Bratcher, Robert and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on the Book of Joshua. New York: UBS, 1983.
The last part of this verse may be rendered, “There it (the border) turned toward the city of Baalah, which today is called Kiriath Jearim….”
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 .
Verses 9-10a further define the relation between the two neighboring tribes; verse 10b locates West Manasseh in relation to the tribe of Asher and the tribe of Issachar.
It may be more effective to translate verses 9-10 as a unit:
• From there the southern border followed the stream Kanah westward to the Mediterranean Sea. The main territory of Manasseh was located north of the Kanah stream, but south of it were some cities that belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, even though they were in the territory of Manasseh. In the northwest Manasseh bordered on the tribe of Asher, and in the northeast it bordered on the tribe of Issachar.
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 .
The tribe of Dan was unable to control this territory, so they migrated north all the way to the headwaters of the Jordan, on the east bank (see Judges 18); there they conquered Laish and changed the name to that of their ancestor, Dan.
When the people of Dan lost their land is literally “And the territory of the people of Dan went out from them.” The temporal conjunction When may be translated either “Later” or “Sometime later,” indicating an indefinite period of time. Lost their land implies an agent and may be translated “some enemies (or, some people) capture the territory that belonged to the tribe of Dan.” Finally, Laish should perhaps be identified as a city.
Since the first part of verse 48 refers directly to the cities of verses 41-46, verses 47-48 may be placed together:
• All of these cities, along with their villages, belonged to the tribe of Dan. But later their enemies captured their land, and so the people of Dan went north to the city of Laish and attacked it. They captured the city, killed its people, and claimed it for themselves. Then they named the city after their ancestor Dan.
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 .
They recall the enormous sin at Peor (see Num 25.1-9) as a result of which twenty-four thousand Israelites were killed by an epidemic; they were all still suffering because of that (Revised Standard Version “even yet we have not cleansed ourselves”).
Remember our sin…. Wasn’t that sin enough? apparently translates the Hebrew “Was that sin too little for us?” New English Bible translates “Was that offense so slight…?” and Revised Standard Version “Have we not had enough of the sin…?” The intent of the Hebrew seems to be to suggest that the sin of building an altar to a god other than the Lord is worse than the sin which the Israelites earlier committed at Peor.
Both the possessive pronoun our and the phrase his own people have the same referent, though this is not clear in Good News Translation. With somewhat more clarity the verse may be translated, “Remember what a terrible sin we (inclusive) committed against the LORD at Peor. The LORD punished us with an epidemic, even though we are his own people. And we are still suffering because of that sin.” Instead of the positive Remember, a negative “Do not forget” may also be used.
The inclusion of a footnote, explaining what happened at Peor, or at least giving the scripture reference, or both, may be useful. The precise extent of the note will depend upon the intended readers and whether the edition is a complete Old Testament, or a volume of Old Testament selections in which Numbers 25.1-9 may not be included.
Two further observations may be made regarding the verse: (1) The word epidemic may be translated “a terrible disease that killed many people.” (2) If the form of Good News Translation is maintained, the question Wasn’t that sin enough? should not lead the reader to conclude that it was not enough.
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 .
The people respond enthusiastically to Joshua’s challenge and declare that they also will worship only the Lord (verse 16). They recognize that it was the Lord who delivered them from slavery in Egypt and brought them safely into Canaan: he is their God and they will worship him (verses 17-18).
We would never translates the Hebrew idiom “Far be it from us” (Revised Standard Version). For languages where a rhetorical question is effective, one may want to translate “How could we ever…?” One may even want to translate by two brief affirmations: “We would never be unfaithful to the LORD! We would never serve other gods!”
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 .
The king’s men left Jericho and went east toward the Jordan, and there they gave up the search. On the assumption that the messengers left immediately in pursuit of the spies, it is allowable to include the adverb “immediately” and to follow the order of the Hebrew text more closely by placing in final position the information about the closing of the gate: “The guards immediately took up pursuit and went as far as the place where the road crosses the Jordan River.” Also, on the assumption that the gate was closed following the departure of the spies and had to be opened a second time for the pursuers to get out, one may render “The city gate was again closed behind 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 .
The whole nation translates the same Hebrew phrase which in the preceding verse (3.17b) Good News Translation translates all the people; Revised Standard Version has “all the nation” in both places. This may also be rendered either “all (the) Israelites” or “all the people of Israel.” Since a new section is introduced here, the reader (or persons being read to) may not know immediately that it is the nation of Israel which is being referred to. Therefore the phrase may be translated “the whole nation of Israel.”
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 .
In verse 8 Good News Translation as Joshua had ordered translates the Masoretic text (so most translations); some Hebrew manuscripts have “when Joshua ordered,” which seems to be the text translated by Soggin, “And as Joshua was addressing the people.” The Hebrew text in verse 8 has “before the LORD” and the “the ark of the covenant of the LORD following” (see Revised Standard Version); these appear to say the same thing and are combined into one statement by Good News Translation, since “before the LORD” is obviously a way of saying “ahead of the Covenant Box.”
So, just as Joshua had ordered may be translated as a separate sentence: “Everyone obeyed Joshua’s commands” or “Everyone did as Joshua had ordered.” Since a number of groups are involved in the procession, it may promote clarity to describe the actions of each group by a separate sentence:
A select group of fighting men went first. They were followed by the seven priests who constantly blew the trumpets. The priests who carried the Covenant Box came next. A second group of fighting men marched behind the Covenant Box.
Contrary to what is implicit in verse 4a, here in verse 9 the priests keep blowing the trumpets during the whole march around the city; the soldiers, however, are emphatically told not to make a sound (verse 10).
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 .