If verse 26 is rendered as a complete statement, then it will probably be necessary to repeat the subject and verb at the beginning of this verse: “We built it as a sign….”

Sign (Revised Standard Version “witness”) states the purpose of the altar built by the eastern tribes: it was to be evidence, proof, of the loyalty of the eastern tribes to the Lord and their determination to offer sacrifices only at the central place of worship (which, in the context of the story, is Shiloh). The noun sign may be more effectively rendered as a verb: “we built this altar to show to our people and your people….”

All the offerings would be made before his sacred Tent (Revised Standard Version “in his presence”).

In order to divide verse 27 into smaller units, it may be advisable to begin a new sentence after before his sacred Tent. The sentence may read: “We bring our offering to be burned, our sacrifices, and our fellowship offerings there before his sacred Tent.” Or, in order to combine and shorten: “We bring all our offerings there before his sacred Tent.”

This was to keep … to do with the LORD may be translated, “Your descendants must never tell our descendants that they do not belong to the LORD.” Direct discourse may also be employed: “Your descendants must never tell our descendants, ‘You do not belong to the LORD’s people.’ ”

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 .

Joshua refers in particular to the nations still to be defeated. The Lord will defeat them, as he has promised.

The referent of the pronoun them is not altogether clear in the phrase will make them retreat from you. Attention also needs to be given to at least two other matters: (1) A chronological arrangement of the verse can be achieved by placing as the LORD your God has promised you first, and (2) it may be necessary to substitute direct discourse for as the LORD … promised. In addition, there remains the problem of the LORD your God which appears twice in Good News Translation. Here again the meaning should be expressed as “The LORD our God.” For a model of what may be done:

• The LORD our God promised us, ‘I will cause your enemies to retreat from you. I will drive them away as you advance, and you shall take their land.’ The LORD our God will keep this promise. He will drive away those nations that are still in 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 .

These commands refers back to laws and rules of verse 25, and in translation it may be best to use the same phraseology in both places. Both phrases are summary terms of the regulations contained in the covenant.

It is impossible to identify the book of the Law of God with any book or part of a book now in the Old Testament. Soggin says that the Hebrew noun usually translated “book” means here “written document of a treaty”; according to him the identification of the Law was added later, when the original sense of the Hebrew word was forgotten. So he translates “And Joshua wrote these words in the document of God.” Soggin may well be right, but the translator cannot omit the noun Law from the text. The book of the Law of God may be translated “the book which contained (or, listed) God’s Laws for his people.”

Then he took a large stone and set it up may be translated “Then he set up a large stone.” The text obviously means that Joshua was the one responsible for having this done, and so one may translate “Joshua commanded some of his men to set up a large stone….” Or, so as not to mention a third party, “Joshua caused a large stone to be set up.”

Under the oak tree in the LORD’s sanctuary leaves the impression that a large oak tree was growing in the Lord’s sanctuary. It would be better to translate “under the large oak tree beside the LORD’s sanctuary.” In verse 25 the geographical reference “at Shechem” may be difficult to include with ease within the text. If that is the case, then it may be deleted from verse 25 and included here: “in the LORD’s sanctuary at Shechem.”

The oak tree is probably a sacred tree at the shrine; reference is made to it in Genesis 12.6; 35.4; Judges 9.6 (in this last passage a different Hebrew phrase is used, the oak of the pillar).

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 .

A house built into the city wall: archaeological excavations reveal that at one time Jericho had two city walls, an inner one and an outer one, separated by a space of some 3.5 to 4.5 meters. Houses were built on heavy timbers laid from one wall to the other: the window through which Rahab let the men down looked out from the outer wall (see Bright). The phrase a house built into the city wall could possibly be unclear; it may be more satisfactory to translate “a section of the city wall formed the outside wall of Rahab’s house.” Moreover, it may even be necessary to include a footnote, indicating more precisely the relation between the house and the city wall. Finally, to restructure so she let … by a rope as an explanation rather than as the next event in a sequence may help to resolve the flashback problem of verses 17-21. That is, one may translate either “that is why Rahab was able to let the men down…” or “so Rahab was able to let the men down….” Such restructuring does not do harm to the text, and it will benefit the reader.

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 presence of the LORD probably refers to the Covenant Box, which symbolized the Lord’s earthly throne. Since the more likely interpretation is that this phrase is a reference to the Covenant Box, one may translate “About forty thousand men ready for war crossed over to the plain near Jericho, and the LORD was with them because his Covenant Box was there among them.” If, on the other hand, in the presence of the LORD is not specifically related to the Covenant Box, one may translate “and the LORD was with them” or “under the leadership of the LORD.”

The number about forty thousand refers to the warriors of the two and one-half eastern tribes. In translation one should avoid the possibility that the reader may understand about forty thousand men to include the total number of Israelites who crossed over. Therefore one may render “about forty thousand men from these two and one-half tribes crossed over to the plain near Jericho, and they were all ready for war.”

In verse 13 ready for war (Revised Standard Version “ready armed for war”) translates a Hebrew verb which means “stripped,” a reference to discarding for work or battle those garments which were ordinarily worn.

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 order to destroy everything and everyone in the city is reinforced with the warning that unless the Israelites do so the Israelite camp itself will have to be destroyed.The Masoretic text of verse 18 has the verb charam “to dedicate to destruction” (Revised Standard Version “lest when you have devoted them”); Septuagint translates the Hebrew verb chamad “to desire, covet,” which is preferred by Bright and Gray and is followed by An American Translation New English Bible New American Bible Jerusalem Bible, and also by Hebrew Old Testament Text Project on the basis of what it calls Factor 12, “other scribal errors.” This is certainly an easier text; but as Soggin says, “the correction is useful but not essential.” Revised Standard Version Good News Translation Traduction œcuménique de la Bible translate the Masoretic text. But you translates a strongly emphatic form in Hebrew.

That is to be destroyed may be translated “that I have told you to destroy.” This dreadful warning of destruction is followed in Hebrew by another verbal phrase which Revised Standard Version translates “and bring trouble upon it.” This seems rather anticlimactic; the Jerusalem Bible rendering is more effective, “bring disaster on it.” For the sake of making the passage more climactic, Good News Translation inverts the order of the Hebrew nouns “trouble” and “destruction.” It is possible to take the noun phrase trouble and destruction as meaning “great trouble” or “terrible destruction.” With this in mind, and representing the two nouns as verbs, one may translate “If you do take anything that belongs to the LORD, he will totally destroy everyone in our camp. And it will be your own fault.” It should be observed that in this restructuring the Israelite camp of Good News Translation is rendered “our camp,” since Joshua himself is included in the group. This is also in keeping with the use of our spies of verse 17. The Hebrew verb translated bring trouble … on is used also in 7.25, in connection with Achan’s disregard of this very order requiring the destruction of all the enemy loot.

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 .