The destruction of the city by fire follows the slaughter of all its inhabitants and animals; only the objects of gold, silver, bronze, and iron are spared, and they are placed in the LORD’s treasury, according to instructions (see verse 19). The Hebrew text says “the treasury of the house of the LORD” (see Revised Standard Version), a phrase which ordinarily means the Jerusalem Temple. Most take this to be an anachronism; the Septuagint omits “the house of” (possibly to ease the problem of the Hebrew text); Soggin suggests it could refer to the sanctuary in Gilgal, which does not seem very likely.

The pronoun they is ambiguous, since in verse 23 Good News Translation twice used “they” to refer to the two men who had served as spies. Here the reference is to the entire army of Israel which has invaded the city. The verse may be translated:

• Then the Israelite soldiers set fire to the city. They burned it to the ground, and they burned everything in it, except the things made of gold, silver, bronze, and iron. They took these things and put them in the LORD’s treasury.

Or, in keeping with the form of the Hebrew, the LORD’s treasury may be translated “the treasury which was in the shrine dedicated to the LORD” or “the treasury which was kept in the place where the people of Israel worshiped the LORD.”

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 .