Translation commentary on Joshua 22:3

All this time (Revised Standard Version “these many days”) may refer to a period of several years. It is best translated by a phrase which refers to an indefinite but lengthy period of time.

You have never once deserted your fellow Israelites may be translated by a positive statement: “Whenever your fellow Israelites needed you, you always came to help them.”

In order to bring verses 2 and 3 closer together as a sense unit, it may be advisable to invert the order of the two sentences in verse 3. By doing so, You have been careful to obey the commands of the LORD your God would serve to reinforce the content of verse 2. As the first sentence of the verse may be rendered positively, so this sentence may be rendered negatively. The verse may then be translated, “You have never disobeyed the commands of the LORD your God, and when your fellow Israelites needed you, you always came to help 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 .

Translation commentary on Joshua 23:9 - 23:10

In verses 9-10 Joshua reminds the Israelites of the reason why they have so easily defeated their enemies: it was because the Lord was fighting for them, so that one Israelite could defeat a thousand of the enemy (see similar language in Deut 32.30).

As you advanced of verse 9 may be placed first in the clause in order to make the sequence of events chronological: “You went against great and powerful nations, but the LORD drove them away.”

In Hebrew no one is literally “no man” (Revised Standard Version) and may be translated “not one of your enemies.” However, it may be understood collectively as “not one of these nations.”

Several translational adjustments may be necessary in verse 10. The LORD your God may need to be rendered “the LORD our God,” and the Lord’s promise may need to be placed in direct discourse near the beginning of the verse: “The LORD our God promised, ‘I will fight for you.’ That is why one of you can defeat a thousand men.”

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 24:31

Joshua’s greatness as a leader is emphasized. After his death the Israelites continued to be faithful—but only as long as those leaders (Revised Standard Version “the elders”) who had seen the Lord’s great actions were still alive (see the parallel statement in Judges 2.7 and the discouraging epilogue in 2.10).

In order to make this verse more readable, it may be divided into smaller units:

• After Joshua died, the people of Israel remained faithful to the LORD for a while. Their leaders had seen everything that the LORD had done for Israel. So the people remained faithful to the LORD as long as those leaders were alive.

Good News Translation states explicitly that the people of Israel were faithful to the Lord as long as Joshua lived. In this proposed restructuring the people’s faithfulness during Joshua’s lifetime is left implicit, though it is clearly assumed through the use of the verb “remained faithful” (twice): “After Joshua died, the people of Israel remained faithful…. So the people remained faithful….”

Everything includes all the great miracles wrought by the Lord in bringing his people out of Egypt and leading them to the Promised Land.

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 2:19

The expression “his blood shall be upon his (our) head” (see Revised Standard Version) is a way of saying “he (we) will be responsible for that person’s death.” Every member of Rahab’s family will be safe during the attack on Jericho so long as he or she stays in Rahab’s house; and, in fact, they were all spared (see verses 6.23 and 6.25). His death will be his own fault may be restructured as either “he will be killed, and it will be his own fault” or “we will kill him, and….” The spies are affirming that everyone except the persons found in Rahab’s house will be put to death.

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 4:19 - 4:20

Crossed is literally “came up out of” (Revised Standard Version). Many languages will have specialized terms for “crossing a river” or for “coming up out of a valley onto level land.” One must avoid a term which would suggest the crossing of the river in a boat or by some other water vehicle. For that reason the word generally used for “crossing” may not be satisfactory, and one may do better to select a term which means “cross a valley by foot.”

The day the people crossed into Canaan is given as the tenth day of the first month, that is, of Abib (later called Nisan). This month began with the first new moon occurring after the modern March 11, so the crossing occurred between March 21 and April 18, in modern terms. (Passover falls on 14 Nisan; see Exo 12.18.) Problems related to the months of the year are sometimes highly complex, and it may be useful to provide a cultural note, indicating that the reference is to the first month of the Jewish calendar year and to define it in terms of the international (or local) calendar year.

Gilgal is usually located about 4 kilometers east (really northeast) of Jericho (Revised Standard Version “on the east border of Jericho”). It may be useful to mark Gilgal as a “town”; if so, one would then translate “camped near the town of Gilgal.”

The Hebrew phrase translated “the east border” by Revised Standard Version probably indicates the eastern edge of the territory controlled by Jericho. Jericho was a walled city, and the text does not mean that the Israelites were camped right outside the city walls.

There at Gilgal Joshua set up the twelve stones taken from the Jordan (see 4.8). As at 4.8, so here also it is necessary to clarify that Joshua himself was not the one who set up the twelve stones. Moreover, the indefinite passive taken from may be a problem. One may then need to translate “There Joshua caused (or, commanded) the men to set up the twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan.”

