25But Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, Joshua spared. Her family has lived in Israel ever since. For she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
The Greek, Latin, and Hebrew that is typically translated as “prostitute” in English (in some, mostly earlier translation also as “harlot” or “whore”) is translated in the 2024 revision of the inter-confessional LatvianJauna Pārstrādāta latviešu Bībele as netikle or “hussy.” This replaced the previous translation mauka or “whore.” Nikita Andrejevs, editor of the Bible explains the previous and current translations: “The translators at the time felt that this strong word best described the thought contained in the main text. Many had objections, as it seemed that this word would not be the most appropriate for public reading in church.” (Source: Updated Bible published in Latvia ).
Other translations include:
Bariai: “a woman of the road” (source: Bariai Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “a woman who sells her body” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Uma: “a woman whose behavior is not appropriate” or “a loose woman” (source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “a bad woman” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “a woman who make money through their reputation” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “a woman who makes money with her body” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “a woman whose womanhood is repeatedly-bought” (source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
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, 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.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 6:25:
Kupsabiny: “Joshua spared the prostitute Rahab and all her people, because Rahab had hidden the people that Joshua had sent to spy out the city of Jericho. (Her descendants live in Israel to this day.)” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “Joshua, however, did not kill Rahab, the prostitute, her father’s household and all who were living with her, but spared them. For she had hidden the men who had been sent to spy out Jericho. Even till today she dwells among the Israelites.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “But Josue saved Rahab and her household because she hid the men whom Josue commanded to spy-out Jerico. Until now her descendants live/dwell in 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)
Verse 25 brings the matter to a close, with a summary statement of how and why the lives of Rahab and all her family were spared. Good News Translation and a number of other translations begin this verse with a conjunction equivalent to But in order to make an immediate contrast between the fate of Rahab and her family and the rest of the people of Jericho. Here again it may not be necessary to refer to Rahab as the prostitute; the emotive impact of this upon modern day readers may be quite different from the connotation it carried among the original readers. Because she had hidden the two spies may be better rendered as a complete statement: “Joshua did this because she had hidden the two spies.”
Before giving the reason why (because she hid the Israelite spies), the writer inserts “and she has lived in Israel to this day.” This obviously does not mean that Rahab herself was alive at the time of the writing of the account; it means, as Good News Translation expresses it, Her descendants have lived in Israel to this day. Rahab is usually identified as Rahab the mother of Boaz, and so the great-great-grandmother of King David (Matt 1.5-6; see Ruth 4.18-22; and see also references to her in Heb 11.31; James 2.25). In translating the sentence which Good News Translation places in parentheses, one should be careful not to leave the impression that the writer himself was not an Israelite. For example, one modern translation renders “Her descendants still live today among the Israelites,” from which the reader could assume that the writer is disassociating himself from the people called Israelites. It is probably better also not to introduce the parentheses as Good News Translation has done. If it is felt necessary to separate this statement from what precedes, it can be into a separate paragraph in place of putting it within parentheses.
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 .
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