Joshua

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is transliterated as “Joshua” is translated in Swiss-German Sign Language with a sign that depicts a trumpet of rams’ horn, referring to Joshua 6:4 and following.


“Joshua” in Swiss-German Sign Language, source: DSGS-Lexikon biblischer Begriffe , © CGG Schweiz

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Joshua .

complete verse (Joshua 22:1)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 22:1:

  • Kupsabiny: “After that, Joshua called the soldiers from the clan of Reuben, Gad and those of Manasse from the east” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Now, Josue gathered the peoples of the tribe of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manase.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Joshua then summoned the leaders of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Joshua 22:1

Then is a literal rendering of the Hebrew text; one may translate “after the tribes of Israel had conquered the land west of the Jordan River.”

Joshua calls together the men of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh and recalls how Moses had commanded them to help their fellow Israelites conquer Canaan (Num 32.28-32; Deut 3.18-20). Although the Hebrew text does not specify, it is better to assume that Joshua called together only the men of the tribes, rather than all the people (Good News Translation), and one may want to make this specific in translation.

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 22:10

Section Joshua 22:1–8 Joshua sent the eastern clans back to their homes

Joshua had told the men of the clans of Reuben, Gad and half the clan of Manasseh that they must help their fellow Israelites to conquer the land on the west side of the Jordan River (see Joshua 1:12-18). Now they had conquered it with God’s help. They had fulfilled their obligation and so Joshua sent them home to where their families were living on the east side of the Jordan.

Paragraph 22:1–8

22:1

Then: The Hebrew adverb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Then starts a new time setting. We do not know how much time passed between the events of chapter 21 and the events of chapter 22. If the word Then in your language suggests that these events happened immediately after the events of chapter 22, it may be better to add a phrase such as:

some time later
-or-
on another day

Joshua summoned: The Hebrew verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as summoned can also be translated as “called” or “called together.” Joshua called all these people to come together and listen to what he had to say.

the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh: The phrase the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh refers to the people of the Reuben clan, the Gad clan, and half the people of the clan of Manasseh. These clans were mentioned in 1:12.

Here are some other ways to translate this verse:

Later, Joshua called together the people of the Reuben clan, the Gad clan, and half of the Manasseh clan
-or-
On another day, Joshua called the Reuben people, the Gad people, and half of the Manasseh people ⌊to meet with him⌋

© 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.