JOS 3:13 Parallel Verse View

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Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) and as soon as the priests carrying the sacred chest go into the Yordan, as soon as their feet touch the water, the river water on the upstream side will pile up in a heap.”

Key: khaki:verbs, green:YHWH.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Καὶ ἔσται, ὡς ἂν καταπαύσωσιν οἱ πόδες τῶν ἱερέων τῶν αἰρόντων τὴν κιβωτὸν τῆς διαθήκης Κυρίου πάσης τῆς γῆς ἐν τῷ ὕδατι τοῦ Ἰορδάνου, τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦ Ἰορδάνου ἐκλείψει, τὸ δὲ ὕδωρ τὸ καταβαῖνον στήσεται.
(Kai estai, hōs an katapausōsin hoi podes tōn hiereōn tōn airontōn taʸn kibōton taʸs diathaʸkaʸs Kuriou pasaʸs taʸs gaʸs en tōi hudati tou Yordanou, to hudōr tou Yordanou ekleipsei, to de hudōr to katabainon staʸsetai. )

BrTr And it shall come to pass, when the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth rest in the water of Jordan, the water of Jordan below shall fail, and the water coming down from above shall stop.

ULT And it will happen as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests, the carriers of the Box of Yahweh, the Lord of all of the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, the waters coming down from above. And they will stand, one heap.”

UST When the priests who are carrying the chest of Yahweh, who rules over all the earth, put their feet in the waters of the Jordan River, the water will stop flowing. The water coming from upstream will pile up because Yahweh will cause them to be blocked.”

OEB Whenever the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the water of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be stopped. The waters which are flowing down, they will be dammed up.’

WEBBE It shall be that when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of GOD,[fn] the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan will be cut off. The waters that come down from above shall stand in one heap.”

3:13 When rendered in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, “LORD” or “GOD” is the translation of God’s Proper Name (Hebrew “יהוה”, usually pronounced Yahweh).

WMBB It shall be that when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of GOD, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan will be cut off. The waters that come down from above shall stand in one heap.”

NET When the feet of the priests carrying the ark of the Lord, the Ruler of the whole earth, touch the water of the Jordan, the water coming downstream toward you will stop flowing and pile up.”

LSV and it has been, at the resting of the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the Ark of YHWH, Lord of all the earth, in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan are cut off—the waters which are coming down from above—and they stand—one heap.”

FBV The moment the priests carrying the Ark step into the water the river will stop flowing and the water will pile up.”

T4T As for the priests who are carrying the chest, as soon as they put their feet into the Jordan River, the water will stop flowing. It will pile up because I will cause it to be blocked upstream.”

LEB When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the ark of Yahweh, Lord of all the earth,[fn] rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off _⌊upstream_⌋,[fn] and they will stand still in one heap.

3:13 Or “world”

3:13 Literally “going down from above”

BBE And when the feet of the priests who take up the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, come to rest in the waters of Jordan, the waters of Jordan will be cut off, all the waters flowing down from higher up, and will come together in a mass.

Moff Whenever the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the compact of the Eternal, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the water of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be stopped; the waters which are flowing down, they shall be dammed up.”

JPS And it shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, even the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand in one heap.'

ASV And it shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, even the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand in one heap.

DRA And when the priests, that carry the ark of the Lord the God of the whole earth, shall set the soles of their feet in the waters of the Jordan, the waters that are beneath shall run down and go off: and those that come from above, shall stand together upon a heap.

YLT and it hath been, at the resting of the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of Jehovah, Lord of all the earth, in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan are cut off — the waters which are coming down from above — and they stand — one heap.'

Drby And it shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan, the waters flowing down from above, shall be cut off, and shall stand up in a heap.

RV And it shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off, even the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand in one heap.
(And it shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Yordan, that the waters of Yordan shall be cut off, even the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand in one heap. )

SLT And it was as the soles of the feet of the priests lifting up the ark of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth, rested in the water of Jordan, the water of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters coming down from above; and they shall stand one heap.

Wbstr And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand in a heap.

KJB-1769 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.
(And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Yordan, that the waters of Yordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap. )

KJB-1611 And it shall come to passe, assoone as the soles of the feete of the Priestes that beare the Arke of the LORD, the LORD of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Iordan, that the waters of Iordan shall be cut off, from the waters that come downe from aboue: and they shall stand vpon an heape.
(And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the Priests that bear the Ark of the LORD, the LORD of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Yordan, that the waters of Yordan shall be cut off, from the waters that come down from above: and they shall stand upon an heap.)

Bshps And assoone as the soles of the feete of the priestes that beare the arke of the Lorde the gouernour of all the worlde, treade in the waters of Iordane, the waters of Iordane shalbe deuided: and the waters that come from aboue shall stande still vpon an heape.
(And as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord the governor of all the world, tread in the waters of Yordan, the waters of Yordan shall be divided: and the waters that come from above shall stand still upon an heap.)

Gnva And assoone as the soles of the feete of the Priestes (that beare the Arke of the Lord God the Lord of all the worlde) shall stay in the waters of Iorden, the waters of Iorden shall be cut off: for the waters that come from aboue, shall stande still vpon an heape.
(And as soon as the soles of the feet of the Priests (that bear the Ark of the Lord God the Lord of all the world) shall stay in the waters of Yordan, the waters of Yordan shall be cut off: for the waters that come from above, shall stand still upon an heap. )

Cvdl And whan the soles of the fete of the prestes that beare ye Arke of the LORDE the gouernoure of all londes, are set in the water of Iordane, then shal ye water of Iordane withdrawe it selfe from the water that floweth from aboue, that it maye stonde on a heape.
(And when the soles of the feet of the priests that bear ye/you_all Ark of the LORD the governor of all lands, are set in the water of Yordan, then shall ye/you_all water of Yordan withdraw itself from the water that floweth/flows from above, that it may stand on a heap.)

