SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 2:3

2:3a

So: The Hebrew conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So introduces the next event in the story line. Use a connection that is natural in your language.

the king of Jericho: In some languages it is not natural to repeat the phrase the king of Jericho as it has just been used in 2:2a. If this is true in your language, you could say “the king” or “he.”

sent to Rahab: In some languages it is clearer to make it explicit that the king sent some of his people. These are the same people who later searched for the spies along the road to the Jordan river. See 2:7a.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

So the king of Jericho sent soldiers/messengers to Rahab.
-or-
Then the king sent some people to Rahab

and said: The words and said introduce the direct quotation that follows.

2:3b

Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house: The clause Bring out the men who came to you indicates that Rahab must make the men come out of her house.

Here are some other ways to translate this direct quotation:

Bring out the men who have come to you and gone into your house.
-or-
Make the men who went into your house come out.

In some languages it may be more natural to use an indirect quotation.

They told her to bring out the men who had entered her house.

2:3c

for: The Hebrew conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as for introduces the reason why Rahab should bring out the two men. She should hand them over because they had come to spy out the country.

they have come to spy out the whole land: The Hebrew verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as spy out was also used in 2:2b. You should translate it in the same way in both places.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

because they have come to spy on our land
-or-
because they have come to find out things about the land

General Comment on verse 3b-c

In some languages it may be more natural to reorder parts 3b and 3c so that the reason for the command comes before the command itself. For example:

The men in your house have come to spy out the whole country! Bring them out!” (Good News Translation)

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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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