complete verse (Joshua 19:47)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 19:47:

  • Kupsabiny: “But/and when the people of the clan of Dan lost their land, they went to fight against Laish. They killed the people of that land/area and took the land/area to be theirs. They settled there and changed the name of Laish to be Dan. (They) named it after their forefather who was called Dan.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “(But it was difficult for the clans of Dan to take possession of their territory. So they went to Leshem, did battle with it, conquered it, destroying it with the sword. Then they settled there. They named Leshem "Dan" after the name of their ancestor Dan.)” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The descendants of Dan had-difficulty taking- their land -by-force, so they attacked Leshem and killed its residents. They took- this -by-force and they lived there. They changed/switched the name of this to Dan, according-to the name of their ancestor/[lit. old-one] Dan.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But the people of the tribe of Dan were unable to take control of the land that had been allotted to them. So they went northeast and fought against the people in Leshem city. They defeated and killed all the people who lived there. Then they began to live in Leshem, and changed the name of the city to Dan, the man from whom their tribe descended.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Joshua 19:47 - 19:48

The tribe of Dan was unable to control this territory, so they migrated north all the way to the headwaters of the Jordan, on the east bank (see Judges 18); there they conquered Laish and changed the name to that of their ancestor, Dan.

When the people of Dan lost their land is literally “And the territory of the people of Dan went out from them.” The temporal conjunction When may be translated either “Later” or “Sometime later,” indicating an indefinite period of time. Lost their land implies an agent and may be translated “some enemies (or, some people) capture the territory that belonged to the tribe of Dan.” Finally, Laish should perhaps be identified as a city.

Since the first part of verse 48 refers directly to the cities of verses 41-46, verses 47-48 may be placed together:

• All of these cities, along with their villages, belonged to the tribe of Dan. But later their enemies captured their land, and so the people of Dan went north to the city of Laish and attacked it. They captured the city, killed its people, and claimed it for themselves. Then they named the city after their ancestor Dan.

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 .