Wycl And whanne the preestis, that beren the arke of boond of pees of the Lord God of al erthe, han set the steppis of her feet in the watris of Jordan, the watris that ben lowere schulen renne doun, and schulen faile; forsothe the watris that comen fro aboue schulen stonde togidere in o gobet.
(And when the priests, that beren the ark of bond of peace of the Lord God of all earth, have set the steps of her feet in the waters of Yordan, the waters that been lower should run down, and should fail; for_certain/truly the waters that came from above should stand together in o gobet.)

Luth Wenn dann die Fußsohlen der Priester, die des HErr’s Lade, des Herrschers über alle Welt, tragen, in des Jordans Wasser sich lassen, so wird sich das Wasser, das von oben herabfleußt im Jordan, abreißen, daß es über einem Haufen stehen bleibe.
(When then the soles_of_the_feet the/of_the priest(s), the the LORD’s box/chest, the rulers above all world, bear/carry, in the Yordans water itself/yourself/themselves let, so becomes itself/yourself/themselves the water, the from above downfleußt in_the Yordan, tear_down, that it above on heap/pile(n) stand would_remain.)

ClVg Et cum posuerint vestigia pedum suorum sacerdotes qui portant arcam Domini Dei universæ terræ in aquis Jordanis, aquæ quæ inferiores sunt, decurrent atque deficient: quæ autem desuper veniunt, in una mole consistent.
(And when/with posuerint footsteps feet of_his_own priests who/which they_carry the_box Master of_God of_the_universe of_the_earth/land in/into/on in_the_waters Yordanis, water which inferiores are, decurrent and_yet deficient: which however from_above they_come, in/into/on together mole consistent. )

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 3:1–17 The Israelites crossed the Jordan River

The Israelites waited three days beside the Jordan and then crossed the river. The priests carried the ark and led the way. As soon as the priests stepped into the river, the water stopped flowing, and everyone was able to cross the river on dry ground.

Paragraph 3:9–13

Joshua told the people about the miracle that Yahweh will do.

3:13a

When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—

The feet of the priests carrying the covenant box of Yahweh, the king of the whole earth,
As soon as the priests who carry the holy chest of Yahweh, the master of all the earth, put their feet

The Hebrew word that the BSB leaves untranslated and many English versions translate as “And” is more literally “and it will be.” It indicates what will happen next.

When: The Hebrew construction that the BSB translates as When can also be translated “as soon as.” This indicates that when the priests stepped in the water, the water stopped flowing immediately.3:13 Dallaire p. 879.

the feet of the priests: The feet refers to the bottom part of the foot. Many English translations leave this information implicit. For example:

the feet of the priests (NET)

who carry: Here is another way to translate this term:

who carry on poles on their shoulders

the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth: This expression is like, but not quite the same as, the expression in 3:11.

the ark of the LORD: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as LORD is “Yahweh,” the name of God.

the Lord of all the earth: The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as Lord can also be translated as “master” or “ruler.” It is not the same as the name Yahweh.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

Then, when the feet of the priests who carry the covenant box of Yahweh, the master of all the earth,

The priests will carry the holy chest of Yahweh, the ruler of all the earth. When their feet…

3:13b

touch down in the waters of the Jordan,

will stand in the water of the Jordan River.
into the water,

touch down in the waters of the Jordan: The clause touch down in the waters of the Jordan indicates that the priests’ feet will stand in the Jordan River.

the waters of the Jordan: the phrase the waters of the Jordan refers to the Jordan River. The Hebrew word for water always occurs in the plural. In English it usually occurs in the singular. Use the form that is natural in your language.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

the priests put their feet into the water of the Jordan River

the priests step into the Jordan River

3:13c

its flowing waters will be cut off

Immediately, the water will stop flowing.
God will stop it from flowing.

its flowing waters will be cut off: This clause is more literally “the waters of the Jordan will be cut off.” This is a passive sentence.

Here are two ways to translate this passive sentence:

Use a passive verb. For example:
its waters flowing downstream will be cut off (NIV)
Use an active verb. Here are some ways to translate it with an active verb:
the waters coming downstream toward you will stop flowing (NET)
God will stop the water from flowing down toward you

Use the form that is most natural in your language.

its flowing waters: The phrase its flowing waters refers to the Jordan River that was flowing down from its source at a higher place to the place where the Israelites were.

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

the water that flows down toward you

3:13d

and will stand up in a heap.”

The water coming from upstream will pile up in a heap.”
He will cause the water coming down to collect in one place.”

will stand up in a heap: The clause will stand up in a heap indicates that the water of the Jordan River would stand up like a wall in one place. Instead of continuing to flow along the riverbed where the Israelites were about to cross, the water piled up at a distance up the river.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

will stand like a wall

will pile up in one place (GNT)

General Comment on 3:13c-d

In some languages it may be more natural to reverse the order of 3:13c and 3:13d. For example:

^13dthe water will pile up in a heap upstream ^13cand will not flow down toward you

Parallel JOS 3:13

Section 3:1–17 The Israelites crossed the Jordan River

Paragraph 3:9–13

3:13a

3:13b

3:13c

3:13d

General Comment on 3:13c-d