9:13a

These wineskins were new when we filled them: The term wineskins refers to the leather bags or pouches in which people carried their wine. Translate it the same way you did in 9:4.

but look: The word look calls attention to something important and emphasizes it. Use whatever means is appropriate in your language to show importance or emphasis.

they are cracked: The clause they are cracked means that the wineskins were so old that there were cracks in the leather.

9:13b

And these clothes: The word clothes refers to the clothes the men were wearing.

and sandals are worn out from our very long journey: The phrase worn out from our very long journey emphasizes that the Gibeonites have come a long way and that they do not live near the Israelites.

sandals: The sandals that people wore in those times were open, with a sole under the foot and straps around the top. In some languages it may be more natural to call them:

shoes

General Comment on 9:11–13

When the Gibeonites said this they were telling lies to the Israelites. They were trying to deceive them. Translate this in a way that sounds like people who are telling convincing lies.

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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.

10:18a

So Joshua said: The clause So Joshua said is a result clause. Joshua gave a command as a result of what the soldiers told him. For example:

Therefore

Use an appropriate means to indicate result in your language.

Joshua said: It may be more natural in some languages to translate the word said as “commanded” or “answered.” It may also be more natural to include the addressee in the clause. For example:

So Joshua commanded them

Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave: Joshua told his soldiers to Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave so that the entrance to the cave was closed. The five kings could not leave the cave until the Israelites finished fighting the battle. It may be more natural in some languages to make this information explicit. For example:

Cover the opening of the cave with large rocks (New Living Translation (2004))

10:18b

and post men there to guard them: The clause post men there to guard them indicates that Joshua had some soldiers guard the entrance to the cave, so that the five kings would not push away the rocks and get out. The pronoun them refers to the five kings.

© 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.

13:4a

to the south: The Avvim lived in the south of the Philistine territory. This prepositional phrase describes the Avvim people and is a continuation of verse 3e. You should translate it as a single phrase.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

The region of the Avvim people in the south ⌊has also not been conquered⌋

13:4b

all the land of the Canaanites: The phrase the land of the Canaanites introduces a second group of towns. These are places in the north that are named in verses 4-6.

For example:

In the north, the following area has not yet been conquered: all the land of the Canaanites, including Mearah (which belongs to the Sidonians) stretching northward to Aphek on the border of the Amorites. (New Living Translation (2004))

The term “Canaanite” is used here as a term for the inhabitants of Canaan. This is different from how it is used in verse 13:3b, where it refers to a specific group of Canaan people.

13:4c

from Mearah: There is a textual issue in this verse.

(1) The Hebrew text says Mearah. We do not know where the town of Mearah was.

(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004), Good News Translation, King James Version)

(2) Some scholars suggest that we should divide the word Mearah and modify the vowels so that it becomes two Hebrew words “from Arah.” The town of Arah is also unknown.

(New International Version, NET Bible, Contemporary English Version)

It is recommended that you follow option (1) along with the Hebrew text.

of the Sidonians: The clause of the Sidonians indicates that town of Mearah was ruled by the people of Sidon. Sidon was on the Mediterranean coast in the north.

13:4d

to Aphek: The term Aphek indicates a town that was probably southeast of Byblos in Lebanon.

as far as the border of the Amorites: The phrase as far as the border of the Amorites indicates that “Aphek” was on the northern border of the land that was ruled by the Amorite people. The next people further north from there were the Amorite 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.

14:3a

For: The Hebrew conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible has translated as For can also mean “because.” It states the reason for something. Many English versions do not translate this conjunction. For example:

Moses had already given a grant of land to the two and a half tribes on the east side of the Jordan River. (New Living Translation (2004))

Moses had given the inheritance: This verse explains the reason why the land on the west side of the Jordan River was divided between nine and a half tribes, rather than all twelve tribes.

14:3b

east of the Jordan to the other two and a half tribes: Theother two and a half tribes refers to the tribes of Gad, Reuben and one half of the tribe of Manasseh.

east of the Jordan: The phrase east of the Jordan indicates the east side of the Jordan River. It may be helpful to make this clear. For example

Moses had given the two-and-a-half tribes their inheritance east of the Jordan River. (God’s Word)
-or-
Moses had given the other two and a half tribes their own land on the east side of the Jordan River.

14:3c

But he granted no inheritance among them to the Levites: Although the Berean Standard Bible puts the phrase to the Levites at the end of the clause, it comes first in the Hebrew clause to emphasize that the Levites were different from the other tribes. Many languages will have another way to show this emphasis.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

He did not give any land as an inheritance to Levi’s tribe. (God’s Word)

The tribe of Levi did not receive any land like the other tribes. (English Easy-to-Read Version)

he granted no inheritance among them: This indicates that the Levites did not receive any land. If you have translated the word inheritance as “land” in previous verses then you should translate it the same way here.

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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 15:20-32

This paragraph is a list of the towns that the tribe of Judah received in the southern part of their land. After the paragraph there are several other paragraphs that list towns throughout the territory of Judah.

15:20a

This is the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Judah: The word inheritance refers to the land which God gave to the people of the tribe of Judah.

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

This is the land that God promised to the people who belonged to the tribe of Judah
-or-
The following list shows the towns that the Judah tribe received

the clans: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as clans means that each clan or group of families received their own share of the land.

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

Each clan received their own share of the land
-or-
Every family got their own land

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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: 15:52-54

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

15:52

Arab, Dumah, Eshan: 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⌋ Arab, Dumah, Eshan…

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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.

17:11a

Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh was assigned Beth-shean: The town of Beth-shean was fifteen miles southwest of the Sea of Galilee.

Here are some ways that English versions have spelled the name of this town:

Beth Shean (NET Bible, God’s Word)
-or-
Beth-shean (Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, New American Bible, Revised Edition, King James Version)
-or-
Beth Shan (New International Version, Good News Translation)
-or-
Beth-shan (New Living Translation (2004), Contemporary English Version)

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

The clan of Manasseh also had towns in the lands of the clan of Issachar and the clan of Asher. These were Beth-shean town and its surrounding villages

17:11b

Ibleam, Dor (that is, Naphath): Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

the town of Ibleam and its surrounding villages, and the people of the town of Dor and its surrounding villages
-or-
Ibleam and the villages that surrounded it, and the people who lived in Dor and the villages that surrounded it

Dor (that is, Naphath): The Hebrew clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as that is, Naphath is more literally, “three is Naphath.” Most scholars understand the term Naphath to refer to the town of Dor. Dor is the third town in this list. The town of Naphath Dor is also mentioned in Joshua 11:2 and 12:23.

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

The third town in the list was also called Naphath
-or-
The town of Dor also had the name Naphath

17:11c

Endor:

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

the people of the town of En-dor and its surrounding villages
-or-
the people who lived in En-dor and the villages that were around it

17:11d

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

the people of the town of Taanach and its surrounding villages
-or-
the people who lived in Taanach and the villages that surrounded it

17:11e

and Megiddo, each with their surrounding settlements: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

the people of the town of Megiddo and its surrounding villages
-or-
the people who lived in Megiddo and the villages that surrounded it

General Comment on verse 17:11

It may be more natural in your language to reorder and combine the parts of verse 11. For example:

The clan of Manasseh also had towns in the lands of the Issachar and Asher clans. These towns were Beth-shean, Ibleam, Dor which is also called Naphath Dor, Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo. The villages that surrounded these towns also belonged to the clan of Manasseh

© 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.