The occurrence of two “if” clauses (If you do not … if you serve …) in a single sentence tends to make comprehension difficult. Moreover, the verbs serve and worship are synonyms, and the phrase in his anger means “he will become angry.” This verse may then be translated:

• The LORD our God made a covenant with you, and he expects you to be faithful to it. If you turn from him, and worship other gods, he will become angry with you and punish you. Soon none of you will be left in this good land that he has given you.

The end of verse 16 is identical with the end of verse 13; here the adverb “quickly” (Good News Translation soon) is added. In this verse the covenant is specifically mentioned; it is the sum and substance of the commandments in verses 6-11 (Bright).

Although the last parts of verse 15 and 16 are essentially the same as the end of verse 13, one may feel uneasy about leaving out the last part of verse 15. On the other hand, the omission of this information from verse 15 may make its appearances in verses 13 and 16 more effective. One solution would be to number verses 15-16 as a unit, placing in the text only the ending of verse 16.

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 the phrase sent two spies, the word spies may convey to some readers a highly specialized and technical meaning. To avoid this complication, one may render “secretly sent two men.” This may be an excellent solution if it is certain that the readers will understand secretly to apply only to the people of Canaan and not to the people of Israel as well. In order not to be misunderstood, one may translate “Then Joshua sent two men from the camp at Acacia to go and secretly explore the land of Canaan.” Or, if direct discourse is more appropriate, “While the people of Israel were camped at Acacia, Joshua told two of the men, ‘Go and secretly explore the land of Canaan….’ ”

The Israelite camp was at Acacia northeast of the Dead Sea, opposite Jericho (see Num 25.1; 33.49). The Hebrew name “Shittim” (Revised Standard Version) means “the acacias,” a flowering tree. For English speakers the noun “Shittim” sounds like a vulgar word and should be avoided. This is also a principle that should be followed in any language; in the translation or transliteration of terms, any vulgar-sounding words or word combinations should be avoided.

Explore the land of Canaan may be rendered, “to find out all they (you) can about the land of Canaan” or “to find out what the land of Canaan is like.”

Jericho, the most important city in the region, was west of the Jordan. The Hebrew text “to go and look at the land and Jericho” is rather strange; Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation both translate “especially Jericho”; Jerusalem Bible “the country at Jericho”; Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Bible de Jérusalem “the land of Jericho.” New English Bible (without any textual note) translates “… with orders to reconnoiter the country. The two men came to Jericho” (which represents neither the Hebrew nor the Greek Old Testament).

A prostitute: commentators make the point that the two Israelites would have a good chance of going unnoticed in a house of prostitution. Her home was built into the city wall (see verse 15). Josephus (Antiquities V.i.2) speaks of Rahab as an innkeeper, not a harlot. (She may have been both.) If the translation is intended for young readers, no harm will be done to the text if a prostitute is represented by “a woman.” The last sentence of this verse may be rendered in a chronological sequence: “When they came to the city, they went to the house … in order to spend the night.”

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 .

Depending upon the restructuring of the last sentence in verse 4, they may need to be rendered “the priests.” In fact the first sentence of this verse may need to be made more explicit: “When everyone has marched around the city seven times, the priests are to sound one long note on their trumpets.”

As soon as you hear it, all the men are … may need to be translated “As soon as you and the men hear it, all of them are…” or “… all of you are….”

It may be more effective to indicate the fall of the city walls by a new sentence: “The city walls will collapse, and the whole army will go straight into the city.” The whole army is the same group as all the men, and some languages may require clear identification. The Hebrew is something like Revised Standard Version, “and the people shall go up every man straight before him,” which seems to focus more upon the individuals within the groups than upon the group acting together. Accordingly the text may be translated, “Then the walls will collapse, and every man can go up into the city from the place where he happens to be standing.”

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 .

Israel has now become ritually impure, and so the Lord orders Joshua to rise and to purify the people. This will involve a confession of sin and a ritual whereby Israel’s guilt will be removed and the people will be able to appear before the Lord (that is, at the place of worship). Only by locating and destroying the objects which have been kept by Achan will Israel be able again to defeat her enemies.It is rather strange that in the Hebrew text in verse 13 “in the midst of you … you cannot stand … your enemies … you take” (Revised Standard Version) the second personal pronoun is singular; only at the end of the verse “from among you” (Revised Standard Version) is the pronoun plural. This is either a stylistic variation or else reflects the use of more than one source of the tradition.

