The order to destroy everything and everyone in the city is reinforced with the warning that unless the Israelites do so the Israelite camp itself will have to be destroyed.The Masoretic text of verse 18 has the verb charam “to dedicate to destruction” (Revised Standard Version “lest when you have devoted them”); Septuagint translates the Hebrew verb chamad “to desire, covet,” which is preferred by Bright and Gray and is followed by An American Translation New English Bible New American Bible Jerusalem Bible, and also by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project on the basis of what it calls Factor 12, “other scribal errors.” This is certainly an easier text; but as Soggin says, “the correction is useful but not essential.” Revised Standard Version Good News Translation Traduction œcuménique de la Bible translate the Masoretic text. But you translates a strongly emphatic form in Hebrew.

That is to be destroyed may be translated “that I have told you to destroy.” This dreadful warning of destruction is followed in Hebrew by another verbal phrase which Revised Standard Version translates “and bring trouble upon it.” This seems rather anticlimactic; the Jerusalem Bible rendering is more effective, “bring disaster on it.” For the sake of making the passage more climactic, Good News Translation inverts the order of the Hebrew nouns “trouble” and “destruction.” It is possible to take the noun phrase trouble and destruction as meaning “great trouble” or “terrible destruction.” With this in mind, and representing the two nouns as verbs, one may translate “If you do take anything that belongs to the LORD, he will totally destroy everyone in our camp. And it will be your own fault.” It should be observed that in this restructuring the Israelite camp of Good News Translation is rendered “our camp,” since Joshua himself is included in the group. This is also in keeping with the use of our spies of verse 17. The Hebrew verb translated bring trouble … on is used also in 7.25, in connection with Achan’s disregard of this very order requiring the destruction of all the enemy loot.

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 .