The next morning, after the two spies return to camp, the Israelites leave the camp at Acacia (see 2.1).

In Hebrew the verb “got up” is singular, with Joshua as the subject, while the other verbs (left … went … camped) are plural, including all the people of Israel. However, the use of a singular verb, later followed by a larger group of subjects, is a typical Hebraism and is not to be imitated in translation. For example, in the New Testament one frequently encounters a structure such as “Jesus left, and his disciples,” the meaning of which is “Jesus and his disciples left” or “Jesus left with his disciples.” It is obvious that all the Israelites did get up (unless everyone else except Joshua had stayed up all night!), and in many languages this information must be included.

The verb rendered left the camp technically means “broke camp,” and the clause may then be rendered “moved their camp from Acacia.” Translators should be careful not to imply that the people of Israel were merely going outside their camp. This information does, of course, become clear later in the verse, but the possibility of any misunderstanding should be avoided.

While waiting to cross it translates the Hebrew “before they crossed over.” It is also possible to leave this information implicit and render the last clause of this verse as a separate sentence: “There they set up camp.” The entire verse may easily be broken into several units. For example, “The next day Joshua and all the people of Israel got up early. They left the camp at Acacia and traveled west to the Jordan River. There they set up camp and waited until it was time to cross the river.”

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 .