2:7a
So: The Hebrew conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So is used to emphasize that the focus is on the soldiers and what they did. It can also be translated “as for the men.” Some English versions leave this conjunction untranslated, for example:
The king’s men pursued them (God’s Word)
Choose a connection that is natural in your language.
the king’s men set out in pursuit of the spies: The Hebrew sentence that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the king’s men set out in pursuit of the spies does not follow the normal Hebrew word order. In Hebrew the verb usually comes first. In this sentence the subject comes first. This emphasizes the change of subject, from Rahab to the king’s soldiers.
the king’s men: The phrase the king’s men refers to the same men who came to Rahab’s house. These men were first mentioned in verse 2:3a. How you translate the phrase the king’s men will depend on the implied information that you supplied in that verse.
set out in pursuit of the spies: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as set out in pursuit can also be translated as “chased” or “looked for.”
the spies: The phrase the spies refers to the two Israelite men. The king’s men believed Rahab’s report that the Israelite men had already left Jericho.
along the road to the fords of the Jordan: The phrase along the road to the fords of the Jordan indicates the road that led to the Jordan River.
the fords of the Jordan: The fords are a place in a river where the water is shallow and people can walk across.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
crossing-place
-or-
the place where people can cross the river
It may be helpful to add the implicit information “but they did not find them.”
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
As for the king’s men, they chased after the Israelites until they reached the fords of the Jordan River
-or-
The soldiers ran after the two Israelite men as far as the place where they could cross the Jordan River ⌊but they did not find them⌋
2:7b
and as soon as: The Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as soon as is more literally “after when.” Verse 5a said that the men left just at the time when the gate was closed at dusk. The two actions happened quickly one after the other.
they had gone out: The pronoun they refers to the king’s men who chased the Israelites. The phrase had gone out indicates that these soldiers left Jericho.
the gate was shut: See the note on 2:5a.
General Comment on 2:7
The events in this verse are not told in order. In some languages it may be more natural to reorder this verse. For example:
7b
⌊The soldiers⌋ went out ⌊of Jericho⌋ , and immediately people closed the town gate. 7a The soldiers pursued ⌊the two Israelites⌋ along the road as far as the fords over the Jordan River.
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