complete verse (Joshua 21:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 21:3:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then the clan of Levi was granted some cities and (places) where they could graze animals.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “So in accordance with the command of the LORD, the Israelites gave the Descendants of Levi cities with grazing land for their cattle from their own inheritance.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “So according-to what the LORD commanded, the descendants of Levi were-given towns/cities and pasturelands from the land[s] of the Israelinhon.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So the Israeli leaders obeyed this command from Yahweh. They agreed to give towns and pasturelands to the tribe of Levi.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Joshua 21:3

So in accordance with the LORD’s command the people of Israel gave may be rendered in a slightly different form: “So the people of Israel obeyed the LORD’s command and gave.”

Certain cities may be translated “some of their cities.”

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 21:3

21:3a

So: The Hebrew conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So indicates the next event in the narrative. Translate this connecting word in a way that is natural in your language.

by the command of the LORD: The Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as by the command of the LORD is more literally, “by the mouth of Yahweh.”

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

Just as Yahweh had commanded
-or-
According to what Yahweh had said

21:3b

the Israelites gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands out of their own inheritance: The phrase their own inheritance refers to the towns and lands that the people of Israel received when Joshua and Eleazar the priest threw lots for them.

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

The Israel people gave these towns and the lands around them to the clan of Levi from the land that they had been given
-or-
The people of Israel gave to the Levi people some of the towns and pasturelands that they had received

Paragraph: 21:4–7

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