complete verse (Joshua 4:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 4:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “When your children in other days ask you, ‘What do these stones show?’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “These stones are to be [lit.: may be] a sign among you. Later, if your children ask, ‘What is the meaning of these stones?’” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “and then you (plur.) heap-together/a mass in-order-to-become a monument as a remembrance to what the LORD has-done. Some-time-later, when your (plur.) children will-ask you (plur.) what the meaning of these stones (are),” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then pile them up to be a memorial for you. In the future, when your children ask, ‘What do these stones mean?’,” (Source: Translation for Translators)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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 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. )

Translation commentary on Joshua 4:6 - 4:7

Verses 6-7 give the reason for setting up these twelve stones at Israel’s lodging place that first night in Canaan. They will serve (verse 6) as “a sign” (Revised Standard Version), “a memorial” (New English Bible); they will remind (Good News Translation). The noun “memorial” in verse 7 (Revised Standard Version) defines the precise nature of “the sign” in verse 6; for all time to come the people of Israel will be reminded of what happened at the Jordan River.

By placing together verses 6 and 7 it is possible to avoid the repetition contained in the first part of verse 6 (These stones will remind the people of what the LORD has done) and in the last part of verse 7 (These stones will always remind the people of Israel of what happened here). If this adjustment is made to the text, then the first sentence of verse 6 may be combined with the last sentence of verse 7 and placed as Joshua’s concluding statement: “These stones will always remind the people of Israel of what the LORD did here.”

Whereas the repetition found in the Hebrew text may cause one kind of problem, a much more severe problem may possibly result from the failure to mark explicitly certain events. For example, a potentially comical situation could result from the information in verses 5 and 6: Each one of you take a stone on your shoulder…. In the future, when your children ask what these stones mean to you…. The reader may well be left with the impression that the children of these Israelite men will in the future ask them why they are carrying these stones about on their shoulders. Therefore it may be necessary to make explicit in verse 5 some of the information found in verse 8. For example, “Each one of you twelve men take a stone on your shoulder, one for each of the tribes of Israel. Then carry these stones to the camping place, and put them down there.” The repetition of this information toward the end of verse 8 (especially if done in a slightly different manner) will certainly not stand out as awkward to the reader.

When the LORD’s Covenant Box crossed the river may need to be stated somewhat differently, since the Lord’s Covenant Box is not an animate being which may move on its own (see also go … ahead of the Covenant Box of verse 5). One may translate “when the priests carried the LORD’s Covenant Box across (or, into) the river.”

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 4:6

4:6a

to serve as a sign among you: The clause to serve as a sign among you states the reason they gathered the twelve stones.

sign: The word sign indicates that these stones were a reminder to the Israelites of how God helped them to cross the Jordan River. When the Israelites saw the stones in the future, they would remember that Yahweh made the Jordan River stop flowing so that they could cross it.

among you: The phrase among you indicates that the stones remained where the men placed them, and were there for people to see whenever they passed by.

4:6b

In the future, when your children ask: The clause In the future, when your children ask refers to the children of the Israelites as well as the future generations of Israelites.

Here is another way to translate this part of the verse:

in the future, when your children and grandchildren ask

4:6c

What do these stones mean to you?: The question What do these stones mean to you? asks why those stones are important to the Israelites.

Here are some other ways of translating this question:

Why are these stones important to you? (NET Bible)
-or-
What event do these stones help you to remember?

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