Finally the body of Joseph (Hebrew “bones of Joseph”) is given permanent burial (see Gen 50.25-26; Exo 13.19). For the purchase of the field of Jacob, see Genesis 33.18-20. The sons of Hamor should probably be “the descendant of Hamor,” as in Genesis 33.19. It is not known exactly how much the hundred pieces of silver would be worth in modern currency.

Which the people of Israel had brought from Egypt is chronologically prior to The body of Joseph … was buried at Shechem. Moreover, the piece of land that Jacob had bought comes first in the historical sequence of events. It is possible (1) to translate so that all three events fall in chronological sequence or (2) to place only the first two in chronological sequence with the mention of the purchase of the field as a flashback, as Good News Translation has done. If all three events are placed in chronological sequence, the following will serve as a pattern:

• Many years ago the Israelites’ ancestor Jacob had bought a piece of land from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. He had paid them a hundred pieces of silver for this land. When the people of Israel left Egypt, they brought the body of their ancestor Joseph with them. They had carried it with them all this while, and now they buried it in that piece of land that Jacob had bought at Shechem.

The last part of the verse in the Masoretic text is “they were (or, became) for the sons (or, descendants) of Joseph an inheritance.” Most translations (An American Translation, Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Jerusalem Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, New American Bible) understand that the piece of land is being referred to; but New English Bible, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project take the plural to refer to “the bones of Joseph” (New English Bible “and they passed into the patrimony of the house of Joseph”). This seems strange but appears to be what the Masoretic text says. The singular “it was (or, became)” should be considered a textual change, based on the Syriac andVulgate texts.

If the exegesis of Good News Translation is maintained, This land was inherited by Joseph’s descendants may be translated, “Joseph’s descendants received this land as their own.” If the alternative interpretation is accepted, “Joseph’s descendants received these bones as their possession.”

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 .