JOS 7:5 Interlinear View

1. Hebrew word
2. Hebrew lemma
3. OET-LV words
4. OET-RV words
5. Strongs
6. Role/Morphology
7. Gloss
8. CAPS codes
9. OET tags
10. OET word #
1. וַ,יַּכּוּ
2. 147201,147202
3. And they struck down
4. killed
5. 5221
6. SV-C,Vhw3mp
7. and,they_struck_down
8. S
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101835
1. מֵ,הֶם
2. 147203,147204
3. from them
4. -
6. S-R,Sp3mp
7. from=them
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101836
1. אַנְשֵׁי
2. 147205
3. the men of
4. men
5. 376
6. S-Ncmpc
7. the_men_of
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101837
1. הָ,עַי
2. 147206,147207
3. (the) ˊAy
4. -
5. 5857
6. S-Td,Np
7. of_(the),Ai
8. -
9. Location=Ai; Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101838
1. כִּ,שְׁלֹשִׁים
2. 147208,147209
3. about thirty
4. thirty-six
5. 7970
6. O-R,Acbpa
7. about,thirty
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101839
1. וְ,שִׁשָּׁה
2. 147210,147211
3. and six
4. -
5. 8337
6. O-C,Acmsa
7. and,six
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101840
1. אִישׁ
2. 147212
3. man
4. -
5. 376
6. O-Ncmsa
7. man
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101841
1. וַֽ,יִּרְדְּפוּ,ם
2. 147213,147214,147215
3. and they pursued them
4. chased
5. 7291
6. VO-C,Vqw3mp,Sp3mp
7. and,they,pursued_them
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101842
1. לִ,פְנֵי
2. 147216,147217
3. to (the) face of/in front of/before
4. -
5. 6440
6. S-R,Ncbpc
7. to=(the)_face_of/in_front_of/before
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101843
1. הַ,שַּׁעַר
2. 147218,147219
3. the gate
4. gate
5. 8179
6. S-Td,Ncmsa
7. the,gate
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101844
1. עַד
2. 147220
3. to
4. -
5. 5704
6. S-R
7. to
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101845
2. 147221
3. -
4. -
6. -x-maqqef
8. -
9. -
10. 101846
1. הַ,שְּׁבָרִים
2. 147222,147223
3. (the) Shəⱱārīm
4. -
5. 7671
6. S-Td,Np
7. (the),Shebarim
8. -
9. Location=Shebarim; Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101847
1. וַ,יַּכּוּ,ם
2. 147224,147225,147226
3. and they struck them down
4. -
5. 5221
6. VO-C,Vhw3mp,Sp3mp
7. and,they,struck_them_down
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101848
1. בַּ,מּוֹרָד
2. 147227,147228
3. at descent
4. on
5. 4174
6. S-Rd,Ncmsa
7. at,descent
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101849
1. וַ,יִּמַּס
2. 147229,147230
3. and it melted
4. -
5. 4549
6. SV-C,VNw3ms
7. and,it_melted
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101850
1. לְבַב
2. 147231
3. the heart of
4. -
5. 3824
6. S-Ncmsc
7. the_heart_of
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101851
2. 147232
3. -
4. -
6. -x-maqqef
8. -
9. -
10. 101852
1. הָ,עָם
2. 147233,147234
3. of the people
4. ≈Israelis
6. S-Td,Ncmsa
7. of,the_people
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101853
1. וַ,יְהִי
2. 147235,147236
3. and he/it was
4. -
5. 1961
6. SV-C,Vqw3ms
7. and=he/it_was
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101854
1. לְ,מָיִם
2. 147237,147238
3. (into) water
4. -
5. 4325
6. S-R,Ncmpa
7. (into),water
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101855
2. 147239
3. -
4. -
6. -x-sof-pasuq
8. -
9. -
10. 101856

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 7:1–26 Achan sinned and God punished him

Achan disobeyed God. He took some of the things from Jericho that God told them to destroy. Because of his sin, the Israelites lost the battle against the town of Ai. Yahweh showed the Israelites that Achan was the one who had sinned, and they punished Achan.

Here are some other possible section headings:

The defeat at Ai

Achan’s sin

Paragraph 7:2–5

Joshua sent the Israelite army to fight against the men of Ai, but the Israelites were defeated.

