10They did not, however, drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived within Ephraim to this day but have been made to do forced labor.
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Ephraim” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “palm tree” referring to the palm of Deborah in the land of Ephraim (see Judges 4:5. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 16:10:
Kupsabiny: “Those people were not able to drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So, those Caananites live with the clan of Ephraim as slaves until today.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “They did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. Even until today the Canaanites are living as slave laborers for the people of Ephraim.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “They did- not -drive-out the Canaanhon who live in Gezer; so there-are Canaanhon who live together-with the Efraimhon until now, but/yet they were-made into slaves.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “The people of the tribe of Ephraim could not force the Canaan people-group to leave Gezer, so the Canaan people-group still live among the people of the tribe of Ephraim, but the Israelis forced the people of the Canaan people-group to become their slaves.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Verse 10 takes notice of the fact that the original inhabitants of Gezer were not driven out of their city, but that their descendants were still living there as slaves at the time of the writing of the account.
But they did not drive out the Canaanite who lived in Gezer may be translated, “But the people of Ephraim did not drive the Canaanites out of the city of Gezer,” by which who lived in is clearly implicit.
So the Canaanites have lived among the Ephraimites to this day may be translated, “That is why the Canaanites still live among the people of Ephraim.”
The Hebrew expression translated forced to work as slaves implies the lowest form of compulsory labor, that is, complete enslavement. The expression is used also at Genesis 49.15.
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 .
But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
but they did not conquer the Canaanite people who lived in the town of Gezer -or-
but the Ephraim people did not force the Canaan people to leave Gezer
16:10b
So the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day: This clause indicates that the people of Canaan still lived alongside the people of the clan of Ephraim.
to this day: The phrase to this day indicates that they still lived there when the book of Joshua was written.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
so the Canaan people still live among the Ephraim people up to this time -or-
that is why the people of Canaan still live along with the clan of Ephraim
16:10c
but they are forced laborers: Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
but they work as slaves to the Ephraim people -or-
but they are slaves to the clan of Ephraim and have to work hard for them
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