SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 6:20

6:20a

So: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So indicates that the action in this verse is done in response to Joshua’s instructions in 6:16–19.

when the ram’s horn sounded, the people shouted: These two actions happened at the same time.

the rams’ horns sounded: Here is another way to translate this phrase:

the priests blew the trumpets

6:20b

When they heard the blast of the horn, the people gave a great shout: These two actions happened at the same time. The words to describe them here and in 6:20a are in a different order.

General Comment on 6:20a-b

Although the Berean Standard Bible and the Hebrew text of 6:20a-b make it appear that the people shouted twice, this is unlikely. It is recommended that you reorder this verse in a way that makes clear that the people only shouted once. The trumpet blast and the shout happened together.

Here are some other ways to translate this verse:

When the people heard the sound of the rams’ horns, they shouted as loud as they could. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
So the troops shouted very loudly when they heard the blast of the rams’ horns, (God’s Word)

6:20c

and the wall collapsed: The clause the wall collapsed indicates that the wall collapsed and fell down to the ground.

6:20d

Then: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Then indicates that the Israelite soldiers could enter the town as a result of the wall falling down. Use a connecting word that is natural in your language.

Here is another way to translate this Hebrew word:

so that (Revised Standard Version)

all the people charged straight into the city: The clause the people charged straight into the city indicates that the soldiers entered the town to conquer it.

straight into the city: Jericho was built at the top of a hill or a mound. The soldiers went straight into the city.

6:20e

and captured it: The clause and captured it indicates that the Israelite soldiers defeated the soldiers of Jericho and captured the town.

General Comment on 6:16–20

In 6:16b-c, Joshua gave the command to shout, and in 6:20 the army shouted. In 6:17–19 Joshua gives instructions about the capture of Jericho. But 6:17–19 seems unusual and may be a parenthesis between 6:16 and 6:20. It may be that these instructions had already been given to the army, but the author repeats them in summary form here. This was the time for the army to carry out these commands.

© 2001, 2011, 2020, 2022, 2023 by SIL International®
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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