8Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan; they fought with you, and I handed them over to you, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 24:8:
Kupsabiny: “Later, I led my people to come to the country of the Amorites which is on the east side of the river Jordan. Then you were being fought against, but I gave you victory. I destroyed those people and you took their land.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “’I brought you to the country of the Amorites who live to the east of the Jordan. They did battle with you, but I gave them into your hands. I destroyed them from before you and you took possession of their land. ” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “‘Afterwards, I brought you (plur.) to the land of the Amornon to the east of the River of Jordan. They fought against you (plur.), but I caused- you (plur.) -to-win. I destroyed them via you (plur.) and you (plur.) subjected their land[s]/brought- their land[s] -under-(your)-jurisdiction.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “‘Then I brought your ancestors to the area where the groups who were descendants of Amor lived, east of the Jordan River. They fought against you, but I enabled you to defeat them. I enabled you to destroy them so that you could live in their land.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
The Hebrew, Greek and Ge’ez that is translated as “Jordan” means “descending (rapidly),” “flowing down.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
In Hungarian Sign Language it is translated with the sign for the river bordering Jordan and Israel, along with the general sign for river. (Source: Jenjelvi Biblia and HSL Bible Translation Group)
“Jordan river” in Hungarian Sign Language (source )
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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 shows 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.
Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.
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 shows 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).
And I put darkness between them and the Egyptians may need to be rendered as a separate statement. Moreover, some languages will experience difficulty with the abstract noun darkness. The clause may be restructured to say “so I put a dark cloud between them and the Egyptians.”
I made the sea come rolling over the Egyptians and drown them leaves implicit an event which is not mentioned in the text. That is, according to the Exodus account the Lord first caused the sea to open up so that the Israelites could cross over on dry land. It was only when the Egyptians attempted to do the same thing that the sea came rolling over them. For readers not familiar with this event, a footnote referring to the exodus account may be useful. However, it may even be better to resolve this difficulty in the text: “I opened up the sea so that your ancestors could pass through safely. But when the Egyptians attempted to follow them, I caused the sea to roll over them and drown them.” This will remove the impression that the sea overflowed its banks and engulfed the Egyptians.
You know what I did to Egypt is literally “And your eyes saw what I did to Egypt” (Revised Standard Version). In the biblical account, however, Joshua and Caleb were the only adults who had left Egypt and had lived to enter the Promised Land; all the other adults had perished during the forty years in the wilderness. So Good News Translation has You know, which seems more suitable.
In verses 7b-10 Joshua recounts the events on the east side of the Jordan. A long time is literally “many days” and may also be rendered “many years.”
The Amorites is a general term for all the peoples of the region, and not simply for one tribe; so the comma indicating a nonrestrictive relative clause after Amorites in Good News Translation is wrong.
As you advanced is literally “from your faces” (Revised Standard Version “before you”). The meaning may well be “for you” or “so that you could (take their land).” You took their land, and I destroyed them as you advanced may then be translated, “I fought for you and destroyed them, so that you could take their land for yourselves.”
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 .
Later: The Hebrew conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Later introduces the next event in the storyline.
I brought you to the land of the Amorites: The Amorites were mentioned in 3:10. Look to see how you translated it there. The events that Joshua described in this verse are first told in Numbers 21:21-35.
who lived beyond the Jordan: The phrase beyond the Jordan refers to the east side of the Jordan River. Joshua and the people are now on the west side.
Here is another way to translate this part of the verse:
Then I led you (plur.) into the land of the Amorites who lived on the other side of the Jordan River.
24:8b
They fought against you, but I delivered them into your hand: The sentence I delivered them into your hand indicates that when the Amorites attacked the Israelites, Yahweh helped the Israelites to defeat them.
Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:
They fought against you but I handed them over to you. -or-
When they attacked you, I helped you to defeat them.
24:8c
that you should possess their land when I destroyed them before you: It may be more natural to reorder the parts of this sentence so that it follows a chronological order. For example:
I destroyed them in front of you and you took their land for your own. -or-
I helped you to destroy them and you occupied their land.
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