Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("tell")

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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, tsuge-rare-ru (告げられる) or “tell” is used.

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

Translation commentary on Joshua 6:2

Beginning with verse 2 the Lord gives Joshua his instructions, with the assurance that he, God, is handing the city of Jericho and all its inhabitants into the power of Joshua. The victory will be the Lord’s doing; the Israelites are not to mount a military campaign against the city but are to engage in a religious procession around the city. The instructions are explicit: once a day, for six consecutive days, the Israelite army is to march around the city; seven priests, followed by the Covenant Box, will lead the procession. Each priest is to carry a trumpet, an instrument made of a ram’s horn. It seems quite clear in verse 4 that only on the seventh day were the priests to blow the trumpets; in contrast, the single march around the city on each of the six preceding days was to be made in silence. But in the execution of the plan (verses 8-14) the trumpets are blown every time the Israelites march around the city.

A transitional marker may be required at the beginning of this verse; Luther Rev has “But”; others may prefer “Then.” It is also possible to translate “But one day” or “Then one day.”

Putting into your hands translates the Hebrew idiom “given into your hand” (Revised Standard Version). In some languages it may be necessary either to utilize a known idiom or else to translate without the use of an idiomatic expression. Moreover, it may be useful, if not obligatory, to use two verbs in the place of this one. For example, “I will let you conquer the city of Jericho. You will defeat its king and all its brave soldiers.” Or “I am placing in your power the city of Jericho with its king and all its men of war.” It is legitimate to translate brave soldiers (Revised Standard Version “men of valor”) as “men of war,” since the Hebrew expression focuses more upon their strength than upon their bravery. A literal rendering of the Hebrew would be more nearly “strong men of war.”

In Hebrew the conjunction and is lacking in the phrase with its king and all its brave soldiers. For this reason New English Bible assumes that all its brave soldiers is not an original part of the Hebrew text, and drops it in translation. Jerusalem Bible, on the other hand, transfers it into verse 3, as subject of the verb rendered march around by Good News Translation. There is no textual evidence for its omission, and the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project indicates that it should be retained in its present position. They assume that the elliptical (that is, abbreviated) form of the Hebrew actually means “although they are mighty warriors.”

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 6:2

6:2a

And: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as And introduces the next event in the storyline.

the LORD said to Joshua: In 5:14–15 the commander of Yahweh’s army spoke to Joshua. In chapter 6 Yahweh himself spoke to Joshua. It is recommended that you distinguish between these two names.

6:2b

Behold: The command Behold is a way to call attention to the importance of what Yahweh told Joshua. You may have an idiom that emphasizes the importance of what someone is saying. Some English versions leave this word untranslated, and it may be more natural to do so in your language.

I have delivered Jericho into your hand: The clause I have delivered Jericho into your hand is an idiom. It means that Yahweh will help Joshua and the Israelites to conquer Jericho. You may have a similar idiom that expresses this idea. If there is no appropriate idiom, you should translate the meaning. For example:

I will enable you (sing.) to capture Jericho
-or-
with my help you will conquer Jericho

6:2c

along with its king: The phrase its king refers to the king of Jericho.

and its mighty men of valor: The phrase mighty men of valor refers to the soldiers of Jericho.

valor: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as valor can also be translated as “strong” or “brave.”

General Comment on 6:2b-c

It may be more natural in some languages to reorder 2b and 2c. For example:

With my help, you will defeat the king of Jericho and his brave soldiers, and you will conquer Jericho

© 2001, 2011, 2020, 2022, 2023 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.