SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 10:26

10:26a

After this: The phrase After this indicates that the next event took place after the officers put their feet on the necks of the kings.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

After the officers had done this

Joshua struck down and killed the kings: The two clauses struck down and killed the kings are parallel and have the same meaning. They indicate that Joshua killed the five kings. In some languages it may be more natural to use one verb rather than two to indicate this. For example:

Then Joshua killed each of the five kings (New Living Translation (2004))

10:26b

and he hung their bodies on five trees: The clause he hung their bodies on five trees indicates that after Joshua killed the five kings, he hung them each on a tree as a public sign that God had cursed them. This was the same as Joshua did to the king of Ai in 8:29, and you should translate it in a similar way. See also Deuteronomy 21:22–23 where Moses gave rules for how such executions should be done.

10:26c

and left them there until evening: The clause and left them there until evening indicates that Joshua left the five kings on the trees all day. In the evening, when the sun was setting, he took them down. This was commanded by Moses in Deuteronomy 21:23.

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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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