Section 1:10–18 Joshua told the Israelites to get ready to cross the Jordan River

In this section Joshua told the Israelites to get ready and prepare food to cross the Jordan River. He reminded the men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh that they would cross the Jordan River with the rest of the Israelites.

Here are some other possible sections headings:

Preparing to cross the Jordan River

Paragraph 1:10-11

Joshua told the Israelites that they will soon cross the Jordan River. They must get food ready to take with them.

1:10

Then: The Hebrew conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Then is used to show that the next action in the story will take place. Use a connection that is appropriate in your language for the beginning of a new section.

Here are some other ways to translate this wordː

And
-or-
So

Joshua commanded the officers of the people: In some languages it may be necessary to say that Joshua summoned the officers before he spoke to them.

officers of the people: The phrase officers of the people refers to the leaders of each Israelite tribe. Choose a word that indicates a position of responsibility and leadership but not of command over all the Israelites.

Here is another way to translate this phraseː

the leaders of the tribes of Israel

Here are some other ways to translate this verse:

Then Joshua commanded the leaders of the people of Israel (Translation for Translators)
-or-
Joshua ordered the tribal leaders (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Then Joshua called the leaders of the Israelites together and told them

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Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

Paragraph 4:15–18

4:15

Then: The word Then indicates that the next action in the story is about to take place.

the LORD said to Joshua: It may be more natural in some languages to use a word such as:

Yahweh ordered Joshua
-or-
Yahweh commanded Joshua

© 2001, 2011, 2020, 2022, 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

Paragraph 6:8–11

6:8a

After: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as After indicates that the next event in the story is happening.

Joshua had spoken to the people: It may be more natural in your language to translate the clause Joshua had spoken to the people as an independent sentence. For example:

the soldiers and priests obeyed Joshua

the people: The phrase the people refers to the soldiers and the priests who blew the trumpets and carried the ark.

6:8b

seven priests carrying seven rams’ horns before the LORD: The phrase seven priests refers to the priests who carried the trumpets and walked in front of the ark.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

the priests with their trumpets started walking ahead of the presence of Yahweh

before the LORD: The phrase before the LORD is another way to refer to the ark. The ark represented the presence of Yahweh.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

before the ark of Yahweh
-or-
before the presence of Yahweh

6:8c

advanced and blew the horns: The priests walked in front of the ark. They blew their trumpets while they walked.

6:8d

and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them: The Hebrew language uses the full term the ark of the covenant of the LORD in order to emphasize its importance. If it is not natural to repeat all this information, some of it may be left implicit. For example:

the ark of Yahweh
-or-
the ark of the covenant

If possible, use a way to add emphasis that is natural in your language.

followed them: Verse 6:8b has already mentioned that the priests went ahead of the ark. It may not be natural in your language to include the information that the ark followed them. If you include this information, it may be necessary to make explicit that some of the priests carried the ark. For example:

behind these came the priests who were carrying the covenant box (Good News Translation)

© 2001, 2011, 2020, 2022, 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

Paragraph 7:13

God told Joshua what to say to the Israelites.

7:13a

Get up: The Hebrew verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Get up is literally “get up” or “stand up.” However, it can also be used to show the beginning of an action. It means “proceed” or “begin to.”

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

Proceed to sanctify the people (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-

Go, consecrate the people (New International Version)

Translate this idea of “proceed to action” in a way that is natural in your language.

consecrate the people: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates consecrate means that people are made holy for Yahweh by means of a ritual. They then belong to Yahweh. When the people of Israel do this, they will become pure again. In Exodus 19:10 the people were sanctified with the ritual of washing their clothes. In Exodus 19:15 they did not have sex. We do not know what ritual they followed in Joshua 7, so it is best to translate this word in a general way.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

Purify the people
-or-
Make the people holy
-or-
Prepare the people ⌊to meet me⌋

7:13b

Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow: God told Joshua to have the people purify themselves so that they will be ready to meet with God the next day. Some English versions combine 13a and 13b because they repeat the same information.

Command the people to purify themselves in preparation for tomorrow (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Tell the people, ‘Get ready for tomorrow by performing the ceremonies to make yourselves holy.’ (God’s Word)

7:13c

for: The connector that the Berean Standard Bible translates as for indicates the reason for God’s judgment on Israel. Use a connector that is natural in your language.

this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: This clause, what the LORD, the God of Israel, says, is an emphatic formula. It means that God will make an important declaration. God will make this declaration through the speech of Joshua. Use a natural way to show that the following speech is important and should be considered seriously.

These are embedded quotations. There is a quotation within a quotation within a quotation. God told Joshua to say to the people what God said. One way to translate 7:13a-c is:

⌊God said,⌋ Get up ⌊Joshua⌋ , and sanctify the people. ⌊This is what you are to⌋ say to them, “Sanctify yourselves, because Yahweh, the God of Israel ⌊himself⌋ says this…

Translate these embedded quotes in a way that is natural in your language.

