Joshua instructs the men of the eastern tribes to be good and faithful Israelites, that is, devoted and dedicated to the Lord alone. The law translates what is in Hebrew two synonymous words: “the commandment and the law” (Revised Standard Version). Good News Translation has taken the five verbs that follow to express the contents of that commandment, not as additional commands.

Make sure you obey translates a Hebrew expression which emphasizes the absolute urgency of obedience. A negative form may be employed: “Make sure that you never forget.”

The law that Moses commanded you makes a difficult construction in English, and this is probably the case for many other languages as well. Keeping to the exegesis of Good News Translation, one may translate “everything that Moses commanded you to do.”

Here, as in verses 2 and 4, Moses is identified as “the LORD’s servant” (see Revised Standard Version). Good News Translation drops this descriptive phrase, since in Good News Translation restructuring it occurs in both of the previous instances.

In the listing of things that the Israelites are to do, the writer once again uses much repetition of synonymous and almost synonymous expressions for the sake of emphasis. For example, do his will, obey his commandments is equivalent to “do what the LORD commands you to do” or “obey everything that the LORD commands you to do.” With all your heart and soul translates a fixed formula in Hebrew, and refers to the whole person. It should be noted that in Hebrew the noun “heart” generally refers more to the activities of the mind than to the emotions, as the term implies in English. One may translate “with all your heart and strength” or “in all that you think and feel.”

Moses’ commands may be formulated as direct discourse: “Be sure that you never forget what Moses urged you to do. He said, ‘Love the LORD our God and obey all of his commands. Serve him faithfully with all of your heart and soul.’ ”

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 .