Associate (Revised Standard Version “be mixed with”) translates the Hebrew “go into,” which refers specifically to intermarriage (see verse 12). The danger in marrying Canaanites was that the Israelites would be led to worship their gods (see Bright).

In this verse, four different Hebrew verbs are used with reference to the worship of pagan gods: “to speak their names,” “to swear,”The Masoretic text has the hiphil (causative) form of the verb, “cause to swear” (so King James Version); the Syriac, Targum and Vulgate have the qal form, “to swear,” which is preferred by the other translations. “to serve,” and “to bow down.” The first verb in this series of four (“to speak their names”) may be taken as a reference to prayer. “To swear” by the name of a god means to use that god’s name in making promises. The last two verbs in the series carry essentially the same meaning and refer to the act of worship. One may then translate “Do not worship their gods. Do not pray to them, or use their names when you take an oath.”

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 ceremony concluded, Joshua dismissed the people and they all went back home. For a literal rendering of this verse, see Revised Standard Version. In order to make the second clause easier to understand, Good News Translation supplies the verb returned. In some languages the use of a plural following people may be more appropriate than everyone … his of Good News Translation: “… the people away, and all of them returned to their own part of the 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 .

It is pointed out that the dialogue in verses 17-21 must have taken place before Rahab let the men down out of the window of her house (verse 15); it is hardly imaginable that all of this would have been said by the Israelite spies outside the city walls to Rahab in her house. A temporal marker at the beginning of verse 17 may resolve or at least ease the problem of the sequence of events: “Before the men left, they said to Rahab….”

We will keep the promise translates the Hebrew “we (will be) guiltless from this vow of yours,” that is, they would discharge their responsibility and do what they had promised to do. In order to represent the chronological sequence of events, it is possible to invert the order of the two clauses in the sentence, We will keep the promise that you have made us give. It may then be translated, “You made us give you a promise, and we will keep it.” Many languages will have idiomatic ways of saying We will keep the promise, and in some instances a negative form may be stronger: “We will not break the promise….”

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 16 it is stated that “the priests were about to sound the trumpets,” which was then followed by Joshua’s detailed instructions to the people (verses 17-19). It is therefore possible that the reader will have forgotten the precise setting by the time that the priests are mentioned again at the beginning of this verse. Since this possibility exists, a more specific transitional than So may be required at the beginning of the verse. For example, “When Joshua finished giving these instructions to the people, the priests blew the trumpets.”

As Revised Standard Version shows, the Hebrew text says that the people shouted, the priests blew the trumpets, and then the people shouted again, this time “a great shout,” at which the walls fell down. Good News Translation and New English Bible eliminate the repetition in the Hebrew text on the grounds that it is a stylistic matter, possibly reflecting the use of different sources. In the light of the whole event it seems impossible to believe that the Israelites shouted twice, although the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project supports this as one possible way of understanding the text. Assuming that a single shout is intended, one may translate loud shout as “battle cry.”

Jericho had a double wall; at one time in its historyRecent excavations date the destruction of the walls of Jericho to a long time before the Israelite invasion of Canaan; see commentaries, especially Soggin. the outer wall fell outward and the inner wall collapsed into the space between the two walls.

Good News Translation went straight up the hill makes explicit what is implicit in the Hebrew “went up” (see Revised Standard Version); Jericho was built on a hill. The expression “every man straight before him” (Revised Standard Version) indicates that there was no opposition to the attack (see also verse 5). The victory was the Lord’s doing; it was his power that caused Jericho to fall.

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 .

Ai and its king are to be completely destroyed, as were Jericho and its king. (It should be noticed that the story of the fall of Jericho [6.20-25] does not expressly state that its king was put to death, but it is implied in 6.21.) This time, however, the Israelites will be allowed to keep its goods and livestock. The Hebrew noun translated goods is literally “plunder” and may refer to any removable goods taken in battle, including prisoners (see 1 Sam 30.19). In the present context it would refer to any physical objects which may be hauled away, but not to prisoners, since all the people of the city are condemned to destruction. The word translated livestock refers basically to cattle, though sheep and other domesticated animals would also be included. However, one should be careful not to select a term which specifically indicates unclean animals such as pigs.

The Lord tells Joshua the strategy he is to follow: the Israelites are to lie in ambush behind the city, that is, to the west of it (see verses 9 and 12), so as to attack it by surprise. The translation should not imply that Joshua is commanded to line up all his men behind the city to attack it by surprise. As the unfolding of the account will indicate, only part of Joshua’s force was placed behind the city in ambush. In order to make this clear, one may translate “Secretly place some of your men behind the city, so that they can come out and attack it by surprise at the right time.”

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 camp at Gilgal may be specified as “the Israelite camp at Gilgal”; or since the last place mentioned for the Israelites was in the valley between Mount Ebal and Gerizim, “the Israelite camp, which was now near the town of Gilgal.” A treaty (Revised Standard Version “covenant”) is an agreement that is made between two groups, usually in order to ensure peace between them.

The request of the Gibeonites may be stated: “We have come from a distant land, and we would like for you to make a treaty with us.”

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 .

Because of their lie, God has condemned them (literally “you are accursed”). In order to make immediately clear the connection between God’s condemnation of the Gibeonites and their punishment, this portion of the verse may be translated, “God has condemned you, and this will be your punishment: your people will always….” From then on the Gibeonites would be slaves for the Israelites, cutting wood and carrying water for the sanctuary of the Lord.

It is not certain where this sanctuary is to be located, if, in fact, the writer had a particular place in mind. It could be in Gilgal or in Gibeon itself (see 1 Kgs 3.4; Gibeon is an important religious center in the time of King Solomon), or it could be taken to refer to the Jerusalem Temple.Instead of “for the house of my God,” the Septuagint has “for me and my God,” which Soggin understands as indicating a desire “to avoid the anachronism of the mention of the Jerusalem temple.” Sanctuary may be translated either “house of worship” or “Temple.” And the modifier (of my God) may be rendered “of the God 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 .