7:17a
He had the clans of Judah come forward: The clause He had the clans of Judah come forward indicates that Joshua made each family stand in front of the Tent of Meeting one by one.
clans of Judah: Each “clan” in the tribe of Judah traced their ancestry back to one of the sons of Judah.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
Then Joshua brought the clans of Judah to the Lord (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
He then had the clans of Judah come forward (Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures)
7:17b
and the clan of the Zerahites was selected: Zerah was one of the sons of Judah. The clan of Zerah included all the descendants of Zerah.
Zerahites: In Numbers 26:20 the man Zerah is shown as the head of one of the clans of the tribe of Judah.
Here are some other ways to translate Zerahites :
the Zerah clan (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
the descendants of Zerah
-or-
the Zerah branch of the Judah tribe
was selected: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as was selected indicates that Yahweh chose the clan of Zerah. In some languages it may be necessary to translate this with an active verb. For example:
Yahweh chose the clan of Zerah
7:17c
(New International Version) he had the clan of the Zerahites come forward by families: The pronoun he refers to Joshua.
(New International Version) had the clan of the Zerahites come forward: Joshua made the households in the clan of Zerah come and stand in front of the Tent of Meeting.
(New International Version) by families: There is a textual issue in this verse that the Berean Standard Bible leaves untranslated.
(1) Some Hebrew manuscripts, and the Syriac translation and Latin Vulgate translation say family by family. For example:
And he had the clan of the Zerahites come forward by families (New International Version)
(New International Version, New Revised Standard Version, New Century Version, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, New Living Translation (2004), New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible, Good News Translation)
(2) The Hebrew Masoretic text says man by man. For example:
And he brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man (English Standard Version)
(English Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, God’s Word, New American Standard Bible, King James Version)
It is recommended that you follow option (1). “Family by family” fits the context better because it agrees with verse 7:14c.
7:17d
and the family of Zabdi: Zabdi was the grandfather of Achan. He was mentioned in 7:1. Achan was a part of Zabdi’s family.
was selected: Yahweh chose Zabdi. This showed that someone in Zabdi’s family was guilty. The verb was selected is passive. It may be necessary in some languages to use an active verb. For example:
the Lord showed that Zabdi’s family was guilty (Contemporary English Version)
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