7:5a

And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six of them,

The soldiers of Ai killed about thirty-six Israelite soldiers.
The soldiers of Ai City killed thirty-six of the Israelites altogether.

And: The Hebrew prefix that the BSB translates as And introduces the next event in the storyline. Introduce the next event in a way that is most natural in your language.

the men of Ai: The phrase the men of Ai refers to the soldiers who were fighting to defend the town.

struck down about thirty-six of them: The soldiers of Ai killed thirty-six Israelite soldiers.7:5 The Hebrew text has a word that the BSB translates as “about.” However, Boling and Wright note that this word is emphatic in verses 4 and 5. So the number of men killed was precisely thirty-six (Boling and Wright, p. 222).

7:5b

chasing them from the gate

They chased the soldiers away from the gate in the city wall,
They chased the Israelite army away from the entrance to the city,

The Hebrew prefix that the BSB leaves untranslated but some English versions translates as “and” introduces some additional detail about the death of the Israelite soldiers. This adds emphasis to the defeat of the Israelites. The details specify where and when the Israelite soldiers were killed.

chasing them: The word them refers to the Israelite soldiers.

from the gate: The word from means “in front of.” The men of Ai chased the Israelite soldiers away from the area in front of the town gate all the way to the stone quarries.

the gate: Ai town (like Jericho town) was surrounded by a town wall. In the wall was a gate, and people could enter the town only through this gate.

7:5c

as far as the quarries

and chased them as far as the stone quarries.
and down the hill to the stone quarries

as far as the quarries: There are two ways to interpret the Hebrew word that the BSB translates as quarries.

It means rock quarries. For example:
They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries (NIV) (BSB, NIV, CEV, GW, NCV, NET, NLT, REB, GNT)
It is a place named Shebarim. For example:
pursued them from the town gate as far as Shebarim (NJB) (NJB, RSV, ESV, NASB, NJPS)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Interpretation (2) is a transliteration of the Hebrew word and does not communicate the meaning as it was probably understood in Hebrew.

quarries: The word quarries refers to a place where people dig rock from the ground to use in construction.

7:5d

and striking them down on the slopes.

They killed them while they fled down the hill.
and killed the Israelites as they ran down the hill.

and: The Hebrew prefix that the BSB translates as and introduces more details of where and when the Israelite soldiers were killed.

striking them down: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as striking them down means “killing.” The phrase striking them down refers to the thirty-six Israelite soldiers who were killed. It restates the information in 7:5a. It does not indicate that additional Israelites were killed.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

the men of Ai killed them

on the slopes: The phrase on the slopes refers to the hillside going down to the stone quarries.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

on the slope of the hill

while they were fleeing down the hill

General Comment on 7:5b-d

This story is told in a way that is common in Hebrew narrative style. It tells a summary of an event first, and then it adds the details. Use the natural grammar of your language to make this clear. Your readers should understand that only thirty-six Israelite people were killed. These are some ways that English versions have handled this style:

The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them, chasing them from outside the gate as far as Shebarim and killing them on the slope. (GW)

The men of Ai chased them from the city gate as far as some quarries and killed about thirty-six of them on the way down the hill. (GNT)

7:5e

So the hearts of the people melted and became like water.

The Israelite soldiers were very afraid and felt dread instead of courage.
Then the Israelite army was very afraid.

So the hearts of the people melted and became like water: This is a Hebrew idiom. It means that the people became very afraid. They no longer felt any courage. Many languages have their own idioms to express fear. Here are some English idioms that express this meaning:

And the heart of the troops sank in utter dismay. (NJPS)

they lost their courage (NCV)

The Israelites were paralyzed with fear at this turn of events, and their courage melted away. (NLT)

In some languages it may be more natural to express the meaning directly without using an idiom. For example, you could say:

The Israelite soldiers were very afraid

Express the meaning in the most natural way in your language.

the people: This phrase refers to the Israelite soldiers.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: translate-transliterate

הַ⁠שְּׁבָרִ֔ים

(the),Shebarim

The word translated as the quarries could be: (1) a description of a geographic feature near the city of Ai. Alternate translation: [the nearby rock quarries] (2) the name of a place. If you decide that this is the name of a place, you can spell the Hebrew word the way it sounds in your language. Alternate translation: [Shebarim]

Note 2 topic: translate-unknown

הַ⁠שְּׁבָרִ֔ים

(the),Shebarim

A quarry is a place from which people take stones to use for building things. Normally, quarries are large and deep in the ground. If your readers would not be familiar with this type of place, you could use a descriptive phrase. Alternate translation: [the pits where people had dug stones out of the ground] or [a place where people had dug stones out of the ground]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet

וַ⁠יִּמַּ֥ס לְבַב־הָ⁠עָ֖ם וַ⁠יְהִ֥י לְ⁠מָֽיִם

and,it_melted hearts_of of,the_people and=he/it_was (into),water

The expressions melted and became water mean similar things. The author is using them together for emphasis. If it would be clearer for your readers, you could express the emphasis with a single phrase. Alternate translation: [And in their hearts, the people became very afraid]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

וַ⁠יִּמַּ֥ס לְבַב־הָ⁠עָ֖ם

and,it_melted hearts_of of,the_people

See how you translated the similar expressions in [2:11](../02/11.md) and [5:1](../05/01.md).

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

וַ⁠יְהִ֥י לְ⁠מָֽיִם

and=he/it_was (into),water

The author is speaking as if the hearts of the Israelite soldiers actually became water. This is another way of saying that the soldiers became afraid. Your language may have a similar expression that you can use in your translation. Alternate translation: [and they no longer had any courage]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

1. OET-LV words
2. OET-RV words
3. Strongs
4. Hebrew word
5. Hebrew lemma
6. Role/Morphology
7. Gloss
8. CAPS codes
9. OET tags
10. OET word #
1. And they struck down
2. killed
3. 1987,5176
5. 147201,147202
6. SV-C,Vhw3mp
8. S
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101835
1. from them
2. -
3. 4129,1978
5. 147203,147204
6. S-R,Sp3mp
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101836
1. the men of
2. men
3. 266
5. 147205
6. S-Ncmpc
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101837
1. (the) ˊAy
2. -
3. 1893,5824
5. 147206,147207
6. S-Td,Np
8. -
9. Location=Ai; Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101838
1. about thirty
2. thirty-six
3. 3418,7830
5. 147208,147209
6. O-R,Acbpa
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101839
1. and six
2. -
3. 1987,7639
5. 147210,147211
6. O-C,Acmsa
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101840
1. man
2. -
3. 266
5. 147212
6. O-Ncmsa
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101841
1. and they pursued them
2. chased
3. 1987,7259,1978
5. 147213,147214,147215
6. VO-C,Vqw3mp,Sp3mp
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101842
1. to (the) face of/in front of/before
2. -
3. 3705,6376
5. 147216,147217
6. S-R,Ncbpc
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101843
1. the gate
2. gate
3. 1893,7746
5. 147218,147219
6. S-Td,Ncmsa
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101844
1. to
2. -
3. 5798
5. 147220
6. S-R
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101845
1. (the) Shəⱱārīm
2. -
3. 1893,7436
5. 147222,147223
6. S-Td,Np
8. -
9. Location=Shebarim; Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101847
1. and they struck them down
2. -
3. 1987,5176,1978
5. 147224,147225,147226
6. VO-C,Vhw3mp,Sp3mp
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101848
1. at descent
2. on
3. 846,4842
5. 147227,147228
6. S-Rd,Ncmsa
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101849
1. and
2. -
3. 1987,4713
5. 147229,147230
6. SV-C,VNw3ms
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101850
1. the heart of
2. -
3. 3748
5. 147231
6. S-Ncmsc
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101851
1. it melted
2. -
3. 1987,4713
5. 147229,147230
6. SV-C,VNw3ms
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101850
1. of the people
2. ≈Israelis
3. 1893,5847
5. 147233,147234
6. S-Td,Ncmsa
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101853
1. and he/it was
2. -
3. 1987,1929
5. 147235,147236
6. SV-C,Vqw3ms
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101854
1. (into) water
2. -
3. 3705,4433
5. 147237,147238
6. S-R,Ncmpa
8. -
9. Y-1451; TWar_with_Canaanites
10. 101855

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.

OET interlinear JOS 7:5

Hebrew word order