On hearing the news, the western tribes assembled at Shiloh (compare 18.1) and prepared to go to war against the eastern tribes. In some languages it may be unnecessary to repeat When the people of Israel heard this. Also, the whole community would in fact be limited to the fighting men of the western tribes. One may then translate “So all the men of the western tribes came together at Shiloh to go to war against the eastern tribes.”

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 .