complete verse (Joshua 17:13)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 17:13:

  • Kupsabiny: “But when the people of Israel got the strength, (they) made the Canaanites their slaves but they did not drive those people out.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “But when the Israelites attained strength, they made them do slave labor. They did not, however, drive them all out.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But when the Israelinhon grew-stable/strong, they enslaved the Canaanhon, but they did- not -drive- them -out.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But years later when the Israelis became better warriors, they forced the Canaan people-group to work for them as slaves, although they did not force them to leave the land.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Joshua 17:12 - 17:13

Verses 12-13 indicate that the same thing happened in those cities that happened elsewhere (see verses 15.63 and 16.10): the Israelites were unable to drive out the native Canaanites from those places and reduced them to a slave class. In verse 12 it should be made clear that the people living in those cities and the Canaanites are the same people. To accomplish this it may be necessary to translate “… were not able to drive out the Canaanites who lived in those cities, so the Canaanites….”

In Hebrew the verb did not drive out (Revised Standard Version “did not utterly drive … out”) is emphatic, and so the verse may be translated, “Later the Israelites became stronger, and they forced the Canaanites to work for them. But they still did not drive all the Canaanites out of the land.”

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 17:13

17:13a

However, when the Israelites grew stronger: The clause when the Israelites grew stronger indicates that the Israel people became strong enough to force the Canaanite people to do what they wanted.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

But when the people of Israel became stronger
-or-
But later when the Israel men became strong enough

17:13b

they put the Canaanites to forced labor: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

they made the Canaan people work as their slaves
-or-
the people of Canaan became their slaves and had to work hard for them

17:13c

but they failed to drive them out completely: The clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as failed to drive them out has a form in Hebrew to show that it is emphasized. The Berean Standard Bible translates this emphasis with the word completely. Use a word or grammatical form in your language that shows emphasis.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

But still the Israel people did not completely force the Canaan people to leave
-or-
However, the people of Israel failed to make all of the people of Canaan leave ⌊the land⌋

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