Translation commentary on Joshua 11:8

In order to show the immediate causal relations between verses 7 and 8, it may be advisable to make the first clause of verse 8 a continuation of the last sentence in verse 7: “at Merom Brook, 8 and the LORD … over them.”

Gave the Israelites victory over them may need to be less abstract: “caused the Israelite army to defeat their enemies” (see comment at 10.8).

The remainder of this verse may be restructured as two sentences: “Part of the Israelite army attacked and pursued the enemy as far north as the cities of Misrephoth Maim and Sidon. The rest of the Israelite army pursued the enemy as far east as the valley of Mizpah.”

Misrephoth Maim is near the Mediterranean coast, and Sidon (in Hebrew “Great Sidon”) is the important Phoenician city much farther north, on the Mediterranean Sea. To the east the Israelites chase the fleeing enemy as far as the valley of Mizpah (see verse 3); Revised Standard Version follows the spelling “Mizpeh,” which represents the Masoretic text.

The fight continued … left alive may be translated in the active: “Joshua’s men fought the enemy until they had killed them all” or “… until they had killed everyone of 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 .

Translation commentary on Joshua 13:21

For the defeat of Sihon see Numbers 21.21-26. Midian was the territory east of the Gulf of Aqaba, south of Edom. The rulers of Midian were subject to King Sihon (Revised Standard Version “the princes of Sihon”; compare New English Bible “the vassals of Sihon”).

It is not easy to put the contents of this verse into a very readable arrangement. If the proposed restructuring of verse 17-21a is adopted, then the form of Good News Translation may be followed from 21b onward: “It also included the whole kingdom….” Or a slightly different pattern may be used:

• It also included all of the territory ruled over from the city of Heshbon by King Sihon, the Amorite king. Five tribal leaders by the names of Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba had ruled part of this land for King Sihon. But Moses defeated King Sihon and all of these other leaders, and he took their territory.

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 15:14

Caleb drove … out of Hebron Anak’s descendants, that is, the clans of Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. It is clear that these three proper names do not refer to individuals, as Revised Standard Version makes it appear, but to clans who are named after their ancestors (see Num 13.22; Judges 1.10, 20).

Although Good News Translation avoided the use of the word clan at 15.1, it is now used as a translation of the Hebrew word “son,” which here has the extended meaning of clan. Translators are not always consistent! The verse may be restructured, “The clans of Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai lived in the city of Hebron. They were descendants of Anak, and Caleb drove them all out of the city.” It may be important to indicate not only that he drove them out of the city, but also that he took it over for himself: “The clans of Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, lived in the city of Hebron at that time. Caleb drove them all out of the city, and took it over for himself.”

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 17:16

Beth Shan is on the eastern border of West Manasseh, not far from the Jordan River; Jezreel Valley runs east and west, north of Beth Shan.

For people who lived in the plains, the iron plated chariots were formidable weapons (see chariots in 11.4). At this time the Israelites had nothing to compare with them, and so they had to stay in the hill country.

In place of They replied, it may be useful to translate “The descendants of Joseph replied.” It should be made clear that the descendants of Joseph in verse 14, They of this verse, and the tribes of Ephraim and West Manasseh of verse 17 are the same people. This may be achieved by translating “The tribes of Ephraim and West Manasseh, which were the descendants of Joseph, replied….” Here again the lengthy sentence of Good News Translation may be divided into smaller units:

• “There is not enough room for us in the hill country, but the Canaanites live in the plains and the valleys. And all of them have war chariots made of iron. Those who live in the city of Beth Shan and its surrounding towns, and those who live in Jezreel Valley, all have war chariots.”

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 20:6

Two matters are joined which appear to be separate: (1) the accused will be given a public trial; if found guilty, he is to be turned over to the avenging relative of the dead man (see Num 35.19); (2) if found innocent, he remains in the city until the death of the ruling High Priest (see Num 35.25, 28). After the High Priest’s death he is allowed to go back home.

Until he has received a public trial may need to be translated more specifically as “until he has been proven innocent in a public trial.” Inasmuch as two separate matters are here spoken of (see above comments), one may wish to begin a new sentence with the clause which begins and until: “Then he must remain in the city until the man who is High Priest at that time has died.”

Go back home translates “go again to his own town and his own home” (Revised Standard Version) of the Hebrew text. If both expressions are retained, they may be inverted: “to his family and to his own home town.” It may not be necessary to render explicitly the clause from which he had run away, since this information is clearly implicit.

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 22:23

Verse 23 lists the three main kinds of sacrifices: (1) burnt offerings, in which the whole animal was burned on the altar; (2) offerings of various kinds of cereals and grains; and (3) fellowship offerings (see 8.31). In verse 27, the second word of the three used there, sacrifices, is a general term for all kinds of offerings on the altar.

The evident intention of listing these three types of sacrifice is to be comprehensive; therefore they may be combined into something like “any kind of sacrifices.”

Verses 22-23 may be placed together in such a way as to avoid some of the overlap, and at the same time to make a more logical presentation:

• “We appeal to the LORD, the Almighty God, as our witness. He knows why we did this, and we want all of Israel to know it too! If we built this altar in order to rebel against the LORD or to break our covenant with him, then may the LORD himself turn us over to you so that you can kill us today. We did not build this altar with the intention of burning any kind of sacrifices on it….”

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 24:7 - 24:8

And I put darkness between them and the Egyptians may need to be rendered as a separate statement. Moreover, some languages will experience difficulty with the abstract noun darkness. The clause may be restructured to say “so I put a dark cloud between them and the Egyptians.”

I made the sea come rolling over the Egyptians and drown them leaves implicit an event which is not mentioned in the text. That is, according to the Exodus account the Lord first caused the sea to open up so that the Israelites could cross over on dry land. It was only when the Egyptians attempted to do the same thing that the sea came rolling over them. For readers not familiar with this event, a footnote referring to the exodus account may be useful. However, it may even be better to resolve this difficulty in the text: “I opened up the sea so that your ancestors could pass through safely. But when the Egyptians attempted to follow them, I caused the sea to roll over them and drown them.” This will remove the impression that the sea overflowed its banks and engulfed the Egyptians.

You know what I did to Egypt is literally “And your eyes saw what I did to Egypt” (Revised Standard Version). In the biblical account, however, Joshua and Caleb were the only adults who had left Egypt and had lived to enter the Promised Land; all the other adults had perished during the forty years in the wilderness. So Good News Translation has You know, which seems more suitable.

In verses 7b-10 Joshua recounts the events on the east side of the Jordan. A long time is literally “many days” and may also be rendered “many years.”

The Amorites is a general term for all the peoples of the region, and not simply for one tribe; so the comma indicating a nonrestrictive relative clause after Amorites in Good News Translation is wrong.

As you advanced is literally “from your faces” (Revised Standard Version “before you”). The meaning may well be “for you” or “so that you could (take their land).” You took their land, and I destroyed them as you advanced may then be translated, “I fought for you and destroyed them, so that you could take their land for yourselves.”

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 .