7:13d

Among you: This phrase means that the devoted things were somewhere in the Israelite camp.

O Israel: The phrase O Israel shows that God is speaking to the people of Israel. It may not be possible in your language to put the addressee at the end of the sentence. You can put the addressee somewhere else in the sentence.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

Israel, you have in your possession some things that I ordered you to destroy! (Good News Translation)
-or-
Hidden among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the Lord. (New Living Translation (2004))

there are things devoted to destruction: The things devoted to destruction refer to the things that belong to God and that the Israelites must destroy. You should translate things devoted to destruction the same way you did in 7:1.

7:13e

You cannot stand against your enemies: The clause You cannot stand against your enemies means that the Israelites will not be able to defeat their enemies.

7:13f

until you remove them: The Israelites must destroy the things that are dedicated for God’s use. God will not help them defeat their enemies until they obey him.

© 2001, 2011, 2020, 2022, 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

8:19a-b

Scholars disagree about whether Joshua pointed his javelin toward Ai as a signal to the men who were hiding, or as a symbol of God’s action in defeating the town. It seems likely that it served both functions. It signaled the troops to advance, and it symbolized God’s power and victory over Ai. In 8:19 the focus is on the signal to the soldiers, but 8:26 shows that the outstretched arm is also a symbol of God’s victory.

8:19a

and as soon as he did so: When Joshua stretched out his hand with the lance, it was a signal to the troops to attack. Some English versions make this explicit. For example:

When the Israelites who were in ambush saw this (New Century Version)
-or-
As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly (New International Version)
-or-
as soon as he lifted his hand, the men who had been hiding got up quickly (Good News Translation)

8:19b

the men in ambush rose quickly from their position: This clause indicates that the soldiers who were hiding got up from their hiding places. They knew that the time had come to attack the town.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

the men who had been hiding got up quickly (Good News Translation)

General Comment on 8:19a-b

In some languages it is more natural to change the order of 19a and b to reflect the order in the original language. For example:

19b The soldiers rose quickly from where they were hiding 19a as soon as Joshua stretched out his hand

8:19c

They rushed forward, entered the city, captured it: The soldiers ran through the open gates and captured the town.

8:19d

and immediately set it on fire: The soldiers quickly set fire to the houses and other things in the town.

© 2001, 2011, 2020, 2022, 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

Paragraph 9:16–21

9:16a

Three days: In Hebrew, part of a day was counted as one day when reckoning time. For example, if the treaty was made on a Monday, these events were probably on the Wednesday evening. Translate this reference to Three days in a natural way in your language.

after they had made the treaty with the Gibeonites: It may be necessary in some languages to make the subject and the object explicit, For example, you could say:

three days after ⌊the Israelites⌋ made a covenant with ⌊the Gibeonites⌋

9:16b

the Israelites learned that they were neighbors: This indicates that the Israelites heard that the Gibeonites were their neighbors. In some languages it may be clearer to make either the subject or the object explicit. For example:

the Israelites learned that these people did indeed live nearby (Good News Translation)
-or-
the Israelites learned that the Gibeonites lived nearby (New Century Version)

living among them: The clause living among them is another way to say that the Gibeonites lived in a nearby town. It emphasizes that the Gibeonites lived close by, not far away, as they had claimed. Use whatever lexical or grammatical means is natural to show this emphasis.

© 2001, 2011, 2020, 2022, 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

10:21a

The whole army returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah: The clause returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah indicates that Joshua had made a temporary camp at Makkedah and waited there for the army to return from battle.

Makkedah: The town of Makkedah was mentioned in 10:10. Makkedah was in the southern part of Canaan, about 14 kilometers west of Hebron. Joshua made his camp there temporarily while the Israelite army attacked the towns in the south of Canaan.

General Comment on 10:20a-21a

It may be clearer in some languages to split this long sentence into several shorter sentences. For example:

20a Joshua and the Israelite soldiers killed almost all of the Amorite soldiers. 20b There were hardly any left alive. 20c Those who were still alive ran into their fortified towns. 21a Then all the Israelite soldiers returned safely to Joshua in the camp at Makkedah.

10:21b

no one dared to utter a word against the Israelites: The Hebrew clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as no one dared to utter a word is more literally “not a man sharpened his tongue.” This Hebrew idiom indicates that none of the Canaanites criticized the Israelites or spoke anything bad about them, because they saw how powerful the Israelites were.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

no one dared to speak against any of the Israelites (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
no one uttered a word against the Israelites (New International Version)
-or-
no one around there dared say anything bad about the Israelites (Contemporary English Version)

© 2001, 2011, 2020, 2022, 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.