2King Sihon of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Wadi Arnon, and from the middle of the valley as far as the Wadi Jabbok, the boundary of the Ammonites, that is, half of Gilead,
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 12:2:
Kupsabiny: “One king was Sihon of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon and he ruled from Aroer in the ridge that overlooks the valley of Arnon. It enveloped the (area) south of Gilead until the river Jabbok which was the border to the Ammonites.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “One was Sihon, king of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon. He reigned from Aroer city, which is above the Arnon gorge, up to the Jabbok river, which is the border of the Ammonites, Half of Gilead was also included in that area.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “The Israelinhon had- now -subjected/brought-under-(their)-jurisdiction the land in the east of Jordan, from the Arnon channel/water-course/place-where- the water -flows up-to the Mountain of Hermon, including now here the land in/to the east of the Valley of Jordan. These are the kings in those places who were-defeated by the Israelinhon: Sihon the Amornon who was-living in Heshbon. The jurisdiction of his kingdom (was) half of Gilead. This (was) from Aroer beside the Arnon channel/water-course of water, and from this half up-to the River of Jabok, the border of the Ammonhon.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “One of them was Sihon, the king of the Amor people-group. He lived in Heshbon city and ruled over the area from Aroer town along the Arnon River Gorge, north to the Jabbok River. His land started in the middle of the gorge, which was the border between his land and the land of the Ammon people-group. Sihon also ruled over the southern half of the Gilead region,” (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.”
One was Sihon … at Heshbon may be somewhat clearer if translated, “One of the kings whom Moses defeated was King Sihon. He was an Amorite king who ruled at the city of Heshbon.”
The geographical data in verses 2-3 relating to the kingdom of Sihon are not very clear in Hebrew. For the defeat of Sihon, see Numbers 21.21-30; Deuteronomy 2.26-37.
Heshbon, the capital of Sihon, was about 25 kilometers northeast of the northern end of the Dead Sea. The southern limit of Sihon’s kingdom was Aroer (that is, the Arnon Valley); the northern limit was the Jabbok River, which flows into the Jordan. The river formed the boundary with Ammon, which lay to the east (a look at a map in k The New Oxford Annotated Bible,k* Revised Standard Version, will show how the river runs north and then turns west to the Jordan). Sihon’s kingdom occupied (the southern) half of Gilead.
Good News Translationand from the city in the middle of that valley attempts to make sense of the Hebrew, which has “from Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon Valley, and the middle of the valley and half of Gilead and to the Jabbok River, the border of the Ammonites.” Jerusalem Bible, New English Bible, New American Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, in different ways, translate “and the valley (or, riverbed) itself”; Revised Standard Version “from the middle of the valley” involves a slight alteration of the Masoretic text. Good News Translation has taken its clue from 13.9, 16, “the city that is in the middle of the valley” (see also Deut 2.36), on the assumption that the city in has dropped out from the text here.
In verse 3, Revised Standard Version “the Arabah” and “the Sea of Chinneroth” are the Jordan Valley and Lake Galilee. Beth Jeshimoth lies slightly northeast of the Dead Sea, about 20 kilometers west of Heshbon, the capital of Sihon’s kingdom. Mount Pisgah is between Heshbon and Beth Jeshimoth. Revised Standard Version translates the Hebrew “the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea,” which is a way of speaking of the Dead Sea.The Hebrew miteman in verse 3 is translated by most “from the south” or “southward”; New English Bible, however, takes it to be a place name, “from Teman,” a city in Edom, about halfway between the Gulf of Aqaba and the Dead Sea.
A clear and simple presentation of the geographical data contained in this and the following verse will be extremely difficult. At the least it will require constant reference to a map and careful consideration of the most natural order in which to present the material in the receptor language. Following the interpretation of Good News Translation, one method of presentation would be:
• 2 King Sihon ruled the southern half of the land of Gilead, which was the territory between the Jabbok River valley in the north and the Arnon River valley in the south. His kingdom extended southeast as far as the city of Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley. In the southwest it extended as far as the town in the Arnon Valley halfway between Aroer and the Dead Sea. 3 The western boundary of his kingdom was the Jordan River valley from Lake Galilee in the north to the Dead Sea in the south. Included in his territory was the area east of the Dead Sea as far as the town of Beth Jeshimoth and Mount Pisgah.
Since Mount Pisgah is less well known than Mount Nebo, the neighboring mountain, it would also be proper to use the better known term for the geographical description.
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 .
Verses 12:2-3 give a detailed description of the territory that King Sihon ruled. Verse 2 describes the eastern part of his territory starting from its south end. Verse 3 describes the western part of his territory that was in the Jordan River valley.
Sihon king of the Amorites: The story of how Moses and the Israelites conquered Sihon king of the Amorites is in Numbers 21:21-35.
the Amorites: The word Amorites refers to a group of people who lived on the east side of the Jordan River. This word was used in 3:10| and you should translate it the same way in both places.
who lived in Heshbon: King Sihon lived in Heshbon, which was the capital town of the Amorites. Heshbon was about 25 kilometers northeast of the Dead Sea.
12:2b
He ruled from Aroer: The town of Aroer was beside the Arnon River. King Sihon’s territory started at Aroer in the south and went north from there.
Here is another way to translate this clause:
King Sihon’s territory started at the town of Aroer
on the rim of the Arnon Valley: The clause on the rim of the Arnon Valley indicates that the town of Aroer was on the bank of the Arnon River. The Arnon River runs into the Dead Sea.
12:2c
along the middle of the valley: The words the valley refers to the Arnon River valley. There is an interpretation issue here.
(1) The Hebrew text reads “and the middle of the valley.” For example:
from the middle of the gorge (New International Version)
(Berean Standard Bible, New International Version, Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation (2004), New American Bible, Revised Edition, King James Version)
(2) Some English versions say “from the town in the middle of the valley.” They add the word “town” because of Joshua 13:9 and 16 which describe the same place. For example:
including the city in the middle of the valley (NET Bible)
(NET Bible, Good News Translation)
It is recommended that you follow option (1) and translate the middle of the valley as in the Berean Standard Bible. This follows the Hebrew text.
up to the Jabbok River: The phrase up to the Jabbok River indicates that the Jabbok River was the northern boundary of King Sihon’s territory. It was also that beginning of Ammonite territory.
the border of the Ammonites: The phrase the border of the Ammonites indicates that the Jabbok River formed the boundary between the territory of King Sihon and the territory of the Ammonites.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
all the way to the Jabbok Valley bordering Ammonite territory (NET Bible) -or-
to the Jabbok River, which is the border of the Ammonites (New International Version)
the Ammonites: The term Ammonites indicates a group of people who lived in the country of Ammon. Ammon was a region or an area, not a town.
12:2d
that is, half of Gilead: The clause half of Gilead indicates that the territory which King Sihon ruled was half of the region of Gilead.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
This included half of Gilead (New International Version) -or-
This territory included the southern half of the territory of Gilead (New Living Translation (2004))
Gilead: The term Gilead indicates the mountainous region north of the Dead Sea. The Gilead Region stretched from the east of the Jordan River to the desert.
General Comment on 12:2
Here is another way to translate 12:2. This example has divided the verse into three sentences.
King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, was defeated. His kingdom included Aroer, on the edge of the Arnon Gorge, and extended from the middle of the Arnon Gorge to the Jabbok River, which serves as a border for the Ammonites. This territory included the southern half of the territory of Gilead. (New Living Translation (2004))
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