family / clan / house

The Hebrew terms that are translated as “family” or “clan” or “house” or similar in English are all translated in Kwere as ng’holo or “clan.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

In the English translation by Goldingay (2018) it is translated as “kin-group.”

See also tribe.

complete verse (Joshua 21:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 21:7:

  • Kupsabiny: “The house of Merari was granted twelve cities coming from the land of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The descendants of Merari received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun, clan by clan.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The descendants of Merari were-given 12 towns/cities from the land[s] of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The people from the Merari clans were allotted twelve cities in the areas that had been allotted to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Joshua 21:5 - 21:8

Verses 4-8 classify the Levites according to their clans, which descended from Levi’s three sons, Kohath, Gershon, and Merari. The clans descended from Kohath are divided into two groups (verses 4-5), one of which consists of the descendants of Aaron, grandson of Kohath (Exo 6.18-20), the other one consisting of the other descendants of Kohath. Although Gershon was the oldest son (Exo 6.16; Num 3.17), Kohath is named first because of Aaron.

The Hebrew text mentions the use of the sacred lots in this initial classification of the levitical clans (see Revised Standard Version verses 4, 5, 6; strangely enough, it is not mentioned in verse 7). Good News Translation has taken these references to be anticipatory, that is, they actually refer to the choosing of the cities as such, and so the matter is mentioned specifically in verse 8, where a summary statement is made of the assignment of the cities.

It is possible, however, either to follow the pattern of the Hebrew (see Revised Standard Version), or else to introduce an initial summary statement. If this second suggestion is followed, then verse 4 and the first part of verse 5 may be restructured as follows:

• Each clan received its cities by drawing lots. The descendants of Aaron from the tribe of Kohath received their cities first. They were given thirteen cities from the territories of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. 5 Then the rest of the clan of Kohath….

So as to arrange verse 8 in a somewhat more chronological sequence, it may be translated:

• The LORD had commanded Moses to let the tribe of Levi draw lots to see what cities they would receive. So they drew lots, and the people of Israel gave them these cities together with the pasture lands around them.

A shift may also be made to direct discourse: “The LORD had commanded Moses, ‘The tribe of Levi will draw lots, and they will receive the cities according to the lots that they draw.’ So they drew lots….”

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 21:7

21:7a

And the descendants of Merari: Merari was one of the three sons of Levi.

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

The descendants of Merari, by their families
-or-
The families that were descended from Merari

21:7b

received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun: This verse is similar to 21:4c although it does not have the phrase “by lot.”

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

received twelve towns from the clans of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun
-or-
were given twelve towns ⌊in all⌋ from the clan of Reuben, the clan of Gad, and the clan of Zebulun

© 2001, 2011, 2020, 2022, 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.