23So the young men who had been spies went in and brought Rahab out, along with her father, her mother, her brothers, and all who belonged to her—they brought all her kindred out—and set them outside the camp of Israel.
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Rahab” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign for “prostitute” referring to Joshua 2:1. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
The Hebrew terms that are translated as “family” or “clan” or “house” or similar in English are all translated in Kwere as ng’holo or “clan.” (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
In the English translation by Goldingay (2018) it is translated as “kin-group.”
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 6:23:
Kupsabiny: “Then the spies went to bring Rahab along together with her father, mother, brothers and all other people who were together with her, and gave (her/them) to stay/live in a place near where the tents of the people of Israel were.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “So the two young men who had gone as spies went and brought out Rahab, her mother and father, her elder and younger brothers, and all who were staying with her. Then they took her entire family to a place outside the camp of Israel.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “So the two of them went-(in) and they brought Rahab outside, together-with her father, mother, siblings and all who (were) members of her household. They had- them all -come-outside and let- them -stay outside the camp of Israel.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “So those two spies/men went into Rahab’s house and brought her out. They also brought out her father and mother and her brothers, and all the rest of her family. Joshua’s men spared Rahab the prostitute. They also did not kill all her relatives, because she had hidden and protected the spies/men whom Joshua had sent to Jericho. The two men brought them all out and put them in a place outside the camp of the Israelis. Rahab still lives among us Israeli people. Then the soldiers gathered the articles made from silver, gold, bronze, and iron that they found and they put them all into Yahweh’s treasury. But they burned everything else that was in the city.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
They is literally “young men” (Revised Standard Version), which may be taken to mean that they were in their early twenties; the Hebrew word is used sometimes of unmarried males, but it does not necessarily imply that the young male so indicated is in fact a bachelor. However, if the receptor language requires a choice between “unmarried young men” and “married young men,” it would be better to use “unmarried young men.” There are indications elsewhere in the Old Testament that married men, or men with families, were occasionally released from the responsibilities of warfare. In the Hebrew text an appositional is attached to “young men” so that the text is literally “the young men, the spies.” However, they were identified as spies in verse 22, and many languages will prefer not to repeat this information so soon. Here, as elsewhere, one must be alert to the demands of the larger discourse unit, and not merely to the sentence as an isolated entity.
Rahab and all her family are brought out of Jericho and taken to a place near the Israelite camp. The significance of their being brought near, that is, not into the camp, is that they are all Gentiles and cannot enter the camp of Israel, which is holy.
All, family and slaves translates two phrases in Hebrew, “and all who belonged to her and all her group (or, clan)”; most translations, like Revised Standard Version, translate the second phrase “and all her kindred,” thus taking this Hebrew phrase to be completely equivalent in meaning to the preceding phrase. Some take it to be a summary statement (see New English Bible), “so they took out all her family (clan).” Good News Translation has made explicit the fact that the slaves would also be included in the group; but no other translation uses the word “slaves” here.
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 .
So the young spies: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the young spies refers to young, unmarried men.
went in: It may be more natural in some languages to include the implied information:
went into ⌊Rahab’s house⌋
6:23b
and brought out Rahab: They brought Rahab out of the house.
6:23c
her father and mother and brothers, and all who belonged to her: There are two ways to understand the phrase all who belonged to her.
(1) It refers to Rahab’s other relatives. For example:
all her kin (New American Bible)
(New American Bible, Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, God’s Word, New Living Translation (2004), Contemporary English Version)
(2) It refers to Rahab’s slaves. For example:
family and slaves (Good News Translation)
(Good News Translation)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). The Hebrew text does not mention Rahab’s slaves. If the phrase belonged to her implies ownership (such as owning a slave) in your language, then it would be better to make the meaning clear. For example, you could say:
her father, her mother, her brothers and her other relatives
Many English versions translate it literally and leave its meaning unclear.
6:23d
They brought out her whole family: The clause They brought out her whole family is a summary statement that emphasizes that they rescued her entire family. For example:
They moved her whole family to a safe place (New Living Translation (2004))
her whole family: The phrase her whole family refers to her extended family. This refers to the people listed in 6:23c, and not a different group of relatives.
6:23e
and settled them outside the camp of Israel: The men found a safe place for Rahab and her family to stay outside the camp of Israel. Rahab and her family could not enter the Israelite camp because they were not ceremonially clean. The Israelite camp was a holy place and only Israelites could enter it.
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