inherit land

The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “inherit land” in various forms in English is translated in Kwere as “take land to be their own” or similar in these verses when Israel or a part of Israel “inherits” land from God. In Kwere, uhazi or “inheritance,” as in possessions etc. can only be received upon someone’s death. (Source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)

complete verse (Joshua 17:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Joshua 17:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “It reached to ten because those of the girls were counted together with those of their family. The land of Gilead and Bashan which was on the East side of river Jordan had already been given to the clan of Manasse.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “For the Manasseh women also had inheritance along with the Manasseh men. The land of Gilead had been given to the other descendants of Manasseh.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “because his female descendants were- also -given a portion together-with his male descendants. Gilead was-given to the other descendants of Manase.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “So those female descendants of Manasseh also were allotted land on the west side of the river just like the men were allotted. The other parts of the Gilead area were allotted to the male descendants of Manasseh.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Joshua 17:5 - 17:6

The information ends (verse 6b) with the redundant note that the land of Gilead, on the east side of the Jordan was assigned to the rest of the descendants of Manasseh.

For the sake of avoiding unnecessary words, it is possible to place verses 5-6 together:

• Joshua assigned land to Manasseh’s male descendants and to his female descendants. That is why the tribe of Manasseh received ten shares of land on the west side of the Jordan River in addition to the territories of Gilead and Bashan on the east side.

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 .