וְסַבֹּתֶ֣ם אֶת־הָעִ֗יר כֹּ֚ל אַנְשֵׁ֣י הַמִּלְחָמָ֔ה הַקֵּ֥יף אֶת־הָעִ֖יר פַּ֣עַם אֶחָ֑ת כֹּ֥ה תַעֲשֶׂ֖ה שֵׁ֥שֶׁת יָמִֽים׃
3You shall march around the city, all the warriors circling the city once. Thus you shall do for six days,
Artwork by Sister Marie Claire , SMMI (1937–2018) from Bengaluru, India.
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Some translations specifically reproduce the voice of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament / Hebrew Bible.
English:
You are to go around the city, all the men of battle,
circling the city one time;
thus you are to do for six days,
while seven priests are to carry seven shofars of rams ahead of the Coffer.
But on the seventh day, you are to go around the city seven times,
while the priests sound blasts on the shofars.
And it shall be, at the drawing out of the ram’s horn:
when you hear the sound of the shofar,
that all the fighting-people are to shout a great shout,
and the wall of the city will fall down from below;
then the fighting-people are to go up, each one [straight] in front of him!
Source: Everett Fox 2014
German:
Umkreiset die Stadt, alle Kriegsmänner, rundum die Stadt, ein Mal,
so tue sechs Tage,
und sieben Priester sollen sieben Heimholerposaunen vor dem Schrein her tragen,
am siebenten Tag aber umkreiset die Stadt sieben Male,
und die Priester sollen in die Posaunen stoßen,
dann seis,
wann man mit dem Heimholerhorn langzieht,
wann ihr den Schall der Posaune hört,
auflärme alles Volk, ein großes Lärmen,
dann stürzt die Mauer der Stadt in sich zusammen,
und das Volk steigt hinauf, jedermann gradeaus.
Source: Buber / Rosenzweig 1976
French:
Contournez la ville, tous les hommes de la guerre,
encerclez la ville une fois. Vous ferez ainsi six jours.
Sept desservants porteront les sept shophars des Jubilés en face du coffre.
Le septième jour, vous contournerez la ville, sept fois.
Les desservants sonneront du shophar.
Et c’est au tir de la corne du Jubilé,
à l’audition de la voix du shophar,
tout le peuple ovationnera en grande ovation.
Le rempart de la ville tombera sur place,
et le peuple montera, chaque homme contre lui.
Source: Chouraqui 1985
For other verses or sections translated with a Hebraic voice, see here.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 6:3:
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. )
You and your soldiers are to march around translates a plural form of the Hebrew verb “march around” (Revised Standard Version “You shall march around”). Good News Translation has translated this way in order to indicate that the form of the verb is plural and that the reference is to Joshua and his men. But even for languages which distinguish between the singular and plural forms of “you,” it still may be helpful to mark explicitly the participants: “You with your battle-ready men.”
The verb march around is here used of a religious or cultic procession, which would have been formal and solemn, but which would not have required strict marching in step such as in a modern day parade or military procession. One may wish to translate “I command you and your fighting men to go in procession around….”
For six days may require a separate statement: “Do this for six days,” or “… for six consecutive days,” or “… for six days in a row.”
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 .
6:3a
March around the city: The clause March around the city is a command. It indicates that Joshua and the Israelite soldiers must walk in a procession around the town wall.
March around: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as March around is literally “go around.” The English word “march” indicates that soldiers are walking. Use an expression that is natural in your language for this action.
6:3b
with all the men of war, circling the city one time: The phrase all the men of war refers to the Israelite soldiers. The number of Israelite soldiers is given in 4:13 is about 40,000. In verse 4 we learn that seven priests also walked around the town.
circling the city one time: There is implied information. They were to walk around the town once each day. For example:
You and your soldiers are to march around the city once a day (Good News Translation)
6:3c
Do this for six days: The army and priests must walk around the town of Jericho once every day for six consecutive days.
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