Their wives, children, and livestock will remain on the east side, while the men themselves, armed for battle, will take the lead in crossing over to the west side ahead of their fellow Israelites.

Soldiers translates a phrase “men of valor among you” (Revised Standard Version), “all the warriors among you” (New English Bible, New American Bible), “all of you who are fighting men” (Jerusalem Bible). They were not permanent military men, as the modern term means, but men of twenty years of age or older who were fit for battle, equivalent to a modern militia. They were “citizen soldiers,” not professional warriors. Since the Hebrew word “soldiers” does not refer specifically to military men, one might render “able-bodied men” or “men fit for battle.” The clause may then be translated, “But all of your men who are fit for battle must take their weapons and cross over….”

Armed for battle translates the participle of a verb related to the word “five,” and may designate a battle formation of five groups; one in the lead, one in the rear, one in the middle, and one on each side. Since these men would not have their families and animals with them, they would go first. Although armed for battle does originally come from the word “five,” it is not necessary (and is probably impossible) to reproduce this root meaning in translation. In fact, it is quite likely that even for the author of the book the term no longer held this specific meaning. Soldiers, armed for battle may be rendered “battle-ready men” or “able-bodied men.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .