You and your soldiers are to march around translates a plural form of the Hebrew verb “march around” (Revised Standard Version “You shall march around”). Good News Translation has translated this way in order to indicate that the form of the verb is plural and that the reference is to Joshua and his men. But even for languages which distinguish between the singular and plural forms of “you,” it still may be helpful to mark explicitly the participants: “You with your battle-ready men.”

The verb march around is here used of a religious or cultic procession, which would have been formal and solemn, but which would not have required strict marching in step such as in a modern day parade or military procession. One may wish to translate “I command you and your fighting men to go in procession around….”

For six days may require a separate statement: “Do this for six days,” or “… for six consecutive days,” or “… for six days in a row.”

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 sinned may be translated “The people of Israel have sinned.” Achan’s disobedience involved all Israel, and as a result Israel suffered defeat.

The Lord’s accusation, then, is that the Israelites have broken the agreement and have taken some of the things condemned to destruction; they stole, … lied, and hid those things among their own belongings. In this context the agreement (Revised Standard Version “covenant”) refers specifically to the Lord’s command about the attack on Jericho (6.17-18); it does not refer to the basic covenant at Mount Sinai.

In order to indicate specifically that the agreement refers to the Lord’s command not to take anything from the city of Jericho, considerable restructuring may be necessary. For example, They have broken … condemned to destruction may be translated, “I commanded them to destroy everything in the city of Jericho. This was my agreement with them. But they kept back for themselves some of the things from the city.” Moreover, if it is felt that the agreement (the agreement with me) and the command (I ordered them to keep) are synonymous, one may even render “I commanded them to destroy everything in the city. But they disobeyed my command and kept back some of the things for themselves.”

The three events described in the last sentence of this verse (stole … lied … put them with) may need to be arranged in chronological sequence: “They stole them, put them with their own things, and then lied about what they had done.”

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 21 essentially repeats the information in verse 20, but this time the focus is on the Israelites, while in verse 20 it is on the enemy.

Because of the duplication of information in verses 20-21, the two may be translated as a unit. Such restructuring may be advisable, since there is already a good deal of repetition in the narrative. One pattern might be:

• When the men from Ai looked back, they saw the smoke from their city rising to the sky. Joshua and his men also saw the smoke, and they knew that the other Israelite soldiers had captured the city and set it on fire. Now there was no place where the men of Ai could run for safety. So Joshua and his men turned around and began killing 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 .

Adonizedek proposes they attack Gibeon for having made peace, that is, alliance, with the Israelites. It may be beneficial to reverse the order of the two clauses: “The people of Gibeon have made peace with Joshua and the Israelites. So come and help me attack 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 .

After routing and killing the enemy forces, Joshua turned back to Hazor, captured the city, and killed its king. The note that follows about Hazor’s importance is written from the point of view of the writer’s time: At that time refers to the time of Joshua; it does not mean, as Revised Standard Version might be understood, that before Joshua’s time Hazor had been (but no longer was) the most powerful of all those kingdoms.

The translation of this verse presents several difficulties. First, the verb turned back may suggest that Joshua had previously been to the city of Hazor. Second, the presence of the parenthetical statement makes the comprehension difficult. Third, in verse 10 it is Joshua who turns back, captures Hazor, and kills its king. In verse 11 the subject shifts to They, for which the only immediate antecedent is Joshua of this verse. These difficulties may be overcome by translating as follows:

• At that time the city of Hazor and its king ruled over all other kingdoms in the territory. So after the battle, Joshua and his men went and attacked the city of Hazor. They captured the city, killed its king, and 11 put everyone there 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 .

The western border of the tribe of Reuben was the Jordan River and, of course, the Dead Sea. For families see comments on verse 15.

Although the first sentence of this verse is simple in Good News Translation, it may also be translated, “The tribe of Reuben had the Jordan River as its western border.” The Hebrew text does not include the adjective “western,” though it is redundant in other ways (see Revised Standard Version “And the border of the people of Reuben was the Jordan as a boundary”).

The Hebrew noun translated towns (Revised Standard Version “villages”) refers to a permanent settlement that is without walls. Cities and towns would probably have reference to the walled cities and the outlying towns or farms, and so the sentence may be rendered, “All these cities with their villages were given to the families of the tribe of Reuben. These cities and villages were to belong to them forever.”

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 .