5Then the five kings of the Amorites—the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon—gathered their forces and went up with all their armies and camped against Gibeon and made war against it.
The name that is transliterated as “Jerusalem” in English is signed in French Sign Language with a sign that depicts worshiping at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:
While a similar sign is also used in British Sign Language, another, more neutral sign that combines the sign “J” and the signs for “place” is used as well. (Source: Anna Smith)
“Jerusalem” in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)
The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin that is translated as “army” in English is translated in Chichewa as “group of warriors.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 10:5:
Kupsabiny: “Then these five kings of the Amorites made an alliance: (the kings) from Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon. Those people together with their soldiers decided to go and lay siege to the city of Gibeon and fight it.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “So the five Amorite kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon all assembled their armies in one place to go and fight with Gibeon.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “So these five Amornon kings united/[lit. became-one]: the king of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmut, Lakish, and Eglon. They gathered their soldiers and attacked Gibeon.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “So those five kings who ruled all the groups who were descendants of Amor—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Debir—came up with all of their soldiers and surrounded the city. Then they prepared to attack it.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
The four kings comply with Adonizedek’s proposal, and the combined armies of the five city-states march to Gibeon, surround it, and attack it. The repetition of the names of the cities, combined with the distance between the subject (kings) and the verbs (joined forces, surrounded, and attacked) may make it advisable to delete the repetition of the names “Then these five kings joined forces. They surrounded the city of Gibeon and attacked it.” The verb surrounded (Revised Standard Version “encamped”) represents a method of ancient warfare known as “siege warfare.” In order to weaken a city’s resistance the enemy army would set up camp around the city. This would make it impossible for the people of the city to send for or to receive help from the outside. When the people of the city were weakened from a lack of food and water, the enemy army would then launch its attack. The presence of the enemy army outside the city walls also had the psychological advantage of putting fear into the hearts of the people in the city.
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 .
So the five kings of the Amorites: The phrase the five kings of the Amorites refers to the kings who were mentioned in verse 3. These kings were all “Amorite” kings. The term “Amorite” referred to people who lived in the hill country. These five kings lived in the southwestern hill country. The towns of the Gibeonites were north of Jerusalem. These kings wanted to attack Gibeon because they had trade connections with it. The peace treaty that the Gibeonites made with the Israelites made it difficult to trade with them.
10:5b
the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon: This list of kings is repeated from verse 3. In some languages it may be more natural to avoid some of the repetition.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
Then the five kings of the Amorites—the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish and Eglon (New International Version) -or-
When these five Amorite kings (Contemporary English Version)
10:5c
joined forces: The clause joined forces indicates that the five kings assembled their armies together.
and advanced with all their armies: The clause advanced with all their armies indicates that the five kings led their armies and went to the towns of Gibeon.
advanced: The Hebrew text says they advanced. Although the towns of Gibeon were at about the same elevation as Jerusalem, they were higher than the other four towns. In languages that do not keep track of elevation, it may be more natural to say:
they went with all their armies
10:5d
They camped before Gibeon: The clause camped before Gibeon indicates that the armies surrounded the town so that the Gibeonites could not leave it. They could not find food and would soon become weak. Then the five Amorite armies could conquer it.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
(they) surrounded Gibeon (Good News Translation) -or-
(they) moved all their troops into place (New Living Translation (2004))
In 9:17 it says that the Gibeonites lived in four towns: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim. Probably this attack was only against the town of Gibeon.
and made war against it: The clause made war against it indicates that the five armies attacked the towns of Gibeon.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.