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 5:14

Neither is literally “No” (Revised Standard Version), an answer which is difficult to understand; does the “No” apply to the first part or to the second part of Joshua’s question?Instead of the Masoretic text loʾ “no,” some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, and Syriac have lō “to him,” which New English Bible prefers. It hardly seems possible that the meaning is “I’m neither a friend nor a foe,” as New American Bible, Good News Translation interpret it.Soggin suggests that it may an emphatic, “Indeed!” and that it applies to the first part of Joshua’s question; but this isn’t of much help. It is inconceivable that the commander of the LORD’s army should have been on the side of Israel’s adversaries. But however difficult the answer Neither may be, it is the clear meaning of the Hebrew text and should be followed in translation. The Septuagint and some Hebrew manuscripts have “to him,” which sounds like “no” in Hebrew. However, this probably represents an attempt on the part of some scribes to resolve this difficulty.

I am here as the commander of the LORD’s army may perhaps be rendered more forcefully as two sentences: “I am the commander of the LORD’s army. And now I am here.” The noun commander may be shifted to a verb phrase: “I am the one who commands” or “I command.”

The Hebrew word for army is the same word which in the plural form is sometimes used with the divine name in the construction “Yahweh of armies” (the traditional translation in English being “the LORD of hosts”)

Joshua threw himself on the ground in worship is more literally rendered as “Joshua fell down before him, face to the ground.” The phrase in worship interprets for English readers the meaning of Joshua’s actions. In many cultures this act of prostrating himself on the ground would be easily understood, but for many modern readers of the western world its significance may be lost without making explicit the meaning of the action. But it may be that in worship implies too much. There are places in the Old Testament where the angel of the Lord is quickly identified as the Lord himself. But up to this point in the passage the person is not even explicitly referred to as an angel, but only as a man (verse 13). And it may be that even in verse 15 this person stands only as the representative of the Lord and not as the Lord himself. A more accurate rendering may therefore be “in awe,” or “in reverence,” or “with great respect.” One may translate “Joshua threw himself face down on the ground in order to show his respect for the man. Then he said….”

I am your servant may be translated “I am here to serve you” or “I will do whatever you command.” The question What do you want me to do? may be altered to a statement, “Tell me what you want me to do” or “Give a command, and I will obey it.”

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 7:7

And Joshua said introduces a prayer and may be translated “Joshua prayed.” In order to indicate more precisely the temporal relation between the time of Joshua’s prayer and the events of the previous verse, one may translate “While they lay on the ground, Joshua prayed….” If there is a distinction in the language between silent prayer and oral prayer, the prayer is best understood as oral.

Sovereign LORD translates the Hebrew phrase “Lord Yahweh”—the title and the personal name of God (King James Version, Revised Standard Version, An American Translation, New English Bible, New American Bible “Lord GOD”; compare Traduction œcuménique de la Bible Seigneur DIEU). Good News Translation has followed the King James Version tradition of translating “Yahweh” by LORD, but it has not used the form GOD. In a number of languages the word for “God” will be “Lord,” and so the combination “Lord God” will be impossible. To translate as Sovereign LORD with Good News Translation may also be impossible, for both the modifier Sovereign and the noun LORD imply rulership. Some translations render the double expression as merely “Lord.” If this is felt inadequate, one may render “LORD, who rules over all” or “LORD of all peoples.”

In this verse the translator does not face the problem of breaking Good News Translation up into smaller units, but rather of creating larger pieces out of the smaller units of Good News Translation. In Joshua’s prayer the first question (Why did you bring us across the Jordan at all?) is answered by two other questions (To turn us over to the Amorites? To destroy us?). The two questions which answer the first question are both abbreviated in that they leave implicit the first part of each question, which is “Did you bring us across the Jordan…?” If the question form is retained, then this information may need to be built into the responses. On the other hand, it is possible to shift from a question to a strongly affirmative statement: “LORD! You surely did not bring us across the Jordan just to turn us over to the Amorites and let them destroy us.”

“Alas” (Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, New American Bible, Jerusalem Bible) translates a Hebrew expression used infrequently in the Old Testament to denote sorrow or remorse (see Judges 6.22; 2 Kings 3.10; 6.5, 15). Bible de Jérusalem has Helas, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible Ah. Joshua’s questions imply that the Lord is responsible for Israel’s defeat.

The Amorites probably refers in a general way to all the inhabitants of Canaan, equivalent to Canaanites (see 3.10 for the list of seven peoples of the land); Gray suggests that here Amorites may mean specifically those who lived in the hills (see Num 13.29).

Why didn’t we just stay translates an idiomatic Hebrew phrase “Would that we had persisted and remained”; compare New English Bible “If only we had been content to settle.” “Why weren’t we satisfied to remain” would represent the meaning well, as would “I wish that we had stayed on the other side of the Jordan.”

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 8:16

Joshua’s plan worked: “all the people” (Revised Standard Version) of Ai joined in the pursuit of the fleeing Israelites. (“All the people,” of course, means all the men, that is, all who were fit and able for battle.) It is possible to translate this first clause by an active construction: “The leaders of the city had called together all the men of the city to go after them.”

They kept getting farther away from the city represents a slight shift in focus from the Hebrew, which indicates that the Israelite men intentionally drew the men of Ai away from the city. The entire verse may be translated more economically than Good News Translation. For example, “The leaders of the city had commanded all the men in the city to go after the Israelites. And the Israelites led them farther and farther away from the city.”

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 .