Translation commentary on Joshua 11:23

The whole land conquered, Joshua proceeded to divide it among the tribes (see chapters 13–21). For “inheritance” (Revised Standard Version) see 1.6; “according to their tribal allotments” (Revised Standard Version) means that each tribe received a share of the land (see New English Bible “allotting to each tribe its share”). At long last there was a period of peace.

One for each tribe, a phrase hanging on at the end of the second sentence, may tend to confuse the meaning. This potential difficulty may be avoided if the sentence is shortened and translated, “Joshua divided the land up among the tribes of Israel” or “… among the tribes of Israel and gave each tribe its share.”

So the people rested from war is literally “And the land had rest from war.” An idiomatic expression will be appropriate in many languages. Otherwise, it is possible to translate “The Israelites then lived in peace (throughout the land).”

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 .

Translation commentary on Joshua 11:5

All of these kings may cause some difficulty, since there are no kings mentioned in verse 3 for the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Hivites. Therefore in verse 3 it may be advisable to follow the pattern “To the Canaanite kings…” (see comment at verse 3.)

Merom Brook ran southward from the mountains of Galilee into the upper northwest corner of Lake Galilee.

This verse is short, but it can be divided into two segments: “All of these kings came together and set up camp at Merom Brook. There they joined forces to fight against Israel.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Joshua 12:1

The land conquered on the east side of the Jordan had for its southern limit the Arnon Valley; the Arnon River flows into the Dead Sea about halfway between the southern and northern ends of the sea; and the city of Aroer (verse 2) is on the Arnon River. The northern limit was Mount Hermon (see 11.3).

The verb tense had already conquered and occupied may leave the reader guessing as to the time reference intended, especially if the reading is begun with this chapter. In order to help the reader, and on the basis of verse 6, one may translate “Moses had (already) led the people of Israel to conquer and occupy….”

They defeated two kings may easily be fitted into the earlier part of the verse:

• Moses had led the people of Israel to defeat two kings east of the Jordan and to take over their territory, which went from the Arnon Valley up the Jordan River and as far north as Mount Hermon.

Or, if two sentences are more satisfactory:

• Moses had already led the people of Israel to conquer two kings east of the Jordan and to take over their territory. The territory of these two kings ran from the Arnon Valley up the Jordan River and as far north as Mount Hermon.

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 .

Translation commentary on Joshua 11:6 - 11:7

The Lord assures Joshua that he, the Lord will provide the victory; all the enemy will be killed by the next day. Joshua is told to cripple their horses and burn their chariots. To “hamstring” (Revised Standard Version) an animal is to cut the large sinew of the back legs, leaving the animal unable to walk. Although the events of verse 6 are narrated in chronological sequence, the use of the future perfect (will have killed) and of the imperative (You are to) may cause some confusion of time sequence. Moreover, in Hebrew the personal pronoun “I” (of the Lord) is emphatic. The Lord’s instructions to Joshua may then be translated. “Do not be afraid of them, because I, the LORD, will kill them all. By this time tomorrow they will all be dead. After the battle, cripple their horses and burn their war chariots.”

Joshua attacked the enemy by surprise (perhaps by night, verse 7), routed them and killed them all (verse 8). As a comparison of Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version will indicate, the Hebrew (represented by the formal structure of Revised Standard Version) is somewhat more lengthy than Good News Translation. If there is a problem with the pronoun them, it may be rendered either “the enemy camp” or “the enemy.” By surprise may be translated, “before the enemy knew they were there.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Joshua 12:2 - 12:3

One was Sihon … at Heshbon may be somewhat clearer if translated, “One of the kings whom Moses defeated was King Sihon. He was an Amorite king who ruled at the city of Heshbon.”

The geographical data in verses 2-3 relating to the kingdom of Sihon are not very clear in Hebrew. For the defeat of Sihon, see Numbers 21.21-30; Deuteronomy 2.26-37.

Heshbon, the capital of Sihon, was about 25 kilometers northeast of the northern end of the Dead Sea. The southern limit of Sihon’s kingdom was Aroer (that is, the Arnon Valley); the northern limit was the Jabbok River, which flows into the Jordan. The river formed the boundary with Ammon, which lay to the east (a look at a map in k The New Oxford Annotated Bible,k* Revised Standard Version, will show how the river runs north and then turns west to the Jordan). Sihon’s kingdom occupied (the southern) half of Gilead.

