20Did not Achan son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity!”
The Greek and Hebrew that is translated as “son of” in English is translated in all Icelandic Bible versions of the Icelandic Bible Society (latest edition 2007) in parallel with the Icelandic naming system . This means that for instance in Matthew 16:17 the name that is transliterated and translated in English as “Simon son of Jonah” becomes “Simon Jónasson” or in Isaiah 8:2 “Zechariah son of Jeberechiah” becomes “Sakaría Jeberekíason” where in both cases the “-son” means “son of.”
In cases where “son of” does not refer to a literal father or perhaps stepfather but to lineage, however, this system is not used. So in Matthew 1:1 “Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham” is translated as “Jesú Krists, sonar Davíðs, sonar Abrahams.”
The referenced verses all have at least one instance where the Icelandic patronymic or matronymic naming system is used. (Source: Halldór Elías Guðmundsson)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 22:20:
Kupsabiny: “Don’t you remember when Achan son of Zerah sinned against God when he took those things that were set aside for God? It was not only Achan who died for his sin. But he also made the people of Israel suffer severely.’ ’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “When Achan, son of Zerah acted treacherously in the matter of devoted things, the LORD was angry with whole community of the Israelites, wasn’t He? The punishment for Achan’s sin did not fall only on him, it fell on others as well.’"” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Have- you (plur.) already -forgotten Acan the child/(son) of Zera? When he disobeyed the command concerning/about the things which were-offered entirely to the LORD, he was-punished and the whole/entire people of Israel. He (was) not the only one (who) died because of his sin.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Do you remember what happened when Zerah’s son Achan refused to obey Yahweh’s command to destroy everything in Jericho? That one man disobeyed God’s command, but many other Israelis were punished. Achan died because of his sin, but other Israelis also died.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
The western delegation recalls the sin of Achan (see 7.1-26), which brought punishment upon all the people and the death not only of Achan but of his whole family. If one man’s sins had such terrible consequences, what would be the result of the sin of two and one-half tribes of the Lord’s people? Notice again the concept of things condemned to destruction because they were given to the Lord; this was what Achan disregarded.
In Hebrew Remember how … punished for that is in the form of a rhetorical question (see Revised Standard Version). Since the form of the question in Hebrew automatically implies a “yes” answer, Good News Translation is able to translate it as an affirmative statement. Remember how is the positive equivalent of “Do not ever forget.”
Most translations retain son of Zerah, but for many readers the retention of this phrase will lessen the impact of the narrative. The problem is that the author of the text may have known several persons by the name of Achan, while the readers of the translation know only one.
Refused to obey the command implies two events: (1) The Lord gives a command, and (2) Achan refuses to obey. In addition, things condemned to destruction also implies a command on behalf of the Lord, who told the people of Israel to destroy all the things that were devoted to him. On the basis of these observations, verse 20 may be translated as follows:
• “… Do not forget what happened to Achan! The LORD told us, ‘Destroy everything in the city of Jericho.’ But Achan did not obey the LORD’s command, and so the LORD punished all of us. Achan died because of what he did, and many other Israelites also died because of Achan’s sin.”
Or a causative verb may be introduced in the last sentence: “… The LORD caused Achan to die because of what he did, and the LORD also caused many other Israelites to die because Achan did not obey him.” A causal and noncausal combination is also possible: “… The LORD caused Achan to die because Achan did not obey him, and many other Israelites also died because of Achan.”
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 .
Was not Achan son of Zerah unfaithful regarding what was set apart for destruction: This is a rhetorical question. It functions as a warning. There are two ways to translate this question:
• As a question. For example:
Achan son of Zerah acted unfaithfully concerning the things that belonged to Yahweh, didn’t he?
• As a statement. For example:
Remember how Achan son of Zerah refused to obey the command about things that must be destroyed. (English Easy-to-Read Version)
Achan son of Zerah: This person was first mentioned in 7:1.
unfaithful: The Hebrew words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as unfaithful are the same words that occurred in verse 22:16 that the Berean Standard Bible translated as “breach of faith.” It means to act disloyally or unfaithfully. Achan did not keep the promise he made to Yahweh to obey his commands.
regarding what was set apart for destruction: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as what was set apart was first used in 6:17-18. Yahweh said that these things belonged to him. The Israelites must not keep them. In 7:1 Achan stole some of these things and hid them. He and his family died because of that sin. It is recommended that you translate this Hebrew word in a similar way to how it was translated in 6:17 and 7:1.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
Did not Achan the son of Zerah disobey the command concerning the things that belonged to Yahweh? -or-
Achan the son of Zerah acted disloyally toward Yahweh regarding the things that must be destroyed
22:20b
bringing wrath upon the whole congregation of Israel: The clause bringing wrath upon the whole congregation of Israel indicates that Yahweh was angry with all the Israelite people.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
Yahweh was angry with all the people of Israel ⌊because of what Achan did⌋ -or-
Yahweh became angry with the entire community of Israel
22:20c
Yet it was not only Achan who perished because of his sin: The clause not only Achan who perished because of his sin indicates that Achan was not the only person who died because of what he had done. His whole family also died. The Israel people were concerned that they would die because of the sin of the eastern clans.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
He was not the only person who died because of his sin. -or-
Other people also died because he had sinned.
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