Tag Archives: Joshua 9:15

Making Peace by Grammar: Legal Speech and Ratification in Joshua 9:15 (Targum Jonathan)

וַעֲבַד לְהוֹן יְהוֹשֻׁעַ שְׁלָם וּגְזַר לְהוֹן קְיָם לְקַיָמוּתְהוֹן וְקַיְימוּ לְהוֹ רַבְרְבֵי כְּנִשְׁתָּא: And Yehoshua made peace with them and established a covenant with them to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation ratified it with him. Narrative Exposition: The Grammar Behind the Treaty The Gibeonite deception led to more than a clever ruse—it led to a legal covenant, articulated in the judicial and covenantal syntax of Targum Jonathan. This verse captures how Yehoshua and the Israelite elders respond not merely with action but with verbal formulae, encoded in Peʿal verbs, abstract nouns, and construct chains.… Learn Hebrew
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