Translation commentary on Joshua 24:16

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 .

Translation commentary on Joshua 2:18

The two Israelites impose three conditions which Rahab must keep: (1) tie the red cord to the window (verse 18a); (2) gather all the family in the house and keep them there during the fighting (verses 18b-19); and (3) keep the whole arrangement a strict secret (verse 20).

When we invade your land is more literally “When we come into the land,” but the obvious reference is to an attack by the Israelites on the land and its people. Some translators prefer to leave the entire clause implicit.

Red cord translates the Hebrew phrase “cord of red thread”; in the Old Testament the Hebrew word translated “cord” occurs only here and in verse 21.

Some languages may require that the text specify whether the cord was supplied by the Israelite spies or whether it already belonged to Rahab. If it is assumed that the cord was given to her by the two men, one may translate “We are giving you this red cord for you to tie to your window when we invade your land.” In the report of how Rahab and her family were spared (6.22-25), no mention is made of the cord.

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 .

Translation commentary on Joshua 4:17 - 4:18

In verse 17 Joshua did so is literally “Joshua therefore commanded the priests, ‘Come up out of the Jordan’ ” (Revised Standard Version). It is possible to shorten and combine as “Joshua gave the command.” One may also translate “Joshua did what the LORD had commanded him to do.”

Verse 18, as indicated in the introduction to this section, is much more wordy in Hebrew than in Good News Translation. Whereas Hebrew repeats the full phrase “the priests carrying the Covenant Box,” Good News Translation has shortened this to the priests, since the full information was given in verse 16. Reached the riverbank represents the repetitious “came up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up on dry ground” (Revised Standard Version). Here again, one may shorten by combining: “and hardly had the priests left the riverbed.” For English speakers “riverbed” is not too frequently used, and so instead of “came up out of the riverbed,” Good News Translation has reached the riverbank. But one may translate “as soon as the priests got out on the other side of the riverbed” or “as soon as the priests had crossed the riverbed.”

As soon as the priests reached the west bank of the Jordan, the water started flowing again and overflowed its banks as before (see 3.14-15).

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 .

Translation commentary on Joshua 6:21

The first sentence of this verse may be broken into two sentences as follows: “They took their swords and killed everyone in the city. They killed all the men, women, and children.” All living things, human and animal, are put to death; logically this would seem to include Rahab and her family, but verses 22-25 narrate how they were spared.

“Utterly destroyed” (Revised Standard Version; Good News Translation killed everyone) translates a verb which comes from the same stem as the noun that Revised Standard Version translates “destruction” in verse 17 and “things devoted to destruction,” “devoted things,” and “a thing for destruction” in verse 18; see comments there.

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 .

Translation commentary on Joshua 8:3 - 8:4

Got ready translates the Hebrew verb “rise” (see Revised Standard Version). This verb is often used in the Old Testament as an auxiliary which means to prepare to do something or to begin doing something; it does not mean, as the English verb “arise” implies, that the subject has been sitting or lying down (see also in verse 1 “and arise, go up to Ai,” Revised Standard Version; Good News Translation go on up to Ai). See 1.2.

So Joshua got ready to go to Ai with all his soldiers may give two false implications: (1) got ready to go may imply that he made preparations but did not go; and (2) with all his soldiers could suggest that Joshua himself was leading the entire force as a unit to attack the city. Since, as indicated in the previous paragraph, the Hebrew verb rendered got ready frequently functions merely as an auxiliary of the main verb, it is not necessary always to represent it in translation. Therefore “got ready to go up” may even mean “went up” (see the comment on “go up” in verse 1). These two potential problems may be resolved, and a smooth transition made from the previous verse, if this verse is begun as follows: “So before Joshua went up against Ai with his main force, he picked out thirty thousand of his best troops. Then he sent them out at night 4 and told them….”

Joshua selects thirty thousand of his best soldiers and tells them to lie in ambush west of the city, not very far from it. This seems to be a very large number (see in verse 12 where only about five thousand men are actually stationed there). Gray thinks that thirty thousand may be a scribal error for three thousand, and a few translations place three thousand in the text, with a footnote: “Hebrew thirty thousand.” From the Israelite camp at Gilgal to Ai was about 25 kilometers.

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 .

Translation commentary on Joshua 9:7 - 9:8

It is interesting to note that in verse 6 the Gibeonites address Joshua and the men of Israel; in verse 7 the men of Israel speak, and in verse 8 the Gibeonites address Joshua, and he answers.

Verse 7 indicates that the Israelites are suspicious. Good News Translation inverts the order of their response (compare Revised Standard Version) so that the question (Why should we make a treaty with you?) comes first. The question may also be expressed as a statement: “We cannot make a treaty with you as easily as that!”

Maybe you live nearby (literally “among us”—see Revised Standard Version); if this is the case, the Israelites cannot make a peace treaty with them. The response of the Israelites implies shared information; it intimates that the strangers already knew that the Israelites were not allowed to make a treaty with people who lived in the same vicinity. This may be expressed as a direct statement: “We are not allowed to make a treaty with people who live nearby, and we do not know where you come from.” This would in fact suffice for the rendering of the entire response of the Israelites.

They then speak to Joshua: “We are your servants” (Revised Standard Version), indicating at once that they do not presume to be treated as equals but as inferiors. It may be necessary to translate They said as “The men from Gibeon said.” It is Joshua, then, who asks the obvious questions: “Who are you? Where do you come from?”

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 .

Translation commentary on Joshua 10:25

For the language of this verse, see verses 8.1 and 1.9. At the beginning of the verse the Hebrew has “And Joshua said to them”; this “them” could be all the men of Israel, but more probably it refers to the officers, who are the nearest antecedents.

Because this is … to all your enemies may be made into a separate sentence and translated, “The LORD is going to do this same thing to all your enemies.”

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 .

Translation commentary on Joshua 12:6

This verse is a summary statement of the conquest of the land east of the Jordan, and the division of the territory among the two and one-half eastern tribes (see detailed account in 13.8-32).

These two kings were defeated by Moses and the people of Israel may be stated in the active: “Moses and the people of Israel defeated these two kings.”

For most readers, gave … to and to be their possession will be synonymous in meaning. Therefore the meaning may be expressed, “Moses, the LORD’s servant, divided their land among the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh.”

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 .