The soldiers with him includes all the men mentioned in the previous verse. The reading of Good News Translation is ambiguous; it suggests that there was another group or other groups led by someone else. In order to avoid this ambiguity, at least two solutions are possible: (1) The last part of the previous verse may be connected with the first part of this verse: “Then he and the leaders of Israel led the fighting men 11 up toward the main entrance to the city of Ai.” (2) The other solution would be to begin verse 11 with the pronoun “They,” referring back to Joshua, the leaders of Israel, and the fighting men: “They went up toward the main entrance to the city….”

The main body took up its position north of the city, where it would be in plain sight of the enemy (verse 11); between the Israelite army and the city was a valley. The explanation with a valley between themselves and Ai may fare better as a separate statement: “Only a valley separated them from the city of Ai” or “There was a valley between their camp and the city of Ai.”

In translating verses 11-13 one should not attempt either to “sew up the seams” or to remove what seem to be contradictions between verses 10-12 and verses 3-9. Jerusalem Bible places verses 11-13 together in such a manner as to make them agree with the earlier account, while Living Bible even adds a footnote with an explanation which assumes that one person must have written the narrative in a singular and consistent manner. This is dishonest; the translator’s first duty is to be honest with the text.

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 .