1. God encourages Joshua
3. The plan whereby Ai was taken
29. The king thereof is hanged
30. Joshua builds an altar
32. writes the law on stones
33. and pronounces the blessings and curses














THE LAW SET UP IN THE HEART OF THE COUNTRY.

(30) Then Joshua built.--The word then is not "and" in the Hebrew; as is too often the case where "then" occurs in our English Old Testament. It is a note of time. Josephus places this transaction later. The LXX. places Joshua 8:1-2 of Joshua 9 before this passage. But there seems no reason for moving the transaction from the place where we find it in the text. By the capture of Ai, Joshua had obtained command over the road to Shechem. We hear of no strong place north of Beth-el in that part of the country. From other passages (see on Joshua 17:18) there seems reason to think that a large part of this district was wooded and uncleared. The confederacy of the southern kings had its centre far to the south of this, and there was a considerable distance between Shechem and the strong places to the north. It is in keeping with what we have already observed regarding the purpose of the conquest of Canaan, that the law of the God of Israel should be as soon as possible proclaimed and set up in the heart of the country, to be thenceforward the law of the land. For the enactment that was here carried out, see Deuteronomy 11:26-30; Deuteronomy 27:2, &c. Observe also that the command there given required the work to be done as soon after the passing of Jordan as possible. The possibility of reading the law from this position, so as to be heard by the whole congregation, has been proved by actual experiment.

(30, 31) An altar . . . in mount Ebal . . .--This was explicitly commanded in Deuteronomy. The blessing was put on mount Gerizim, the altar and the curse on mount Ebal. We do not hear elsewhere of any sacrifice on Ebal. But it is certain that God accepted sacrifices in many places in Canaan. (Cf. Exodus 19:24.) . . .

Verse 30. - Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel in Mount Ebal. This passage has been pronounced to be an interpolation by Meyer, De Wette, Maurer, Rosenmuller, Knobel, and others. The LXX. does not introduce it here, but after Joshua 9:2. For other authorities see below. It is very easy to see why its genuineness has been disputed. The Book of Joshua has many marks of having been written not so very long after the events described in it. But it has been a favourite opinion with the school which disputes the authenticity of the books of the Bible, that Deuteronomy was a late revision by Ezra of the law of Moses, though this (see Introduction) has lately been discarded for another hypothesis. But we have, if the present passage be genuine, a distinct proof that the Book of Joshua was written after the Book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy is here quoted as the "book of the law of Moses" (cf. Deuteronomy 31:9, 24, 26). The grounds on which the genuine. ness of the passage has been denied are these: First, the passage begins with אָז followed by an imperfect, or future, as does the interpolated passage in Deuteronomy 4:41-43. This is Maurer's theory. But in this case we must reject every passage which begins thus, and certainly we should do so on grounds which, to say the least, are very slender. Next, we are told that Joshua could not have ventured to trust himself so far in the heart of a hostile country. But why not? Gerizim was not more than twenty miles from Ai. The Canaanites, we are told, were panic stricken at Joshua's success. The Gibeonites were not disposed to offer any hindrance to his progress; on the contrary, they hastened to form an alliance with him. And these solemn religious rites, performed by a people so clearly under the protection of the Most High, were more likely to increase than lessen the awe felt by the surrounding tribes. The only difficulty is that the women and children (v. 35) are expressly said to have gone thither also, and it seems improbable that they, whom we have supposed to have been left under a guard at Gilgal, should have been brought so far while the country was as yet unsubdued. And the difficulty is increased by finding Joshua again at Gilgal in Joshua 9:6. But there is the hypothesis that this was another Gilgal to fall back upon, and this (see note on the passage just mentioned) is an extremely probable one. The suggestion of many commentators, that the passage has been transposed, is of course possible. We can only leave the difficulty unsolved, as one which a fuller knowledge of the facts, could we obtain it, would clear up at once. But we may be sure that if the passage were an interpolation, some explanation would have been given of the circumstances which seem to us so perplexing. And on the other hand we must remember that, as has been already contended, the notion that the whole camp of Israel performed this journey at a time when stupefaction had seized upon the Canaanitish tribes, though involving some amount of impossibility, is by no means impossible. (See also note on ver. 33). A number of extraordinary interpretations of this passage have been given. A favourite Rabbinical interpretation (see note on next verse) was that this altar was erected on the very day on which the Israelites crossed the Jordan. This was of course a physical impossibility. Josephus, on the contrary, supposes that five years elapsed before its erection, while Rabbi Israel, in the Jerusalem Talmud, thinks that it was deferred until after the expiration of fourteen years, and after the land had been divided. So Masius in loc. In Mount Ebal. Between it and Gerizim stood the city of Shechem, or Sychar, as it is called in St. John 4. Gerizim was close to this city, as Judges 9:6, 7 and St. John 4:20 testify, as well as Deuteronomy 11:30, compared with Genesis 12:6. Dr. Maclear, in the 'Cambridge Bible for Schools,' suggests that the Israelites took this opportunity of interring the bones of Joseph (Genesis 1:25, 26) in the piece of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor (Genesis 33:19). (See Exodus 13:19).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
At that time
אָ֣ז (’āz)
Adverb
Strong's 227: At that time, place, therefore

Joshua
יְהוֹשֻׁ֙עַ֙ (yə·hō·wō·šu·a‘)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3091: Joshua -- 'the LORD is salvation', Moses' successor, also the name of a number of Israelites

built
יִבְנֶ֤ה (yiḇ·neh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1129: To build

an altar
מִזְבֵּ֔חַ (miz·bê·aḥ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4196: An altar

on Mount
בְּהַ֖ר (bə·har)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 2022: Mountain, hill, hill country

Ebal
עֵיבָֽל׃ (‘ê·ḇāl)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 5858: An Edomite name

to the LORD,
לַֽיהוָ֖ה (Yah·weh)
Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

the God
אֱלֹהֵ֣י (’ĕ·lō·hê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

of Israel,
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל (yiś·rā·’êl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3478: Israel -- 'God strives', another name of Jacob and his desc


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OT History: Joshua 8:30 Then Joshua built an altar to Yahweh (Josh. Jos)
Joshua 8:29
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