4:13a

About 40,000 troops armed for battle: There is an interpretation issue here. There are two ways to understand the number 40,000.

(1) There were a total of 40,000 Israelite soldiers who crossed the Jordan River. This was the total number of soldiers for all twelve tribes combined. For example:

About forty thousand battle-ready troops (NET Bible)

(Berean Standard Bible, NET Bible, Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, New International Version, New American Bible, Revised Edition, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, Good News Translation, King James Version)

(2) There were 40,000 soldiers from the two and one half eastern tribes. This number does not include the soldiers from the western tribes. For example:

Forty thousand soldiers from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh (Contemporary English Version)

(Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation (2004))

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). A total of 40,000 Israelite soldiers corresponds with the numbers of soldiers referred to in Joshua chapters 7–8 and the two battles at Ai. See especially 8:3–12. This is the interpretation followed by many English versions, and by several commentaries.

armed: The word armed means that they carried their weapons with them.

for battle: The phrase for battle means that they were ready to fight in a war.

Here is another way to translate this part of the verse:

There were about forty thousand soldiers who carried their weapons and were ready to fight

4:13b

crossed over before the LORD: The phrase crossed over means that the forty thousand soldiers crossed over the Jordan River.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

crossed the Jordan River in the presence of Yahweh

4:13c

into the plains of Jericho: The plains of Jericho refers to the plain between the Jordan River and the town of Jericho. This indicates that the forty thousand soldiers marched into this plain.

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