And I put darkness between them and the Egyptians may need to be rendered as a separate statement. Moreover, some languages will experience difficulty with the abstract noun darkness. The clause may be restructured to say “so I put a dark cloud between them and the Egyptians.”

I made the sea come rolling over the Egyptians and drown them leaves implicit an event which is not mentioned in the text. That is, according to the Exodus account the Lord first caused the sea to open up so that the Israelites could cross over on dry land. It was only when the Egyptians attempted to do the same thing that the sea came rolling over them. For readers not familiar with this event, a footnote referring to the exodus account may be useful. However, it may even be better to resolve this difficulty in the text: “I opened up the sea so that your ancestors could pass through safely. But when the Egyptians attempted to follow them, I caused the sea to roll over them and drown them.” This will remove the impression that the sea overflowed its banks and engulfed the Egyptians.

You know what I did to Egypt is literally “And your eyes saw what I did to Egypt” (Revised Standard Version). In the biblical account, however, Joshua and Caleb were the only adults who had left Egypt and had lived to enter the Promised Land; all the other adults had perished during the forty years in the wilderness. So Good News Translation has You know, which seems more suitable.

In verses 7b-10 Joshua recounts the events on the east side of the Jordan. A long time is literally “many days” and may also be rendered “many years.”

The Amorites is a general term for all the peoples of the region, and not simply for one tribe; so the comma indicating a nonrestrictive relative clause after Amorites in Good News Translation is wrong.

As you advanced is literally “from your faces” (Revised Standard Version “before you”). The meaning may well be “for you” or “so that you could (take their land).” You took their land, and I destroyed them as you advanced may then be translated, “I fought for you and destroyed them, so that you could take their land for yourselves.”

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 .