swear / vow

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The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “swear (an oath)” or “vow” in English is otherwise translated as:

  • “God sees me, I tell the truth to you” (Tzeltal)
  • “loading yourself down” (Huichol)
  • “speak-stay” (implying permanence of the utterance) (Sayula Popoluca)
  • “say what could not be taken away” (San Blas Kuna)
  • “because of the tight (i.e. ‘binding’) word said to a face” (Guerrero Amuzgo)
  • “strong promise” (North Alaskan Inupiatun) (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • “eat an oath” (Nyamwezi) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • “drink an oath” (Jju) (source: McKinney 2018, p. 31).
  • “cut taboos” (Mairasi (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Cherokee: “putting one’s hand up to someone” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16)

In Bauzi “swear” can be translated in various ways. In Hebrews 6:13, for instance, it is translated with “bones break apart and decisively speak.” (“No bones are literally broken but by saying ‘break bones’ it is like people swear by someone else in this case it is in relation to a rotting corpse’ bones falling apart. If you ‘break bones’ so to speak when you make an utterance, it is a true utterance.”) In other passages, such as in Matthew 26:72, it’s translated with an expression that implies taking ashes (“if a person wants everyone to know that he is telling the truth about a matter, he reaches down into the fireplace, scoops up some ashes and throws them while saying ‘I was not the one who did that.'”). So in Matthew 26:72 the Bauzi text is: “. . . Peter took ashes and defended himself saying, ‘I don’t know that Nazareth person.'” (Source: David Briley)

See also swear (promise) and Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’, or ‘No, No’.

Joshua

The Hebrew, Latin, and Greek that is transliterated as “Joshua” is translated in Swiss-German Sign Language with a sign that depicts a trumpet of rams’ horn, referring to Joshua 6:4 and following.


“Joshua” in Swiss-German Sign Language, source: DSGS-Lexikon biblischer Begriffe , © CGG Schweiz

For more information on translations of proper names with sign language see Sign Language Bible Translations Have Something to Say to Hearing Christians .

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Joshua .

complete verse (Joshua 6:22)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 6:22:

  • Kupsabiny: “Joshua said to the two spies, ‘Enter (plur.) into the house of that woman who was a prostitute and bring her here together with her people/family and all her things as you have promised (her).’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Joshua said to the two who had gone to spy out the city, "Go to the house of the prostitute and bring that woman and all who are with her from her house as you have sworn to her."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Josue commanded the two men who spied-out (the land), ‘[You (plur.)] go to the house of a woman who sells her body, and you (plur.) let- them -out and her entire household according-to what you (plur.) promised her.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then Joshua said to the two men who had spied on/whom he had sent to learn all they could about the land, ‘Go to the prostitute’s house. Bring her out, along with all her family, just as you promised to her.’” (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 6:22

Joshua instructs the two spies to go to Rahab’s house and bring her and her family out to safety. It is to be assumed that this happened while the killing was going on in the city; it could not have been after all the city’s other inhabitants had been put to death (verse 21). It may be important translationally to shift from Joshua then told to “Joshua had told,” indicating a previous command given before the beginning of the battle. The Hebrew will support either rendering, and this would tend to provide a less complicated sequence of events.

Nothing is gained in translation by continually emphasizing Rahab’s profession. Go into the prostitute’s house may then be translated “Go into Rahab’s house.” Moreover, the events may be arranged in chronological sequence: “You promised Rahab that we would not harm her or the people in her house. So go to her house and bring them out here to safety.” Direct discourse may be preferable for the promise made by the spies: “You promised Rahab, ‘We will not harm you or anyone in your house.’ So go….”

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 6:22

Paragraph 6:22–25

6:22a

Meanwhile, Joshua told: Joshua told the two men to go and rescue Rahab. This is something he had previously told them to do. There are several ways to make this clear:

• Use the past perfect tense or the equivalent in your language: For example:

Joshua had told the two men who had spied out the land

• Use a word or particle that indicates that this action happened previously.

• Supply the implied information that Rahab and her family were not killed in verse 6:21b. For example:

They killed everyone, men and women, young and old, everyone except Rahab and the others in her house. (Contemporary English Version)

Choose a way that is most natural in your language.

the two men who had spied out the land: This phrase refers to the two men who went to find out things about the town of Jericho in Chapter 2.

the land: The phrase the land refers to Jericho and the country around it.

6:22b

Go into the house of the prostitute: The phrase the house of the prostitute refers to the house of Rahab the prostitute. If it is not appropriate in your language to use the term prostitute repeatedly, it is possible to translate this as:

go into Rahab’s house

bring out the woman: It may be more natural in some languages to use either the proper name Rahab, or else refer to her by a pronoun. For example:

bring Rahab out
-or-
bring her out

6:22c

and all who are with her: The phrase all who are with her refers to Rahab’s family members who were with her in the house.

6:22d

just as you promised her: The clause just as you promised her states the reason that the men must go into Rahab’s house and rescue her. They had promised her that they would do this.

promised: The word promised can also be translated as “swore.” The men promised to Rahab in 2:12–14 that they would rescue her and her family when they conquered the town.

General Comment on 6:22

In some languages it may be more natural to reorder the parts of this verse. For example:

22a Meanwhile, Joshua said to the two spies, 22d “Keep your promise. 22b Go to the prostitute’s house and bring her out, 22c along with all her family.” (New Living Translation (2004))

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