Translation commentary on Joshua 2:13

The request of the previous verse is repeated and includes all the immediate members of Rahab’s family (father, mother, brothers, sisters) and their families. Verses 12-13 may be combined by relating the sign to the content of the promise in verse 13: “I beg you, swear to me by him that you will treat my family as I have treated you. Prove your faithfulness to me in this way: Let my parents and my brothers and sisters and their families live. Save us from death!”

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 2:13

2:13a

that you will spare the lives: The Hebrew verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as spare the lives can also be translated “let live.” Rahab asked the two Israelites to promise that no one would kill her family when the Israelites conquered Jericho.

of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them: The phrase all who belong to them indicates the families of Rahab’s brothers and sisters as well as her own immediate family.

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

Let my father and mother, my brothers and sisters and all their families live
-or-
Save the lives of my whole family

2:13b

and that you will deliver us from death: Rahab asked the Israelites not to kill her or her family. Rahab makes the same request two times, using different words, to emphasize the importance of her request.

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

save us from death
-or-
do not let your people kill us

© 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.

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

© 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.