The repetition of the command Get up may imply for some readers that Joshua did not obey the Lord the first time he gave the command (verse 10). In Hebrew the verb “get up” is frequently used in conjunction with a verb that follows, so that it means “begin to do the verb that follows.” That may also be the meaning here. Get up! Purify the people may then mean “Go and purify the people” or merely “Purify the people.”

Purify the people and get them ready to come before me translates “Purify the people” (Revised Standard Version “sanctify the people”) of the Hebrew text. The lengthy rendering of Good News Translation is intended to interpret for the reader the purpose of the purification ceremony. It may also be effectively translated as “Stand up and prepare the people for the meeting with me!” In a number of languages a causative verb may be necessary: “cause the people to purify themselves….”

Tell them to of Good News Translation represents a shift from the direct discourse of Hebrew to indirect discourse. As a rule, Good News Translation prefers to use indirect discourse so as never to go beyond a quotation within a quotation. This is primarily for the sake of avoiding double quotation marks, within single quotation marks, within double quotation marks. But the direct discourse of the Hebrew may be retained without introducing a third layer of quotation marks, if it is not felt necessary to enclose the Lord’s quoting of himself within separate quotation marks. Revised Standard Version in fact does punctuate in precisely this manner, though Good News Translation introduces a separate layer of quotation marks.

Be ready tomorrow refers back to “ready to come before me.” Once again some of the redundancy of the Hebrew and of Good News Translation could be avoided if the command for Joshua to purify the people and the command for him to tell the people to purify themselves are combined into one:

• “Go tell the people to purify themselves and get ready to come before me tomorrow. Tell them that I, the LORD God of Israel, say ‘People of Israel, I ordered you to destroy everything in the city of Jericho. But you kept back some of the things that I ordered you to destroy! …’ ”

Or:

• “Go tell the people that I, the LORD God of Israel, say to them, ‘Purify yourselves and get ready to come before me tomorrow. I ordered you to destroy everything in the city of Jericho, but you kept back some of the things that I ordered you to destroy! …’ ”

You cannot stand … until may be restructured as a coordinate construction: “Get rid of these things, and then you will be able to oppose your enemies and defeat 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 .

Verse 24a again reports the complete slaughter of the men of Ai by the Israelite forces; the Israelites then advance on the city and kill all its inhabitants (verse 24b).

As a comparison of Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version indicates, Good News Translation is considerably shorter than the Hebrew. Moreover, there is some ambiguity about the clause rendered where they had chased them. According to Good News Translation, they would seem to refer to the Israelites, while them points back to the men of Ai. However, it is possible to understand the men of Ai as subject of the clause: “when the Israelites had slaughtered all the men of Ai who had pursued them….” The ambiguity of the Hebrew text allows either interpretation, though according to verse 20 it was the men of Ai who had pursued the Israelites in the direction of the barren country.

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 Gibeonites immediately send a call for help to Joshua at the Israelite camp at Gilgal. The Hebrew text of this verse is quite wordy. Do not abandon translates the Hebrew idiomatic expression “Do not relax your hand” (Revised Standard Version). Sir represents the relationship expressed by the Hebrew “your servants.” The language is designed to remind Joshua of the treaty between them; as his subjects they are entitled to his protection from their enemies. The idea may also be expressed, “We are your subjects! Please do not abandon us!” Or, “We have surrendered ourselves to you and placed ourselves under your protection! Do not abandon us!”

In the Hebrew text there are also two synonymous verbs, which Good News Translation translates help and save. In some languages these will be better rendered as a single verb.

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 12-15 summarize the campaigns in the north. Verse 12 emphasizes the complete massacre of all the population. In Hebrew all these cities and their kings are placed in emphatic position, followed by the subject and verb Joshua captured. Revised Standard Version represents fairly well the inverted form of the Hebrew text.

Putting everyone to death translates “and smote them with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them” (Revised Standard Version). The verb “utterly destroying” translates once again the Hebrew verb which means “condemn to total destruction.” In translation a new sentence may begin here: “He put everyone to death, just as Moses, the LORD’s servant, had commanded him to do.” The verb “put … to death” may be translated as a causative, “He caused his men to put everyone to death.” Or direct discourse may be used: “Joshua and his men captured all these cities and their kings. He told his men, ‘Put everyone to death, just as Moses, the LORD’s servant commanded us to do.’ ”

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 .