This portion included may be translated “The land that Joshua divided among them included….”

For the Good News Translation language of verse 8a see verses 10.40 and 11.16. One word occurs here which is not used in the two other passages: the eastern slopes (Revised Standard Version “the wilderness”); as Bright says, this is “the desert to the south and east, not sharply distinguishable from the Arabah and the Negeb.”

For the list of peoples mentioned in this verse, see 3.10.

This land had been the home of may be rendered “Before Joshua and the people of Israel took this land, the Hittites … and the Jebusites had lived there.”

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 .