Verses 6-7 give the reason for setting up these twelve stones at Israel’s lodging place that first night in Canaan. They will serve (verse 6) as “a sign” (Revised Standard Version), “a memorial” (New English Bible); they will remind (Good News Translation). The noun “memorial” in verse 7 (Revised Standard Version) defines the precise nature of “the sign” in verse 6; for all time to come the people of Israel will be reminded of what happened at the Jordan River.
By placing together verses 6 and 7 it is possible to avoid the repetition contained in the first part of verse 6 (These stones will remind the people of what the LORD has done) and in the last part of verse 7 (These stones will always remind the people of Israel of what happened here). If this adjustment is made to the text, then the first sentence of verse 6 may be combined with the last sentence of verse 7 and placed as Joshua’s concluding statement: “These stones will always remind the people of Israel of what the LORD did here.”
Whereas the repetition found in the Hebrew text may cause one kind of problem, a much more severe problem may possibly result from the failure to mark explicitly certain events. For example, a potentially comical situation could result from the information in verses 5 and 6: Each one of you take a stone on your shoulder…. In the future, when your children ask what these stones mean to you…. The reader may well be left with the impression that the children of these Israelite men will in the future ask them why they are carrying these stones about on their shoulders. Therefore it may be necessary to make explicit in verse 5 some of the information found in verse 8. For example, “Each one of you twelve men take a stone on your shoulder, one for each of the tribes of Israel. Then carry these stones to the camping place, and put them down there.” The repetition of this information toward the end of verse 8 (especially if done in a slightly different manner) will certainly not stand out as awkward to the reader.
When the LORD’s Covenant Box crossed the river may need to be stated somewhat differently, since the Lord’s Covenant Box is not an animate being which may move on its own (see also go … ahead of the Covenant Box of verse 5). One may translate “when the priests carried the LORD’s Covenant Box across (or, into) 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 .