Joshua first attacks Makkedah, a city in the lowlands, about 25 kilometers southwest of Gibeon. In place of Makkedah one may want to translate “the Amorite city of Makkedah.” The adverbial modifier that day may be more satisfactory if placed in a different position in some languages: “That same day Joshua also attacked and captured the Amorite city of Makkedah and its king.”

Put … to death (Revised Standard Version “utterly destroyed”) translates the Hebrew verb discussed at 2.10. The text is very emphatic: “killed … utterly destroyed … left no survivor”—indicating the complete slaughter of all the inhabitants. This is a holy war. Notice that the phrase “(struck it) with the edge of the sword” (see Revised Standard Version; verses 28, 30, 32, 35, 37, 39) is a way of saying “killed in battle” or “executed.”

Joshua of course did not attack, capture, and kill all these inhabitants by himself. In most languages it will be necessary to say “Joshua and his men…,” or it may even be necessary to state explicitly that Joshua gave certain commands before the battle began.

Although repetition is forceful in Hebrew, it may lessen the impact in other languages. One may reduce the length the last half of this verse as follows:
• He told his men to put to death everyone in the city. Then he killed the king of Makkedah, just as he had killed the king of Jericho.

Or, somewhat longer:
• Before they attacked the city, Joshua told his men, “Put to death everyone in the city.” So Joshua’s men killed all the people of the city. Then after the city was completely destroyed, Joshua killed the king of Makkedah, just as he had killed the king of Jericho.

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 .