Joshua now summons the Gibeonites and reprimands them for deceiving the Israelites. In Hebrew Joshua ordered the people of Gibeon to be brought to him is literally “Joshua called them.” The verb “called” in such a context may have the meaning of “sent for” or “caused someone to bring to.” The latter meaning is probably intended here. That is, Joshua sent some of the men of Israel to bring the Gibeonites to him. The pronoun “them” of the Hebrew text also causes complications. Good News Translation suggests that the whole group of Gibeonites are summoned before Joshua, but it is more likely that the reference is limited to the messengers who came from the Gibeonites to Joshua. Joshua calls them and announces to them what will happen to all the Gibeonites. A shift may also be made to direct discourse: “Joshua told some of his men, ‘Bring to me the messengers who came to us from the Gibeonites.’ ”

Joshua’s remarks to the men of Gibeon may be restructured, “You deceived us. You live right here near us, and you said, ‘We are from far away.’ ” Or, if indirect discourse is retained, “Why did you deceive us? You told us that you were from far away, when you live right here.”

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 .