SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 2023 – Page 5

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 15:28

15:28

Hazar-shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah:

© 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.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 15:60

Paragraph: 15:60

This paragraph names two more towns that were given to the tribe of Judah.

15:60a

Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah: This is a new list of towns. It may be helpful to make this clear.

Here is another way to translate this part of the verse:

⌊There were also the towns of⌋ Kiriath-baal which is also known as Kiriath-jearim, and Rabbah
-or-

⌊Also there were⌋ Kiriath-baal whose other name is Kiriath-jearim, and Rabbah

15:60b

two cities, along with their villages: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

The total of these was two towns, and there were villages that surrounded them.
-or-
The number of these towns was two, with the villages that were near them.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 18:1

Section 18:1-10 Joshua divided land among the remaining seven clans

In this section Joshua instructed the remaining seven clans to make a plan for dividing up the rest of the land of Canaan.

Here are some other possible section headings:

Dividing the rest of the land
-or-
The rest of the land is distributed

Paragraph 18:1–10

18:1a

Then the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh: The phrase the whole congregation refers to all the Israelite people.

Shiloh: Shiloh is a town in the territory of the Ephraim clan. It was in the center of Israel, west of the Jordan River.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

Then all the community of Israel gathered at Shiloh
-or-
All the Israelite people met together at the town of Shiloh

18:1b

and set up the Tent of Meeting there: The tent of meeting was the tent that God told the Israelites to make. God gave detailed instructions to Moses on how to set up this tent and the things that were inside it. These instructions are found in Exodus 25–27. The fabric of the tent had outer layers made of goat hair. The inner layers were made of linen which were skillfully embroidered to make the inside beautiful.

The term Tent of Meeting emphasizes that this tent is where God met with his people.

A tent is a portable shelter made of cloth. The Israelites took the tent down and carried it when they moved through the wilderness. Some languages may not have a word for “tent.” In some languages, the closest equivalent may be “hut.”

Here are some other ways to translate this term:

holy tent
-or-
meeting tent
-or-
tent of the Lord ’s presence (Good News Translation)

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

and put up the meeting tent there
-or-
they set up the holy tent there

18:1c

And though the land was subdued before them: The clause the land was subdued before them indicates that the Israelites had conquered the people who lived in the land.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

The Israelites had conquered the land
-or-
They had defeated the people of the land

General Comment on verse 18:1

In some languages it may be more natural to reorder the parts of this verse so that they occur in chronological sequence. For example:

After the Israelites had defeated the people of the land they set up the tent of meeting at Shiloh

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 19:5

19:5

Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

the town of Ziklag, the town of Beth-marcaboth, the town of Hazar-susah
-or-
Ziklag town and Beth-marcaboth town and Hazar-susah town

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 19:37

19:37

Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor: The town of Kedesh was northwest of the Sea of Galilee, in the hill country of Galilee. The locations of the towns of Edrei and En-hazor are not known.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

Kedesh town, Edrei town, En-hazor town
-or-
and Kedesh town and Edrei town and En-hazor town

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 21:9

Paragraph 21:9–19

21:9a

From the tribes of Judah and Simeon: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

From the clans of Judah and Simeon
-or-
From ⌊the land that belonged to⌋ the clan of Judah, and the clan of Simeon

21:9b

they designated these cities by name: The Hebrew sentence that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they designated these cities by name is more literally “they gave them these towns which they called them by name.”

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

the Israelites gave these cites which they called by name
-or-
the Israelites named the following towns

General Comment on 21:9

It may be more natural to reorder the parts of this verse. For example,

The Israelites gave these towns from the clans of Judah and Simeon and told their names.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 21:41

21:41

For the Levites, then, there were forty-eight cities in all: This is the concluding paragraph of this chapter about the clans of Levi. The phrase For the Levites…forty-eight cities refers to all the towns named in the previous verses. They were all given to the clan of Levi to live in.

together with their pasturelands: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

with the grazing lands around them
-or-
and their grasslands

within the territory of the Israelites: The phrase within the territory of the Israelites indicates that these towns were scattered among all the lands that belonged to the Israelites.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

The towns that the clan of Levi received within the land of the people of Israel
-or-
The total number of towns that the Levi clan were given in the land that belonged to the Israel people

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 22:28

22:28a

Therefore we said: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

So we said to each other,
-or-
So we thought,

If they ever say this to us or to our descendants: Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

If they speak like this to us or to our descendants someday
-or-
If they say this to us or to our descendants in the future

22:28b

we will answer: Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

then we will say
-or-
we will answer them

Look at the replica of the altar of the LORD: The Hebrew sentence that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Look at the replica of the altar of the LORD is more literally “look at the copy of the altar of Yahweh.”

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

then we will say, “Look at the copy of the altar of Yahweh,
-or-
We will answer them, “Look. We have here a copy of Yahweh’s altar.

22:28c

that our fathers made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifices: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

that our ancestors made. ⌊But⌋ it was not for the purpose of offering burnt offerings or sacrifices.
-or-
Our ancestors made it, but they did not make it to offer burnt offerings or sacrifices ⌊on it⌋ .

22:28d

but as a witness between us and you: This clause is the same in Hebrew as the first part of verse 22:27. You should translate these words as much as possible in the same way as you did the words in that verse.

Search

Step into the multitudes of languages of the Bible and join the worldwide conversation!

Source: SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 2023

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 15:28

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 15:60

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 18:1

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 19:5

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 19:37

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 21:9

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 21:41

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 22:28

Search

Step into the multitudes of languages of the Bible and join the worldwide conversation!

American Bible Society