A new section heading, such as “God helps the Israelites defeat their enemies,” may be introduced at this point. If this is done, then verse 9 will have to be a new paragraph.

In a forced all-night march up steep mountain trails, Joshua and his men cover the 30 kilometers from Gilgal to Gibeon. Soggin comments that this is difficult “but not impossible and can be carried out in 8-10 hours.”

The verb chosen to translate marched should be suitable for a military group, though it should not necessarily imply keeping in step. See comments at 6.4.

And they made a surprise attack on the Amorites may be rendered as a separate sentence: “So the Israelite army was able to attack the Amorites before the Amorites knew they were there.”

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 .