In verses 33-35 of this section the people are evidently assembled in Shechem Valley, between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. They are all there, including the resident aliens (Good News Translation the foreigners among them; Revised Standard Version “sojourner”).
Three groups of leaders are specifically named (Revised Standard Version): “the elders” (see verses 7.6 and 8.10); “the officers” (see verse 1.10 and 3.2); and “the judges.” It is difficult to distinguish precisely among them. The officers probably had military responsibilities (see 1.10), and the judges were responsible for judicial matters; but the precise role of the leaders (Revised Standard Version “the elders”) is not clear.
The people stand in two groups, facing each other, with the Covenant Box and the priests in between. The priests stand at either end of the LORD’s Covenant Box, which was carried by means of poles which went through the rings on the sides of the Box (see Exo 37.3-5). In Good News Translation the geographical relationship between the people and the levitical priests is less than clear, if facing is understood to mean that the people and the priests faced each other. How can the people stand on two sides of the Covenant Box and at the same time face the levitical priests who carried it? A few minor adjustments in the order of presentation results in a somewhat more simplified arrangement:
• The Israelites stood in two groups and faced the Covenant Box, which was placed between them. Their leaders, officers, judges, and the foreigners who lived among them stood in these two groups with them. One group of Israelites stood with their backs to Mount Gerizim, while the other group stood with their backs to Mount Ebal. The levitical priests who carried the Covenant Box took their places on each side of it.
The levitical priests is a rather unusual phrase, since it seems to imply that there were also nonlevitical priests. As a matter of fact all priests were Levites (that is, of the tribe of Levi), but not all Levites were priests (see comments on 3.3). The ritual proceeds according to the instructions recorded in Deuteronomy 27.11-13.
At the end of this verse the Hebrew text has “at the first”; it is not clear what this modifies. Good News Translation takes it to modify the time when Moses issued the command: Moses had commanded; similarly Revised Standard Version “as Moses … had commanded at the first” (so Jerusalem Bible); following the cue of Revised Standard Version, it may be translated “according to the instructions which Moses had given.” Bright takes it to go with the action of blessing: “that they should bless the people of Israel first of all,” that is, before the reading of the blessings and curses (verse 34). New English Bible is similar, translating “that the blessing should be pronounced first” (also Bible de Jérusalem, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible); New American Bible “for the blessing of the people of Israel on this first occasion.” Everything considered, it would seem that the interpretation of New English Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible is to be preferred; the opening words of verse 34 “And afterward” (Revised Standard Version) seem to support this interpretation.
In verse 31 Moses was referred to as the Lord’s Servant; therefore it may not be necessary so soon to refer to him again as the LORD’s servant Moses. The verse is otherwise complicated, and some of the difficulties may be lessened if he is referred to merely as “Moses.” If the exegesis of Good News Translation is followed concerning the phrase “at the first,” one may then translate “Moses had told them to stand this way so that the priests could pronounce God’s blessing on the people.” Or, if the interpretation of New English Bible is pursued, “Moses had told them to stand this way, and have the priests pronounce God’s blessings upon them before Joshua read the Law of Moses to them.”
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 .