In the presence of the LORD probably refers to the Covenant Box, which symbolized the Lord’s earthly throne. Since the more likely interpretation is that this phrase is a reference to the Covenant Box, one may translate “About forty thousand men ready for war crossed over to the plain near Jericho, and the LORD was with them because his Covenant Box was there among them.” If, on the other hand, in the presence of the LORD is not specifically related to the Covenant Box, one may translate “and the LORD was with them” or “under the leadership of the LORD.”

The number about forty thousand refers to the warriors of the two and one-half eastern tribes. In translation one should avoid the possibility that the reader may understand about forty thousand men to include the total number of Israelites who crossed over. Therefore one may render “about forty thousand men from these two and one-half tribes crossed over to the plain near Jericho, and they were all ready for war.”

In verse 13 ready for war (Revised Standard Version “ready armed for war”) translates a Hebrew verb which means “stripped,” a reference to discarding for work or battle those garments which were ordinarily worn.

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 .