Translation commentary on Joshua 8:14

The following morning (as is implied by spent the night in verse 13), as soon as the king of Ai saw what was happening, he took action. The Hebrew text says simply “when the king of Ai saw” (Revised Standard Version), the implied object being, most likely, the main Israelite force north of the city. Good News Translation supplies Joshua’s men as object of the verb saw; “the main Israelite force north of the city” or “the Israelite army north of the city” will also suffice as object.

The Hebrew text of verse 14 is wordy and none too clear; a literal translation would be as follows:

• And it was when the king of Ai saw (it), and they hurried and were eager and went out, the men of the city, to encounter Israel in battle, he and all his people, for the appointed time (or, place) facing the valley, and he did not know that (there was) an ambush for him behind the city.

He acted quickly of Good News Translation combines two Hebrew verbs (“hurried and were eager”); one may combine the two: “he did not hesitate long.”

The Jordan Valley translates “the Arabah” (Revised Standard Version), which was east of the city.

New English Bible, following the Septuagint, omits the Hebrew phrase represented in the literal translation above by “for the appointed time (place) facing the valley.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers the Hebrew and translates the phrase as “for the encounter,” saying it “can refer to an agreement, whether of place, time, tactic or sign.” The Bible de Jérusalem footnote translates “place of meeting” (lieu de rendez-vous); Traduction œcuménique de la Bible has “a certain place” (un lieu fixé). New American Bible, Revised Standard Version follow a conjecture “to the descent” (as in 7.5). Good News Translation takes the Hebrew to mean “appointed place,” which it interprets to refer to the place of the previous encounter between the forces of Ai and the Israelites, at the same place as before. This problematic phrase may also be represented by the adverb “there”: “to attack them there.”

Not knowing that … from the rear may be better rendered as a complete sentence: “he did not know that other Israelite soldiers were going to attack him from the rear” or “… that Joshua had laid an ambush for him.”

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 9:23

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 .

Translation commentary on Joshua 11:3

For the people listed see 3.10. So as to distinguish this group from the neighboring kings, verse 3 may open with “He also sent the same message to….” Moreover it may be advisable to break verse 3 somewhere, for example, “in the hill country. He sent the message to the Hivites … of Mizpah.” Finally, it may be better to substitute the pattern “to the kings of the Canaanites…” for to the Canaanites; otherwise, a problem will arise in verse 5 (see comments there).

Mount Hermon lies northeast of Lake Huleh, toward Damascus. A land of Mizpah east of the Jordan is not known; perhaps it is the same place as “the valley of Mizpeh” (Revised Standard Version) in verse 8. The Hebrew word, as a common noun, means “watchtower.”

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 13:13

Verse 13 points out that the people of Geshur and Maacah had not been driven out of their territories; and at the time of the writing of the account they were still living in Israel. Apparently this verse comes as an afterthought, to correct a false impression which the reader is likely to receive from verse 11. It is then possible to join the last part of verse 12 to verse 13 as follows:

• Moses and the people of Israel had defeated all these people. And they had driven all of them out of their territory. 13 except the people of Geshur and Maacah, who still live among the people of Israel today.

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 15:9

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 .

Translation commentary on Joshua 17:9 - 17:10

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 .

Translation commentary on Joshua 19:47 - 19:48

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 .

Translation commentary on Joshua 22:17

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 .