SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 19:3

19:3

Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem: Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

They also received the towns of Hazar-shual and Balah and Ezem
-or-
Hazar-shual and Balah and Ezem

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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 19:35

19:35

The fortified cities: The term fortified cities indicates towns that have strong walls around them. This term occurred in verse 19:29.

were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth: The location of the towns of Ziddim and Zer is not known. The towns of Hammath and Rakkath were on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. The town of Chinnereth was northwest of the Sea of Galilee. It is called Gennesaret in the New Testament.

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

Within their land were several cities with strong walls around them. They were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Kinnereth (Translation for Translators)
-or-
The towns with strong walls that belonged to the clan of Naphtali were Ziddim, and Zer and Hammath and Rakkath and Kinnereth

© 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 21:7

21:7a

And the descendants of Merari: Merari was one of the three sons of Levi.

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

The descendants of Merari, by their families
-or-
The families that were descended from Merari

21:7b

received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun: This verse is similar to 21:4c although it does not have the phrase “by lot.”

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

received twelve towns from the clans of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun
-or-
were given twelve towns ⌊in all⌋ from the clan of Reuben, the clan of Gad, and the clan of Zebulun

© 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 21:39

21:39

Heshbon: The town of Heshbon was mentioned in 9:10. It was southwest of the city of Amman in what is now the country of Jordan.

Jazer: The town of Jazer was mentioned in 13:25. It was probably west of the present city of Amman in what is now the country of Jordan.

four cities in all, together with their pasturelands: The phrase four cities in all indicates that the clan of Gad gave four of their towns for the Merari families to live in.

Here are some other ways to translate this verse:

the town of Heshbon and the grasslands around it, and the town of Jazer and the grasslands around it. The total was four towns.
-or-
the town of Heshbon with its grazing lands and the town of Jazer with its grazing lands. The clan of Gad gave the families of Merari four towns in all.

© 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 22:26

22:26

That is why: The Hebrew conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as That is why introduces a conclusion. Because of what might happen, the eastern people took this action. Use a connecting word that is natural in your language.

we said: The clause we said refers to the discussion that the eastern clans had with each other before they built the altar. It may be helpful to include the implicit information “to each other.”

Let us take action and build an altar for ourselves, but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices: This statement is in the form of a quotation. It may be more natural to rephrase it without a quotation. In that case the clause “we said” would be left untranslated. For example:

So we decided to build this altar, not for burnt offerings and sacrifices (NET Bible)

burnt offerings: This is the same term used in verse 23b.

sacrifices: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as sacrifices refers to offerings of animals that were burnt. It is a more general word for sacrifices than the word that is translated as “burnt offerings.”

Here are some other ways to translate this verse:

So we said ⌊to each other⌋ , ‘Let’s build an altar. We will not offer burnt offerings or ⌊other⌋ sacrifices on it,
-or-
That is why we decided to build an altar. It was not for offering burnt offerings or ⌊other⌋ sacrifices.

© 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 24:8

Paragraph 24:8–13

24:8a

Later: The Hebrew conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Later introduces the next event in the storyline.

I brought you to the land of the Amorites: The Amorites were mentioned in 3:10. Look to see how you translated it there. The events that Joshua described in this verse are first told in Numbers 21:21-35.

who lived beyond the Jordan: The phrase beyond the Jordan refers to the east side of the Jordan River. Joshua and the people are now on the west side.

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

Then I led you (plur.) into the land of the Amorites who lived on the other side of the Jordan River.

24:8b

They fought against you, but I delivered them into your hand: The sentence I delivered them into your hand indicates that when the Amorites attacked the Israelites, Yahweh helped the Israelites to defeat them.

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

They fought against you but I handed them over to you.
-or-
When they attacked you, I helped you to defeat them.

24:8c

that you should possess their land when I destroyed them before you: It may be more natural to reorder the parts of this sentence so that it follows a chronological order. For example:

I destroyed them in front of you and you took their land for your own.
-or-
I helped you to destroy them and you occupied their 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.