6:5a
And: The word And introduces the next command that Yahweh gave to Joshua. Many English versions use a temporal connector such as “then.”
Here is another way to translate this word:
Then, when they make a long blast
Use a connecting word that is natural in your language.
when there is a long blast: On the seventh day, they are to walk around the town seven times, with the priests blowing their trumpets. After the seventh time around, they are to blow a long loud sound on their trumpets.
of the ram’s horn: The term ram’s horn refers to the trumpets that the priests blew. It may be more natural in some languages to leave this reference to the ram’s horn implicit, as in Good News Translation:
Then they are to sound one long note. (Good News Translation)
6:5b
and you hear: The pronoun you refers to Joshua and the soldiers in the Israelite army.
its sound: The phrase its sound refers to the long sound that the priests are to blow with horns after they walk around the town the seventh time.
6:5c
have all the people: The phrase all the people refers to the soldiers.
give a mighty shout: The clause give a mighty shout is a command. This is a Hebrew idiom that means that the soldiers must shout loudly.
6:5d
Then: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Then expresses the result of their action. The wall of the town will fall when the soldiers shout. Use a word in your language that expresses result.
the wall of the city: Jericho had a wall made of stone and brick built around it. It may be necessary to make this clear by adding the implicit information:
the wall ⌊around⌋ the town
will collapse: The phrase will collapse means that the stones and bricks in the wall will fall apart and collapse onto the ground.
6:5e
and all your people: The term all your people refers to the Israelite soldiers.
will charge: The phrase will charge is a command. It indicates that the soldiers must climb over the rubble of the wall and enter the town.
straight into the city: The phrase straight into the city means that every soldier must run straight over the collapsed wall and into the town, starting from where he is standing when the walls collapse.
General Comment on 6:3–5
In verses 3–5 Yahweh gave commands to Joshua about what he and the Israelite army must do. In verses 6–20 the story is told of how the Israelites carried out Yahweh’s command.
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