14When the king of Ai saw this, he and all his people, the inhabitants of the city, hurried out early in the morning to the meeting place facing the Arabah to meet Israel in battle, but he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 8:14:
Kupsabiny: “And/But when the king of Ai had seen this, he got up in the morning with his soldiers and they went to fight against those people of Israel in a place which looked down over the Arabah. Those soldiers did not know that there were soldiers who had hid themselves behind that city.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “When the king of Ai saw this, he and all the men of that city got up early in the morning and, feeling that it was urgent went out to fight with the Israelites and arrived at the certain place overlooking the Arabah. He did not know that near him, behind the city, men had been hiding to fight.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “When the king of Ai saw Josue and-company, he and his men hurried out of the city early in the morning, and went to the place that was-overlooking/[lit. was-facing] the valley of the Jordan to fight against Israel. They did- not -know that somebody would-attack them from behind the city.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “When the king of Ai saw the Israeli army, he and his soldiers got up early the next morning and quickly went out of the city to fight them. They went to a place east of the city, but they did not know that some Israeli soldiers were hiding behind the city.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:
Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))
Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:
“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”
The following morning (as is implied by spent the night in verse 13), as soon as the king of Ai saw what was happening, he took action. The Hebrew text says simply “when the king of Ai saw” (Revised Standard Version), the implied object being, most likely, the main Israelite force north of the city. Good News Translation supplies Joshua’s men as object of the verb saw; “the main Israelite force north of the city” or “the Israelite army north of the city” will also suffice as object.
The Hebrew text of verse 14 is wordy and none too clear; a literal translation would be as follows:
• And it was when the king of Ai saw (it), and they hurried and were eager and went out, the men of the city, to encounter Israel in battle, he and all his people, for the appointed time (or, place) facing the valley, and he did not know that (there was) an ambush for him behind the city.
He acted quickly of Good News Translation combines two Hebrew verbs (“hurried and were eager”); one may combine the two: “he did not hesitate long.”
The Jordan Valley translates “the Arabah” (Revised Standard Version), which was east of the city.
New English Bible, following the Septuagint, omits the Hebrew phrase represented in the literal translation above by “for the appointed time (place) facing the valley.” Hebrew Old Testament Text Project prefers the Hebrew and translates the phrase as “for the encounter,” saying it “can refer to an agreement, whether of place, time, tactic or sign.” The Bible de Jérusalem footnote translates “place of meeting” (lieu de rendez-vous); Traduction œcuménique de la Bible has “a certain place” (un lieu fixé). New American Bible, Revised Standard Version follow a conjecture “to the descent” (as in 7.5). Good News Translation takes the Hebrew to mean “appointed place,” which it interprets to refer to the place of the previous encounter between the forces of Ai and the Israelites, at the same place as before. This problematic phrase may also be represented by the adverb “there”: “to attack them there.”
Not knowing that … from the rear may be better rendered as a complete sentence: “he did not know that other Israelite soldiers were going to attack him from the rear” or “… that Joshua had laid an ambush for him.”
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 .
When the king of Ai saw the Israelites: The King of Ai saw Joshua’s main army in its place north of the town, ready to attack the town.
Here is another way to translate this phrase:
When the king of Ai saw ⌊the Israelite army⌋
8:14b
he hurried out early in the morning with the men of the city: The phrases he and the men of the city refer to the same group of fighting men in Ai. They can be translated as one phrase. For example:
he and all the men of the town hurried (New International Version)
he hurried out: The phrase he hurried out indicates that they went quickly.
8:14c
to engage them in battle: The phrase to engage them in battle indicates that the king of Ai intended to fight as he had done the day before.
at an appointed place overlooking the Arabah: The Hebrew text is more literally “at the meeting place near the Arabah.”
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
to the meeting place near the Arabah (NET Bible) -or-
to meet…at a certain place overlooking the Arabah (New International Version) -or-
toward the Jordan Valley to fight…at the same place as before (Good News Translation)
The army of Ai went toward the valley of the Jordan River. Some English versions include the implied information that the place was on the downhill slope toward the Jordan River. For example:
to the descent toward the Arabah (Revised Standard Version) -or-
on the slope facing the Arabah (New Jerusalem Bible)
the Arabah: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the Arabah refers to the valley of the Jordan River. This was east of the town of Ai. For example:
at a place overlooking the Jordan Valley (New Living Translation (2004))
8:14d
But he did not know that an ambush had been set up against him behind the city: The clause an ambush had been set up against him refers to the Israelite soldiers who hid to attack the town by surprise. The king of Ai did not know about these soldiers.
behind the city: The phrase behind the city indicates the direction west of the town.
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