Cherokee: “putting one’s hand up to someone” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16)
In Bauzi “swear” can be translated in various ways. In Hebrews 6:13, for instance, it is translated with “bones break apart and decisively speak.” (“No bones are literally broken but by saying ‘break bones’ it is like people swear by someone else in this case it is in relation to a rotting corpse’ bones falling apart. If you ‘break bones’ so to speak when you make an utterance, it is a true utterance.”) In other passages, such as in Matthew 26:72, it’s translated with an expression that implies taking ashes (“if a person wants everyone to know that he is telling the truth about a matter, he reaches down into the fireplace, scoops up some ashes and throws them while saying ‘I was not the one who did that.'”). So in Matthew 26:72 the Bauzi text is: “. . . Peter took ashes and defended himself saying, ‘I don’t know that Nazareth person.'” (Source: David Briley)
Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)
The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).
For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the exclusive pronoun, excluding Rahab.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 2:20:
Kupsabiny: “But if you betray us, those word that we have sworn are not holding us.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “But if you tell what we have been doing, we are not bound by this oath in any way."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “But if you (sing.) will-tell-about/spread-word-about of our (incl.) spying, we (excl.) will- not -fulfill what you (sing.) have-had- us (excl.) -swear.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “But if you tell anyone what we are planning to do, we are not required to do what we have vowed to do.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
The third condition is that Rahab must say nothing about what we have been doing (literally “this matter of ours”). It may be both unnecessary and unnatural to repeat in such close sequence the information which you have made us give you, since this is given in verse 17. Instead one may translate “(our promise) which we made to you” or even “(our promise) to you.”
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 .
And: The Hebrew conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as And introduces a contrast, so many English version translate it as “But.” In verse 14c the Israelite spies gave the condition on which they will save the lives of Rahab and her family. In this verse they give the condition on which they will not save them. Use a word or a grammar marker which expresses this contrast in your language.
if you report our mission: The phrase if you report our mission uses the same Hebrew words that occurred in 2:14c except that the word “not” is not included. Translate this positive phrase the same way as you did in that verse, without using the negative.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
However, if you tell anyone what we have been doing (Good News Translation) -or-
but if you tell anyone about this matter of ours
2:20b
The Hebrew conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible leaves untranslated introduces what will happen if Rahab tells people about them. In some languages it may be more natural to keep this word explicit by using a word like “then.”
we will be released from the oath you made us swear: This Hebrew phrase is the same as the phrase in verse 17b, except for one word. In verse 17b there is the emphatic pronoun “we.” In this verse the verb “we will be” occurs instead. The meaning is the same.
In both these verses the men give conditions on which they will not keep their promise. In the previous verse, they will not keep their promise if Rahab does not tie the red rope in the window. In this verse they will not keep their promise if Rahab tells anyone about what they were doing.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
we(dual)(excl.) will be free from keeping the promise that you (sing.) asked us to give -or-
we will be released from the oath you made us take
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