Translation commentary on Joshua 24:11

Verses 11-13 describe the invasion of Canaan, beginning with the battle for Jericho (chapter 6). For the seven peoples listed in this verse, see comments on 3.10.New English Bible, without any textual justification, omits the list of seven peoples; it must be admitted that this list looks like a later addition (see Gray). Hebrew Old Testament Text Project stays with the Masoretic text. The phrase the men of Jericho represents the Hebrew “the lords (or, owners) of Jericho”; Jerusalem Bible “those who held Jericho”; and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “the owners (or, masters) of Jericho.” It also seems adequate to translate “The fighting men from Jericho” or “The soldiers from Jericho.”

But I gave you victory over them all may more effectively be introduced earlier in the verse: “The people of Jericho fought you, but I caused you to defeat them. Then the Amorites … and the Jebusites fought against you. But I caused you to defeat all of them.”

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 .

first person pronoun referring to God

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese show different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help.

In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also pronoun for “God”.

formal second person plural pronoun

Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese show different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )