The book opens in the Hebrew as a continuation of the narrative in Deuteronomy 34: “And it was … and the Lord spoke to Joshua … saying.” The death of Moses is reported in Deuteronomy 34.1-8; after leading the people for 40 years, he dies at age 120 without being permitted to enter the promised land. His successor is his helper, Joshua son of Nun.Joshua first appears when Moses sends twelve men, one from each of the tribes, from the wilderness of Paran, where the Israelites are camped (Num 12.16), to explore the land of Canaan (Num 13.1–14.10); of the twelve, only Joshua (from the tribe of Ephraim) and Caleb (from the tribe of Judah) believe that the Israelites can defeat the Canaanites; the others are afraid and are killed by the Lord for their cowardice (Num 14.36-38). Later Joshua is chosen as Moses’ successor (Num 27.12-23; Deut 31.1-8). The name Joshua means “Yah (a shortened form of Yahweh) saves” or “May Yah save.” In Num 13.16 we are told that Moses had changed his name from Hoshea to Joshua; the two names mean the same. The Greek form of Joshua is Iesous, translated “Jesus” in English. The Hebrew word translated helper means “servant” (Revised Standard Version); New American Bible (New American Bible) “aide”; New English Bible (New English Bible) “assistant”; Soggin “minister.” Moses himself is the Lord’s servant, a title used more often of him than of anyone else (applied also to Joshua in 24.29).

After the death of … Moses may be translated “After Moses had died.” In many languages it will be difficult, if not impossible, to include in one statement both bits of information: (1) “After Moses died” and (2) “Moses was the LORD’s servant.” And some translations have even omitted from this verse the information that Moses was the Lord’s servant. However, this information is in the Hebrew, and it does need to be included somewhere in the translation, though not necessarily at this place (see comments at verse 2). In order to include all of the information in a manner that is natural, one may need to translate this verse as two sentences: “Moses had served the LORD, and Joshua son of Nun had been Moses’ helper. After Moses died, the LORD spoke to Joshua.” Or, “As long as Moses lived he served the LORD, and Joshua son of Nun helped him. When Moses died, the LORD told Joshua what to do.”

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 .

It should be noted that here in verse 2 the Lord specifically refers to Moses as My servant Moses. The omission of the explicit identification of Moses as the LORD’s servant in verse 1 may therefore be justified, if that information is included in verse 2. In fact, the repetition the LORD’s servant (verse 1) … My servant (verse 2) may be stylistically unsatisfactory in some languages. If My servant is retained in verse 2, it may be helpful to translate “Moses served me while he lived, but he is dead now.”

Get ready translates a verb usually rendered “Arise” (Revised Standard Version [Revised Standard Version]); it occurs very often as a sort of auxiliary, expressing a sense of urgency or immediacy: “Go on and cross.” In such cases it does not imply that the subject has been sitting or lying down.

In Hebrew the two imperatives Get ready … and cross are directed first of all to Joshua, and the structure you and all the people of Israel represents a typical Hebrew structure in which the primary subject is mentioned first, then followed by the secondary subject or subjects who also participate in the same action. Since Joshua is the first subject addressed, it is possible to assume that he is to lead the others across the Jordan River. Indeed, the entire context presupposes that Joshua is now assuming the role of leadership that Moses once held, and that the manner in which he will prove his leadership is in the leading of the people of Israel across the Jordan. Therefore it is legitimate to translate “You (singular) must now enter the land that I will give you. Lead all the people of Israel across the Jordan!” This restructuring is also more natural in English, and it avoids a Hebraism such as one finds in Today’s English Version (Good News Translation).

The Jordan River translates “this Jordan” (Revised Standard Version), which does not mean that there is another Jordan somewhere else; it simply indicates the river, on whose east bank the people are camped.

That I am giving to them is literally “that I am giving to them, the sons of Israel.” The phrase “the sons of Israel” is redundant and is omitted by the Greek Old Testament. Moreover, the use of them may imply that Joshua is excluded from the promise. For languages which have a plural form of the pronoun “you,” the shift may be made from them to “you” (plural). This will leave no doubt that Joshua is included in the promise. One may also translate “you my people” or “you, the people of Israel.” The Hebrew of verse 3 is in fact “you” (plural), and the introduction of the second person pronoun in the present verse can give a consistency in the use of personal pronouns, which is an important feature of many languages. In many languages it is not natural to make changes in the persons of verbs that one frequently finds in the Hebrew Old Testament, and translators must be constantly alert to the distinctions between Hebrew and their own language.

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 .

As I told Moses: see Deuteronomy 11.24-25. The Hebrew verb translated told can mean “promise” or “speak to.” As I told Moses … my people may be translated, “I promised Moses that I would give my people.”

In verse 3 the Lord speaks directly to the people; in verse 2 he had spoken to Joshua, and the “you” is singular; in verse 3 “you” is plural. The Lord is speaking to all the people (through Joshua, of course); so Good News Translation translates you and all my people.

The phrase you and all my people may cause problems similar to the pronoun them of the previous verse. That is, the conjunction and may suggest to the reader that the person referred to by you is excluded from the group all my people. This problem may be resolved by translating “you my people”; no reader will assume thereby that Joshua is excluded from the people. This will balance out nicely if at the end of verse 2 the text has been translated to read either “you my people” or “you, the people of Israel.”

The phrase the entire land that you will be marching over translates the Hebrew “every place on which the sole of your (plural) foot steps.” For some readers, marching over might imply an orderly band of soldiers or some other highly organized group. The reference, of course, is to the entire group of Israelites, and one may translate “walk on” or “set foot on.”

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 .

Your borders: Your is plural, referring to the people of Israel and not just to Joshua.

The Hebrew text seems to define the territory as follows: “from the wilderness and this Lebanon and to the great river, the Euphrates River, all the land of the Hittites and to the great sea at the going down of the sun will be your borders.” Good News Translation takes this to indicate the four limits of the territory: south, “the wilderness,” traditionally called the Negev, and referring to the dry country extending from Beersheba to the desert of Sinai and the Gulf of Aqaba; north, the Lebanon Mountains; east, the Euphrates River; and west, the Mediterranean Sea. In Hebrew “this Lebanon” is puzzling; most translations have simply “the Lebanon.” The name does not refer to the country known today as Lebanon but to the Lebanon Mountains. The Hebrew of verse 4 is literally “From the wilderness (desert) … shall be your border.” Good News Translation inverts the Hebrew order and translates Your borders will reach from…. But the result is a sentence which is both lengthy and difficult, and it will help the reader if the sentence is restructured. For example, “I will give you (plural) all the land from the desert in the south to the Lebanon Mountains in the north. Your borders (or, The borders of your land) will reach from the great Euphrates River in the east. It will include the Hittite country as far as the Mediterranean Sea in the west.” A restructuring of this type will have at least two advantages: (1) It will break verse 4 into two less difficult sentences, and (2) it will tie verse 3 (“I promised Moses that I would give”) more closely with verse 4 (“I will give”).

“All the land of the Hittites” (Revised Standard Version) is omitted in the Greek Old Testament and is thought by some scholars to be a later addition to the text (see Bible de Jerusalem [Bible de Jérusalem]); it denotes the northern part of Syria, which had been part of the Hittite empire. See the similar description of the promised land in Deuteronomy 11.24, which does not include the phrase “all the land of the Hittites.” It seems best to follow the Hebrew text here. Only during the time of David and Solomon did the Israelites actually occupy much of this land.

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 .