These two verses describe how the natives of Canaan, alarmed by the news of Israel’s victories, banded together to fight the Israelites.

The victories of Israel became known to all the kings west of the Jordan is more literally “And it happened when all the kings who were beyond the Jordan heard.” The Good News Translation restructuring takes two stages: (1) The victories of Israel is supplied as object of the verb “heard” (Revised Standard Version); and (2) the shift is made from an active to a passive construction by use of the verb became known. Together with English, most other languages will also require that the verb “heard” receive an object (Revised Standard Version supplies “of this”). But many languages will prefer to retain an active where Good News Translation has became known: “All the kings west of the Jordan heard about the victories of Israel” or “… heard that the people of Israel had defeated their enemies.” Verse 1 may even begin with a general statement (“The victories of Israel were spoken of everywhere in the land”), followed with a more specific one: “All the kings … heard of it.”

The geographical data in verse 1 are given following a westerly direction: the central mountain range (the hills), the lowlands (the foothills), and then the coastal plain along the Mediterranean Sea.

It is possible that some languages might prefer the geographical data to be given in an easterly direction. If this is so, then the necessary adjustments must be made. It is quite possible also that verse 1 should be broken into several sentences. For example:

• All the kings west of the Jordan River heard of the way that the people of Israel had defeated their enemies. The kings in the hills and in the foothills of central Palestine heard about it. And the kings along the coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea also heard about it. Even the kings as far north as Lebanon heard about the victories of Israel. These kings who heard about the victories of Israel were the kings of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

For the list of the peoples, see 3.10; for kings see 2.2.

Alarmed at the news of Israel’s victories at Jericho and Ai, the rulers of these peoples form an alliance to fight the invading Israelites. “With one accord” (Revised Standard Version) indicates the unanimous purpose of them all; they were all together in this. It is possible to make this emphasis as follows: “All these kings brought their armies together with one purpose in mind. They wanted to defeat Joshua and the people of Israel.”

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 .