This is the first mention of Joshua of Beth-shemesh. Beth-Shemesh (verse 9) was the place where he lived. The fact that the animals stopped beside a large rock was understood as meaning that this is where God intended for a sacrifice to be made.

The Hebrew text provides no antecedent for the pronoun they, but the most likely referent is “[some of] the people who lived in Beth Shemesh.”

Though the Hebrew states that the people split up the wood of the cart, it leaves implicit the fact that this wood was the material used to build the fire. If it is necessary to make this information explicit, translators may say something like “chopped up the wooden cart to make a fire for the offering.”

Unlike other kinds of offerings, in a burnt offering the entire animal was burned on the altar. See Lev 1.1-17. This does not mean that the animal was burned without being cut up into smaller pieces. Rather, after being cut up, the entire animal was burned. Compare 7.9.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .