Translation commentary on Joshua 11:6 - 11:7

The Lord assures Joshua that he, the Lord will provide the victory; all the enemy will be killed by the next day. Joshua is told to cripple their horses and burn their chariots. To “hamstring” (Revised Standard Version) an animal is to cut the large sinew of the back legs, leaving the animal unable to walk. Although the events of verse 6 are narrated in chronological sequence, the use of the future perfect (will have killed) and of the imperative (You are to) may cause some confusion of time sequence. Moreover, in Hebrew the personal pronoun “I” (of the Lord) is emphatic. The Lord’s instructions to Joshua may then be translated. “Do not be afraid of them, because I, the LORD, will kill them all. By this time tomorrow they will all be dead. After the battle, cripple their horses and burn their war chariots.”

Joshua attacked the enemy by surprise (perhaps by night, verse 7), routed them and killed them all (verse 8). As a comparison of Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version will indicate, the Hebrew (represented by the formal structure of Revised Standard Version) is somewhat more lengthy than Good News Translation. If there is a problem with the pronoun them, it may be rendered either “the enemy camp” or “the enemy.” By surprise may be translated, “before the enemy 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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 11:6

11:6a

Then: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Then indicates the continuing action of the narrative. Yahweh gave instructions to Joshua after the armies gathered to fight against the Israelites.

Do not be afraid of them: Yahweh told Joshua not to be afraid of the enemies. Yahweh gave him this same encouragement before the battle of Ai (Joshua 8:1) and the battle at Gibeon (Joshua 10:8).

11:6b

for by this time tomorrow: The phrase by this time tomorrow indicates the time that Yahweh will help the Israelites to defeat the armies of the northern kings.

I will deliver all of them slain before Israel: The clause I will deliver all of them slain before Israel indicates that Yahweh will kill the enemies of the Israelites. It is evident from verses 6–7 that the Israelites had a part in pursuing their enemies and killing them. However, this happened only because Yahweh enabled them to do it.

slain: The word slain is from the verb “to slay” which means “to kill.” Yahweh said that he would kill the enemies.

before Israel: Yahweh said he would give the Canaanite soldiers before Israel. Since Yahweh was talking to Joshua, it may be clearer in some languages to translate this:

to you
-or-
to you Israelites

11:6c

You are to hamstring their horses: The word to hamstring means to cut the large tendon, the “hamstring,” that runs down the back of the horse’s hind leg. The Israelites were to cut the hamstrings of the Canaanite horses so that they would not be able to walk. They did this so that the enemy armies could not use the horses that survived.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

cut the hamstrings of their horses
-or-
cut the legs of their horses ⌊so that they cannot be used to fight⌋

11:6d

and burn up their chariots: The Hebrew text includes the words “with fire”, which may be helpful to specific in some languages. For example:

and burn their chariots with fire

In other languages, adding this might make it redundant, because it is already implied in the verb burn.

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