complete verse (Joshua 18:1)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 18:1:

  • Kupsabiny: “When the people of Israel had taken the land, they all gathered in Shilo and put up the Tent of God.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “After that land had been conquered, whole assembly the Israelites gathered in Shiloh. Then there they set up the Tent of Meeting. Because the country was brought under their control.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “After the whole assembly/community of Israel took-by-force/seized the land, they all gathered at Shilo, and erected/[lit. cause-to-stand] the Tent of Meeting-Together-Place.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The Israeli people captured all the land that they were able to, but there were still seven tribes that had not been allotted any land. The Israeli people all gathered at Shiloh, and they set up the Sacred Tent there.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Joshua 18:1 - 18:2

After they had conquered the land (Revised Standard Version “the land lay subdued before them”) comes at the end of verse 1 in Hebrew. Good News Translation places it first for purposes of chronological sequence. The pronoun they refers to the entire community of Israel in the second clause of Good News Translation, but a more natural arrangement would be achieved by changing the order: “After the people of Israel had conquered the land, all of them….”

Shiloh, in the highlands of Ephraim, was 32 kilometers north of Jerusalem. The name has not recently been mentioned in the text, and translation in some languages may require “the city of Shiloh.”

Even though it is true that the entire community of Israel assembled at Shiloh, it is obvious that not all of them set up the Tent of the LORD’s presence. Therefore a new subject may need to be introduced: “… assembled at Shiloh. There the priests and their helpers set up the Tent of the LORD’s presence.”

This is the first time that the Tent of the LORD’s presence has been mentioned in the book. But the Covenant Box implies also the presence of the Tent (see verses 3.3 and 8.33). For the description of the Tent, see Exodus 26. The Tent of the LORD’s presence may be translated “The Tent where the LORD met the people of Israel” or “The Tent where the people of Israel worshiped the LORD.”

The passive structure had not yet been assigned (verse 2) may be translated, “to whom Joshua had not yet assigned.”

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 18:1

Section 18:1-10 Joshua divided land among the remaining seven clans

In this section Joshua instructed the remaining seven clans to make a plan for dividing up the rest of the land of Canaan.

Here are some other possible section headings:

Dividing the rest of the land
-or-
The rest of the land is distributed

Paragraph 18:1–10

18:1a

Then the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh: The phrase the whole congregation refers to all the Israelite people.

Shiloh: Shiloh is a town in the territory of the Ephraim clan. It was in the center of Israel, west of the Jordan River.

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

Then all the community of Israel gathered at Shiloh
-or-
All the Israelite people met together at the town of Shiloh

18:1b

and set up the Tent of Meeting there: The tent of meeting was the tent that God told the Israelites to make. God gave detailed instructions to Moses on how to set up this tent and the things that were inside it. These instructions are found in Exodus 25–27. The fabric of the tent had outer layers made of goat hair. The inner layers were made of linen which were skillfully embroidered to make the inside beautiful.

The term Tent of Meeting emphasizes that this tent is where God met with his people.

A tent is a portable shelter made of cloth. The Israelites took the tent down and carried it when they moved through the wilderness. Some languages may not have a word for “tent.” In some languages, the closest equivalent may be “hut.”

Here are some other ways to translate this term:

holy tent
-or-
meeting tent
-or-
tent of the Lord ’s presence (Good News Translation)

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

and put up the meeting tent there
-or-
they set up the holy tent there

18:1c

And though the land was subdued before them: The clause the land was subdued before them indicates that the Israelites had conquered the people who lived in the land.

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

The Israelites had conquered the land
-or-
They had defeated the people of the land

General Comment on verse 18:1

In some languages it may be more natural to reorder the parts of this verse so that they occur in chronological sequence. For example:

After the Israelites had defeated the people of the land they set up the tent of meeting at Shiloh

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