All of the people are to be brought forward (Revised Standard Version “brought near”); here and throughout these two verses this probably means to be brought near the Covenant Box, which represented the throne of the Lord. He himself will make the decision—that I pick out; this would probably be done by the casting (or drawing) of lots to indicate which one of the units (tribe, clan, family, man) was indicated. See 1 Samuel 14.41-43 for a more detailed description of this method of learning to know God’s will.

A tribe is made up of several clans which trace their origins back to a common ancestor, and which have in common a language, culture, and name. A clan consists of a number of families which have a common ancestor and other close ties. Thus the Lord is narrowing the choice down from the larger units of tribe and clan to the smaller unit of family, and finally to the individual man.

The third personal pronouns them and they represent second personal pronouns (“you”) of the Hebrew text. So tell … that is merely a stylistic device of Good News Translation to make possible the shift from the second personal pronouns of the previous verse to the third personal pronouns of the present verse. It will probably simplify translation of this verse if the second person is maintained: “So in the morning you will come and stand before me, one tribe at a time….”

In order to indicate the manner in which the Lord makes his choice, The tribe that I pick out may be translated, “The tribe that I cause the lot to fall upon.” This same form may then be maintained throughout the verse, or after its first usage a shift may be made back to the form of Good News Translation.

Come forward continues the scene indicated by “be brought forward” in the first part of the verse. All the tribes are now standing and facing the Lord’s Covenant Box, waiting for him to point out the guilty person. The way that the Lord will do this is to have the guilty tribe to step out in front of all the other tribes. Then the guilty clan will be told to step out in front of the tribe. After that the guilty person’s family will be told to step out in front of the clan, and finally the guilty person himself will be commanded to step out in front of his family. In this way the guilty person will be left standing alone in front of all the people. He will also be standing closest to the Covenant Box, which symbolizes the Lord’s presence.

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 .