SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 10:14

10:14a

There has been no day like it before or since: The clause There has been no day like it before or since indicates that the day when the Israelites fought the Amorites was an extraordinary day. In the history of the world, there was never a day when God answered such a bold request from a human being.

10:14b

when the LORD listened to the voice of a man: There are two ways to interpret the clause when the LORD listened to the voice of a man.

(1) It means that Yahweh listened to Joshua and granted his request. For example:

there has never been a day like this one before or since, when the Lord answered such a prayer (New Living Translation (2004))

(Berean Standard Bible, New Living Translation (2004), New International Version, Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, New Century Version, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, Revised English Bible, Contemporary English Version, King James Version)

(2) It means that Yahweh obeyed Joshua. For example:

never before, and never since, has there been a day like it, when the Lord obeyed a human being (Good News Translation)

(Good News Translation, God’s Word, New American Bible, NET Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition)

It is recommended that you follow option (1). This is followed by a majority of English versions. Sometimes the Hebrew word “to listen” can be translated as “obey.” But it is only used for humans or angels obeying God, not the other way around. A suggestion that God obeyed a human being seems unlikely.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

there has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a man (New International Version)
-or-
never before and never since has the Lord done anything like that for someone who prayed (Contemporary English Version)

10:14c

because: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as because can also mean “surely” or “certainly.” It is used to emphasize a statement. Some examples of its use in English translations are:

surely the Lord was fighting for Israel! (New International Version)
-or-
the Lord really was fighting for Israel (Contemporary English Version)

the LORD fought for Israel: The clause the LORD fought for Israel indicates that the Israelites were able to win the battle because of the miracles that Yahweh did for them.

© 2001, 2011, 2020, 2022, 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

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