SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 14:6

Section 14:6-15 Joshua gave Caleb the town of Hebron

In this section Caleb reminded Joshua of a promise that Moses had made to him. After Caleb helped to spy out the land of Canaan, Moses promised that he would inherit the land he had walked on. So Joshua granted the town of Hebron to Caleb.

Here are some other possible section headings:

Caleb’s inheritance
-or-
Caleb claimed his inheritance

Paragraph 14:6-9

14:6a

Then the sons of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal: While the Israelites were camped at Gilgal, the people of the tribe of Judah went to talk to Joshua.

Here is another way to translate this clause:

While the Israelites were camped at Gilgal, the people of Judah came to Joshua

Gilgal: Gilgal is the name of a place east of Jericho and west of the Jordan River. It is the place where the Israelites set up their camp after they crossed the Jordan River. It is first mentioned in Joshua 4:19| and you should translate it the same way in both places.

14:6b

and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him: The story of Caleb is told in 13. He was one of the twelve spies who explored the land of Canaan. Caleb and Joshua were the only two of the twelve spies who trusted God.

the Kenizzite: There are two ways to interpret the Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Kenizzite.

(1) It indicates that Caleb is a grandson of Kenaz. For example:

Caleb…the grandson of Kenaz (God’s Word)

(God’s Word)

(2) It indicates that Caleb belongs to the family or clan of Kenaz. For example:

Caleb belonged to the Kenaz clan (Contemporary English Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, Contemporary English Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). This is based on Judges 3:9 and I Chronicles 4:13-15.

14:6c

You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God: The phrase Moses the man of God is a title for Moses. He is called this several times, for example in Deuteronomy 33:1. This is a term that is often used for a prophet who speaks for God, for example 1 Samuel 2:27.

Here are some other ways to translate the phrase Moses the man of God :

Moses the man who belongs to God
-or-
the prophet Moses (New Century Version, Contemporary English Version)

14:6d

at Kadesh-barnea: The term Kadesh-barnea refers to a town on the south boundary of Canaan. The twelve spies returned here to make their report about Canaan (Numbers 13:26). This town was mentioned in Joshua 10:41 and you should translate it the same way in both places.

about you and me: Caleb said this to Joshua. Yahweh promised that Caleb and Joshua would receive land which their descendants would inherit (Numbers 14:24-30).

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

concerning you and me (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
about the two of us

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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.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 15:23

15:23

Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan:

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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.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 15:55

Paragraph: 15:55-57

This paragraph is a list of more towns that were given to the tribe of Judah.

15:55

Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah: This is the beginning of 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⌋ Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah…

© 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 17:14

Paragraph 17:14–18

17:14a

Then the sons of Joseph said to Joshua: The clan of Joseph includes both the clans of Ephraim and Manasseh. Ephraim and Manasseh were the two sons of Joseph.

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

The people of the clan of Joseph went to Joshua and asked him
-or-
One day the descendants of Joseph said to Joshua

17:14b

Why have you given us only one portion as an inheritance: The Hebrew text considers the clan of Joseph as a single entity. Because the clan of Joseph included many people, it is more natural to translate the Hebrew pronoun “me” with a plural pronoun us.

only one portion: In the phrase one portion refers to the area of land that Joshua had assigned to the clan of Joseph. In some languages it may be clearer to translate this phrase as:

one piece of land

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

Why did you (sing.) give us (excl.) only one share of land to be our own?
-or-
Why have you given just one area of land for our clan to own?

17:14c

We have many people: The clause We have many people indicates that the clan of Joseph had many people in it.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

even though there are many of us

because the LORD has blessed us abundantly: The clause the LORD has blessed us indicates that Yahweh gave the clan of Joseph many descendants.

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

We (excl.) have many people in our clan because Yahweh has blessed us
-or-
Yahweh has blessed our clan with many descendants. So now we are a large group of people

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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.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 18:28

18:28a

Zelah, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem): The term Jebus is an older name for the town of Jerusalem.

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

Jebus, which is now called Jerusalem
-or-
The town of the Jebus people. That town is now named Jerusalem.

18:28b

Gibeah, and Kiriath-jearim—fourteen cities, along with their villages: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

there were fourteen towns ⌊in this area⌋ , and there were villages that surrounded them
-or-
a total of fourteen towns, with the villages that were near them

18:28c

This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Benjamin: This verse repeats information from verse 18:20. You should translate it in the same way as you did there.

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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.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 19:32

Section 19:32-39

The clan of Naphtali received their land

Paragraph 19:32-39

19:32

The sixth lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Naphtali: This verse is similar to verse 19:17. It is recommended that you translate it in a similar way.

Here are some other ways to translate this verse:

The sixth lot belonged to the tribe of Naphtali (NET Bible)
-or-
Joshua threw the lot a sixth time and the clan of Naphtali received land

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

⌊The clan of Naphtali received land⌋ according to their family groups
-or-
Each of the clans of Naphtali received some land

© 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 21:40

21:4a

The first lot came out: The clause The first lot came out is the same Hebrew expression as in 16:1 where it Berean Standard Bible translates it as “The allotment for.” It means that Eleazar the priest threw the lot to show which clan would receive their towns first.

for the Kohathite clans: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as clans refers to groups of families or sub-clans. This word was used in 15:1b.

Kohathite: The term Kohathite refers to the descendants of Kohath. Kohath was one of Levi’s three sons. (See Genesis 46:11.)

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

The first lot was for the descendants of Kohath.
-or-
The families of the descendants of Kohath received their towns first by lot.

21:4b

There is a Hebrew conjunction here, which the Berean Standard Bible leaves untranslated, that indicates the next event in the narrative. Translate this conjunction in a way that is natural in your language.

The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest: The Hebrew clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest is more literally “the sons of Aaron the priest from the Levites.” This refers to the male descendants of Aaron.

Aaron the priest: Aaron was a grandson of Kohath, one of the three sons of Levi. Aaron was the first chief priest of Israel. The male descendants of Aaron had the responsibility to serve Yahweh as priests (Exodus 29).

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

The Levi people who were descended from Aaron the ⌊first chief⌋ priest
-or-
The male descendants of Aaron the priest, who was of the clan of Levi

21:4c

received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

received thirteen towns when the lot was thrown. These towns belonged to the clans of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.
-or-
were given thirteen towns by lot. The towns they received came from the clan of Judah, the clan of Simeon, and the clan of Benjamin.

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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.

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 21:36

21:36

From the tribe of Reuben they were given Bezer: The town of Bezer was mentioned in 20:8. It was east of the Jordan River.

Jahaz: The town of Jahaz was mentioned in 13:18. It was probably east of the Dead Sea, southeast of Medeba.

Here are some other ways to translate this verse:

From the clan of Reuben, they received the town of Bezer with its grazing lands and the town of Jahaz with its grazing lands,
-or-
The clan of Reuben gave ⌊from their lands⌋ the Merari families the town of Bezer and the grasslands around it and the town of Jahaz and the grasslands around it,

© 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.