Unlike Moses, who was buried outside the Promised Land, Joshua’s resting place was within the territory allotted to his clan. In Israelite culture, as in many cultures around the world, the place of burial is very significant. Gen 23 recounts how Abraham bought a cave to serve as a burial place for his family, where he eventually buried his wife Sarah. He himself was laid to rest next to her (Gen 25.10). Thus there were often family tombs, where bodies of the same family were placed together. To not have a recognized burial place was considered a terrible fate.
And they buried him: This verse is very closely linked to the preceding one by the Hebrew waw conjunction rendered And. New Revised Standard Version has “So.” The impersonal pronoun they refers to the Israelite community. The Hebrew verb translated buried (qabar) is a general word, meaning to put the body of the deceased in a designated place, without specifying what kind of place that was. In Israel people buried their kin often in rocks and caves—not always underground as in many cultures. Translators should thus try to use a general verb here. Some languages opt for a passive verb here, for example, “He was buried” (Good News Translation).
Within the bounds of his inheritance means that Joshua was buried inside the borders of the land his clan had been given. Bounds renders the same Hebrew word translated “border” in verse 1.36 to indicate a boundary line. Many take the word inheritance to refer here not to the land given to his tribe but to the land accorded to him personally (verse 19.49-50). The word inheritance forms an inclusio here (verse 2.6, 9), appearing again at the end of the book, where it is part of another inclusio. Thus it would be helpful to use the same expression throughout the book.
In Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash: Joshua was one of the descendants of Ephraim, and the narrator takes great care to tell where he was buried. This specification parallels the later detailed accounts of where Gideon and Samson were buried (verse 8.32; verse 16.31).
Timnath-heres was the name of a town in Ephraim. Joshua had settled there some time before his death (verse 19.50). There is a minor textual problem here since the text of verse 19.50 and verse 24.30 gives the name as Timnath-serah, reversing the consonants of the second half of the name. Good News Translation makes this change here for consistency. Contemporary English Version keeps the Hebrew form without a footnote, but Bible en français courant adds a footnote that says, “Timnath-Heres is also called Timnath-Serah. See Josh 19.50; 24.30.” Note that some versions insert a hyphen between the two words, while others do not. Some capitalize the second term, while others do not. Translators can decide how to handle these issues that have little impact on the story.
In the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash defines the location of the town more precisely. For the hill country, see verse 1.9. Ephraim is cited in verse 1.29 as an Israelite tribe, but some readers may not yet know that a certain region also bears this name. If so, we might speak of “the hill country promised [or, allotted] to [the descendants of] Ephraim.”
For north see verse 1.9. The exact location of the mountain of Gaash is unknown, but some believe Joshua was buried around 30 kilometers (19 miles) southwest of Shechem. Mountain renders the same Hebrew word (har) as hill country. This term can refer to a range of hills, or to a single big hill or mountain.
Some translation examples for this verse are:
• They buried Joshua within the land he inherited [from the LORD] at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
• Joshua was buried in Timnath-serah, in the mountains of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash, in the land he had inherited [or, the land God gave him].
Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .