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OET (OET-LV) then Yəhōshūˊa he_spoke to/for_YHWH in/on_day YHWH delivered_up DOM the_ʼAmorī to_(the)_face_of/in_front_of/before the_people_of Yisrāʼēl/(Israel) and_he/it_said to_the_eyes_of Yisrāʼēl/(Israel) Oh_sun at_Giⱱˊōn be_still and_Oh_moon in_the_valley_of ʼAyyālōn.
OET (OET-RV) Then Yehoshua spoke to Yahweh on the day that he gave them victory over the Amorites, and in front of the Israelis he said,
⇔ “Sun, stay still over Gibeon,
⇔ ≈ and moon, over the Ayyalon Valley.
The kings of five Canaanite towns joined together to fight against Gibeon. Because the Israelites had a peace treaty with Gibeon, they helped them in their fight. Yahweh helped the Israelites by sending down hailstones on the Canaanites, and by causing the sun to stop moving so that the Israelites could continue their victory. The five Canaanite kings were captured and put to death.
Here are some other possible section headings:
Israel defeated the Canaan group
The sun stood still
On the day that the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites,
On the same day that Yahweh helped the Israelites to defeat the Amorites,
On the day that they defeated the Amorites with the help of Yahweh,
On the day that the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites: This is the same day as the events referred to in 10:10–11. In 10:12–15, the author told the story of the battle of Gibeon again from another perspective and added new information to what he had already said. It may be clearer in some languages to translate the clause the day that the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites as an independent sentence. For example, you could say:
Yahweh gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites on that day. On that same day Joshua spoke to Yahweh…
the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites: The clause the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites is a Hebrew idiom. It indicates that Yahweh helped the Israelites to defeat the Amorites. For example:
the Lord gave the men of Israel victory over the Amorites (GNT)
Joshua spoke to the LORD
¶ Joshua spoke to Yahweh.
¶ Joshua prayed to Yahweh.
Joshua spoke to the LORD: Some English versions follow the Hebrew word order, “spoke Joshua to the LORD.” It puts the verb before the subject. The natural English word order is Joshua spoke as in the BSB. Translate this phrase in a way that is natural in your language.
Joshua spoke: In some languages it may be more natural to translate the word spoke as “prayed.” For example:
on that same day Joshua prayed to Yahweh while the Israelites watched him
in the presence of Israel:
Joshua prayed in front of the Israelites:
Joshua prayed while Israel was watching, and he said:
in the presence of Israel: The phrase in the presence of Israel indicates that the Israelites who fought the battle watched while Joshua prayed to Yahweh.
“O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”
“Sun, stop moving above Gibeon, and moon, stop moving above the valley of Aijalon.”
“Let the sun stay in one place over Gibeon, and the moon stay in one place over the valley of Aijalon.”
O sun, stand still over Gibeon: The expression, O sun, stand still over Gibeon is a kind of figurative language called personification. Personification gives human characteristics to non-human things for poetic effect. In 12b Joshua spoke to Yahweh. In 12d Joshua spoke to the sun. If the reader does not understand that this is figurative language, it is good to make this clear. One way to clarify this is to include some implicit information:
Joshua asked Yahweh to make the sun and the moon stand still. He said, “Sun, stay still at Gibeon. And moon, stay still in the valley of Aijalon.”
O sun, stand still: The command sun, stand still may not be natural in some languages. The sun does not have legs and it may not be possible to say that the sun can stand.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
Sun, stop moving in the sky
Sun, stay in one place
over Gibeon: It may be more natural to translate the phrase over Gibeon as “at Gibeon,” or “above Gibeon.” The sun shone in the sky over the town of Gibeon. Use a preposition that is natural in your language.
O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon: The expression O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon is an example of personification. Personification gives human characteristics to non-human things for poetic effect.
the Valley of Aijalon: The phrase Valley of Aijalon refers to the valley where the town of Aijalon was, seven to ten miles west of Gibeon.10:12 Bratcher and Newman, p. 143. The Amorites fled from Gibeon as far as Azekah (10:10d). Aijalon was between Gibeon and Azekah.
Here are some ways to translate 10:12c-d:
Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel. He said, “Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon.” (NLT)
In the presence of the people of Israel, Joshua said, “Yahweh, cause the sun to stop moving over Gibeon and cause the moon to stop moving over the valley of Aijalon.”
In the ancient Near East many people believed that natural objects such as the sun and the moon had a soul or a spirit. The Bible does not teach this. Joshua did not actually speak to the sun or the moon, and he did not expect them to respond to his command. The language Joshua used is a figure of speech called “personification.” Personification gives human characteristics to non-human things. It is used to add emotional impact to the story. As you translate this verse, keep in mind that this response by the sun and moon to Joshua’s command is poetic language. It should not be understood literally.
A miracle of God’s power took place when he lengthened the day. It was God, responding to the prayer of Joshua, who caused the miracle. The sun and moon did not actually do anything. God made them stand still.
Joshua spoke to both the sun and the moon. Biblical scholars do not agree on why he addressed both the sun and the moon. One possibility is that Joshua prayed this prayer in the early morning when the sun was rising in the east and the moon was setting in the west.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
בְּי֗וֹם תֵּ֤ת יְהוָה֙ אֶת־הָ֣אֱמֹרִ֔י לִפְנֵ֖י בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל
in/on=day to_give YHWH DOM the=ʼAmorī to=(the)_face_of/in_front_of/before sons_of Yisrael
The author is using a common expression to mean that Yahweh enabled the Israelites to defeat the Amorites. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [on the day when Yahweh enabled the sons of Israel to defeat the Amorites]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun
אֶת־הָ֣אֱמֹרִ֔י
DOM the=ʼAmorī
The author is not referring to a specific Amorite. He means all of these Amorites who opposed Joshua. It may be more natural in your language to express this meaning by using a plural form. Alternate translation: [the Amorites] or [these Amorites]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
לְעֵינֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל
to,the_eyes_of Yisrael
The author is using the term eyes by association to mean witnessing or watching. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression or plain language. Alternate translation: [to the watching Israelites]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis
שֶׁ֚מֶשׁ בְּגִבְע֣וֹן דּ֔וֹם וְיָרֵ֖חַ בְּעֵ֥מֶק אַיָּלֽוֹן
sun at,Gibeon stand_still and,O_moon in,the_valley_of ʼAyyālōn
The author is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a sentence would need in order to be complete. You can supply these words from the context if that would be clearer in your language. Alternate translation: [Sun, be still over Gibeon, and moon, be still over the Valley of Aijalon]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / imperative
שֶׁ֚מֶשׁ בְּגִבְע֣וֹן דּ֔וֹם וְיָרֵ֖חַ בְּעֵ֥מֶק אַיָּלֽוֹן
sun at,Gibeon stand_still and,O_moon in,the_valley_of ʼAyyālōn
Since the author says that here Joshua spoke to Yahweh, and since Joshua by himself did not have the power to stop the sun and moon from moving through the sky, this is implicitly a prayer or request from Joshua to Yahweh. You may wish to translate it that way. Alternate translation: [Please make the sun be still over Gibeon and make the moon be still over the Valley of Aijalon] or [May the sun be still over Gibeon, and may the moon be still over the Valley of Aijalon]
OET (OET-LV) then Yəhōshūˊa he_spoke to/for_YHWH in/on_day YHWH delivered_up DOM the_ʼAmorī to_(the)_face_of/in_front_of/before the_people_of Yisrāʼēl/(Israel) and_he/it_said to_the_eyes_of Yisrāʼēl/(Israel) Oh_sun at_Giⱱˊōn be_still and_Oh_moon in_the_valley_of ʼAyyālōn.
OET (OET-RV) Then Yehoshua spoke to Yahweh on the day that he gave them victory over the Amorites, and in front of the Israelis he said,
⇔ “Sun, stay still over Gibeon,
⇔ ≈ and moon, over the Ayyalon Valley.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.
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