complete verse (Joshua 21:9)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 21:9:

  • Kupsabiny: “The first city given to the house of Aaron was Kiriath-arba in the highland of Judah. (Anak was the grandchild/descendant of Arba and Kiriath-arba is today called Hebron which is one of (those cities) where people may flee to.)” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “From the tribes of Judah and Simeon they received cities with names like this –” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “These are the names of the towns/cities from the land[s] of the tribes of Juda and Simeon that were-given to the descendants of Aaron. They (were) descendants of Kohat the child/(son) of Levi. They (were) the first-(ones) to-whom the lot-fell to-be-given towns/cities.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “These are the names of the cities and surrounding pasturelands that were allotted to them, that were in the areas where the tribes of Judah and Simeon lived.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Joshua 21:9 - 21:10

Good News Translation in verse 10 seems to imply that there were (or could be) descendants of Aaron who were not members of the clan of Kohath. Instead of the present Good News Translation text, it would be better to say “… to the members of the clan of Kohath who were the descendants of Aaron.” It is not necessary to repeat the information that they were Levites, since this is very redundant in the context. Aaron was the grandson of Kohath, one of the three sons of Levi.

Verses 9-10 may then be translated as a unit: “The members (or those members) of the clan of Kohath who were the descendants of Aaron received nine cities from the tribes of Judah and Simeon.” For some languages it would also be acceptable to use a passive: “Nine cities from the tribes of Judah and Simeon were given to the members (or, those members) of the clan of Kohath who were the descendants of Aaron.”

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 21:9

Paragraph 21:9–19

21:9a

From the tribes of Judah and Simeon: Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

From the clans of Judah and Simeon
-or-
From ⌊the land that belonged to⌋ the clan of Judah, and the clan of Simeon

21:9b

they designated these cities by name: The Hebrew sentence that the Berean Standard Bible translates as they designated these cities by name is more literally “they gave them these towns which they called them by name.”

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

the Israelites gave these cites which they called by name
-or-
the Israelites named the following towns

General Comment on 21:9

It may be more natural to reorder the parts of this verse. For example,

The Israelites gave these towns from the clans of Judah and Simeon and told their names.

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