Rahab (image)

Hand colored stencil print on momigami by Sadao Watanabe (1972).

Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe.

For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.

See also Rahab.

complete verse (Joshua 2:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 2:7:

  • Kupsabiny: “Those people who had been sent followed a path until where one crosses the river Jordan. And when those people went, the gate of the city was immediately closed.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “As for the ones who went to pursue the men, they went to the place where one crosses over the Jordan river. As soon as the ones who went out to pursue them the main gate of the city was closed.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The men of the king went to pursue the two spies. When they got-out of town/city, the gate of the city was- then -closed. In their pursuing they reached as-far-as the fords/place-of-crossing of the River of Jordan.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The messengers went out of the city to search for the two men. Immediately, the guards shut the city gate. The messengers went along the road that leads down to the place where people can walk across the Jordan River, but they did not find the two men.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Jordan

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 )

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Jordan River .

Translation commentary on Joshua 2:7

The king’s men left Jericho and went east toward the Jordan, and there they gave up the search. On the assumption that the messengers left immediately in pursuit of the spies, it is allowable to include the adverb “immediately” and to follow the order of the Hebrew text more closely by placing in final position the information about the closing of the gate: “The guards immediately took up pursuit and went as far as the place where the road crosses the Jordan River.” Also, on the assumption that the gate was closed following the departure of the spies and had to be opened a second time for the pursuers to get out, one may render “The city gate was again closed behind 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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Joshua 2:7

2:7a

So: The Hebrew conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So is used to emphasize that the focus is on the soldiers and what they did. It can also be translated “as for the men.” Some English versions leave this conjunction untranslated, for example:

The king’s men pursued them (God’s Word)

Choose a connection that is natural in your language.

the king’s men set out in pursuit of the spies: The Hebrew sentence that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the king’s men set out in pursuit of the spies does not follow the normal Hebrew word order. In Hebrew the verb usually comes first. In this sentence the subject comes first. This emphasizes the change of subject, from Rahab to the king’s soldiers.

the king’s men: The phrase the king’s men refers to the same men who came to Rahab’s house. These men were first mentioned in verse 2:3a. How you translate the phrase the king’s men will depend on the implied information that you supplied in that verse.

set out in pursuit of the spies: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as set out in pursuit can also be translated as “chased” or “looked for.”

the spies: The phrase the spies refers to the two Israelite men. The king’s men believed Rahab’s report that the Israelite men had already left Jericho.

along the road to the fords of the Jordan: The phrase along the road to the fords of the Jordan indicates the road that led to the Jordan River.

the fords of the Jordan: The fords are a place in a river where the water is shallow and people can walk across.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

crossing-place
-or-
the place where people can cross the river

It may be helpful to add the implicit information “but they did not find them.”

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

As for the king’s men, they chased after the Israelites until they reached the fords of the Jordan River
-or-
The soldiers ran after the two Israelite men as far as the place where they could cross the Jordan River ⌊but they did not find them⌋

2:7b

and as soon as: The Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as soon as is more literally “after when.” Verse 5a said that the men left just at the time when the gate was closed at dusk. The two actions happened quickly one after the other.

they had gone out: The pronoun they refers to the king’s men who chased the Israelites. The phrase had gone out indicates that these soldiers left Jericho.

the gate was shut: See the note on 2:5a.

General Comment on 2:7

The events in this verse are not told in order. In some languages it may be more natural to reorder this verse. For example:

7b
⌊The soldiers⌋ went out ⌊of Jericho⌋ , and immediately people closed the town gate. 7a The soldiers pursued ⌊the two Israelites⌋ along the road as far as the fords over the Jordan River.

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