Good News Translation and from the city in the middle of that valley attempts to make sense of the Hebrew, which has “from Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon Valley, and the middle of the valley and half of Gilead and to the Jabbok River, the border of the Ammonites.” Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, New American Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, in different ways, translate “and the valley (or, riverbed) itself”; Revised Standard Version “from the middle of the valley” involves a slight alteration of the Masoretic text. Good News Translation has taken its clue from 13.9, 16, “the city that is in the middle of the valley” (see also Deut 2.36), on the assumption that the city in has dropped out from the text here.

In verse 3, Revised Standard Version “the Arabah” and “the Sea of Chinneroth” are the Jordan Valley and Lake Galilee. Beth Jeshimoth lies slightly northeast of the Dead Sea, about 20 kilometers west of Heshbon, the capital of Sihon’s kingdom. Mount Pisgah is between Heshbon and Beth Jeshimoth. Revised Standard Version translates the Hebrew “the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea,” which is a way of speaking of the Dead Sea.The Hebrew miteman in verse 3 is translated by most “from the south” or “southward”; New English Bible, however, takes it to be a place name, “from Teman,” a city in Edom, about halfway between the Gulf of Aqaba and the Dead Sea.

A clear and simple presentation of the geographical data contained in this and the following verse will be extremely difficult. At the least it will require constant reference to a map and careful consideration of the most natural order in which to present the material in the receptor language. Following the interpretation of Good News Translation, one method of presentation would be:

• 2 King Sihon ruled the southern half of the land of Gilead, which was the territory between the Jabbok River valley in the north and the Arnon River valley in the south. His kingdom extended southeast as far as the city of Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley. In the southwest it extended as far as the town in the Arnon Valley halfway between Aroer and the Dead Sea. 3 The western boundary of his kingdom was the Jordan River valley from Lake Galilee in the north to the Dead Sea in the south. Included in his territory was the area east of the Dead Sea as far as the town of Beth Jeshimoth and Mount Pisgah.

Since Mount Pisgah is less well known than Mount Nebo, the neighboring mountain, it would also be proper to use the better known term for the geographical description.

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 .

Translation commentary on Joshua 11:8

In order to show the immediate causal relations between verses 7 and 8, it may be advisable to make the first clause of verse 8 a continuation of the last sentence in verse 7: “at Merom Brook, 8 and the LORD … over them.”

Gave the Israelites victory over them may need to be less abstract: “caused the Israelite army to defeat their enemies” (see comment at 10.8).

The remainder of this verse may be restructured as two sentences: “Part of the Israelite army attacked and pursued the enemy as far north as the cities of Misrephoth Maim and Sidon. The rest of the Israelite army pursued the enemy as far east as the valley of Mizpah.”

Misrephoth Maim is near the Mediterranean coast, and Sidon (in Hebrew “Great Sidon”) is the important Phoenician city much farther north, on the Mediterranean Sea. To the east the Israelites chase the fleeing enemy as far as the valley of Mizpah (see verse 3); Revised Standard Version follows the spelling “Mizpeh,” which represents the Masoretic text.

The fight continued … left alive may be translated in the active: “Joshua’s men fought the enemy until they had killed them all” or “… until they had killed everyone of them.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Joshua 11:9

Joshua obeyed the Lord’s command: he crippled their horses and burned their chariots.

Some languages may require that a portion of this verse be given in direct discourse: “ ‘After you defeat your enemies, cripple their horses and burn their war chariots.’ So Joshua did as the LORD had commanded.” It may be preferable to describe Joshua’s actions in the same terms as the command: “… so Joshua did as the LORD had commanded. He crippled their horses and burned their chariots.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Joshua 11:10

After routing and killing the enemy forces, Joshua turned back to Hazor, captured the city, and killed its king. The note that follows about Hazor’s importance is written from the point of view of the writer’s time: At that time refers to the time of Joshua; it does not mean, as Revised Standard Version might be understood, that before Joshua’s time Hazor had been (but no longer was) the most powerful of all those kingdoms.

The translation of this verse presents several difficulties. First, the verb turned back may suggest that Joshua had previously been to the city of Hazor. Second, the presence of the parenthetical statement makes the comprehension difficult. Third, in verse 10 it is Joshua who turns back, captures Hazor, and kills its king. In verse 11 the subject shifts to They, for which the only immediate antecedent is Joshua of this verse. These difficulties may be overcome by translating as follows:

• At that time the city of Hazor and its king ruled over all other kingdoms in the territory. So after the battle, Joshua and his men went and attacked the city of Hazor. They captured the city, killed its king, and 11 put everyone there to death …

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 .