The question What can I say…? may be restructured as a statement: “I do not know what to say….” The order may be inverted: “O Lord, our army has retreated from the enemy, and I do not know what to say.” Or “O Lord, the men of Ai made our men turn and run, and I do not know what to say.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .