17:15a
Joshua answered them: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
Then Joshua said to them
-or-
Joshua answered
17:15b
If you have so many people that the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go to the forest: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
If you (plur.) have so many people, go up into the forest
-or-
You have many people, so go up into the wooded country
that the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
because ⌊you think that⌋ the hill country of Ephraim is not wide enough for you
-or-
because the mountain country of Ephraim is too small for all of you to live in
17:15c
and clear for yourself an area in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim: The Hebrew that the Berean Standard Bible translates as clear refers specifically to the act of cutting down trees and removing shrubs in a forest to create a place to live.
the Perizzites: The term Perizzites refers to the Periz people. The Periz people had lived in the land of Canaan for a long time. The Perizzites were mentioned in Joshua 3:10 and 12:8. It is recommended that you translate the name of these people in the same way here.
the Rephaim: The term Rephaim refers to the Repha people. The Repha people had lived in the land of Canaan for a long time. The Rephaim were mentioned in Joshua 12:4 and 13:12. It is recommended that you translate the name of these people in the same way here.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
and clear land for yourselves there, in the country of the Periz people and the Repha people
-or-
Cut down the trees to make room for yourselves where the Periz people and the Repha people live
General Comment on verse 17:15
In some languages it may be more natural to reorder the parts of this verse. For example:
15a Joshua answered them, 15b-c “Go up to the forests, take the land that belongs to the Periz people and the Repha people, and make a place to live there 15b if you have so many people that the mountain country of Ephraim is not wide enough for you.
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