Translation commentary on Joshua 10:19

Attack them from the rear translates a verb found only here and in Deuteronomy 25.18. The sense in this context is better expressed by Soggin: “cut off their retreat” (so Jerusalem Bible “cut off their line of retreat”). The enemy would obviously be fleeing in retreat back to their fortified cities, where they would be safe, and Joshua orders his men to prevent them from reaching their cities, not simply to harass them from the rear.

The entire sentence (Keep on after the enemy and attack them from the rear; don’t let them get to their cities!) may be more briefly translated, “Keep on pursuing the rest of the enemy. Do not let them escape to their cities!”

Has given you victory over them once again translates the Hebrew idiom “has given them into your hand” (Revised Standard Version). The terminology of Good News Translation may be less abstractly translated as “has placed them in your power” or “will cause you to defeat them.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 10:19

10:19a

But you, do not stop there: The Hebrew clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as you, do not stop there is more literally “you, do not stand.” The pronoun “you” is in an emphatic position. Use whatever way is natural in your language to give this emphasis.

The clause do not stop there indicates that Joshua made a distinction between the people who gave the order to guard the cave and the people who guarded it.

10:19b

Pursue your enemies: The clause Pursue your enemies indicates that Joshua commanded these soldiers to continue fighting and to chase the enemy soldiers.

and attack them from behind: The Amorite soldiers were running away from the battlefield. Joshua told the Israelite soldiers to attack those who were running from behind.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

attack them from behind

10:19c

Do not let them reach their cities: The clause Do not let them reach their cities indicates that Joshua commanded the Israelite army to kill the enemy soldiers before they could return to their walled towns. If they reached their towns they would be protected by the town walls and could continue to fight.

10:19d

for the LORD your God has delivered them into your hand: The clause the LORD your God has delivered them into your hand indicates that Yahweh has decided that the Israelites will defeat the Amorites. The Israelite army should not hesitate to chase and attack the enemy soldiers because they can have confidence that Yahweh will enable them to defeat them.

© 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.