And the spies saw a man coming out of the city: The descendants of Joseph evidently got as far as the town, where they waited outside the wall. And translates the Hebrew waw conjunction, which should be rendered in a natural way, for example, “Then,” or possibly omitted. Some languages may need a transition phrase to begin this verse, for example, “When the spies got to the city” or “Outside the city walls.”

Here the spies renders a participle of a different Hebrew verb (shamar), which is literally “those watching/keeping guard.” Having arrived outside the city, the Israelites were looking for ways to get into the town without being noticed. They had only simple weapons, so they had to find a way into the well-defended town. It would have been obvious to the local Canaanites that these people waiting outside were strangers, so these spies had to figure out a way in. An illustration of a walled city would help the reader imagine the situation, especially if the target audience does not live in cities surrounded by walls.

Saw renders a Hebrew verb root that occurs twice in this verse (translated show the second time). The spies see a man coming out of Bethel. This is the first occurrence of the Hebrew verb meaning “come out” (yatsaʾ), which plays a very important role throughout this book, but especially in the appendices (verse 20.1, 21; verse 21.24).

And they said to him, “Pray, show us the way into the city”: The Israelite spies stop a local resident and ask him to tell them how to enter the town. This request from the spies sounds almost too polite for the circumstances. Pray renders the Hebrew particle naʾ, which may also be translated “Please.” The Hebrew verb rendered show is a causative form of the verb for “see,” literally “make us see.” The Hebrew word for way is related to the verb for “come” or “enter” and thus refers to the entrance to the city. However, obviously the Israelites are not referring to the main gate but to a secret passageway. Oftentimes, in ancient cities there was a tunnel dug from inside to bring water into the city from a well or spring outside its walls. Archaeologists have discovered many such tunnels in ancient cities in the area. The city of Hazor is especially famous for this, as was Hezekiah’s tunnel (verse 2 Kgs 20.20). For city see verse 1.8. We might say “Please show us how to get into the town.” Using indirect speech, we might say “The spies asked him to please tell them how to get into the town,” but this takes away from the liveliness of the exchange.

And we will deal kindly with you: Like the previous clause, this statement seems overly polite. Kindly renders the Old Testament Hebrew key term chesed, which is often translated “kindness” in other contexts. It is the same word that Rahab uses when she discusses her fate with the Israelite spies: “Now then, swear to me by the LORD that as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house” (verse 2.12). For deal kindly with you, we could say “treat you well.” Good News Translation uses language associated with a threat by translating this clause as “we won’t hurt you.” Contemporary English Version is similar with “we will make sure that you aren’t harmed.” Some languages may prefer indirect speech, for example, “they promised to treat him well [or, not harm him].”

Translators may choose to render the spies’ words as a condition-consequence (if-then) construction, for example, “If you tell us how to get into the city, we will protect you [or, spare your life].” Taken at face value, the spies are speaking very kindly to the man, but this is really a veiled threat. The spies may have even been holding a knife to the man’s throat!

For the translation of this verse some models are:

• The spies noticed a man coming out of the town and they said to him, “Please, tell us how to get inside the town. If you do, then we will make sure nothing happens to you.”

• The men waiting outside saw a man coming out of the town. They stopped him and said, “Please show us the secret entrance, so we can be kind to you.”

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .