The Hebrew text of verse 15-18 is quite wordy (see Revised Standard Version), and Good News Translation has reduced the number of words in the interests of ease of reading and understanding. At the Lord’s command Joshua orders the priests to come out of the water onto the west bank of the Jordan, and they do so. (Verse 11 has already told the reader that the priests had left the river and taken their place ahead of the people.)

In Hebrew the Lord’s command is given in direct discourse (see Revised Standard Version), and for many languages it will be more natural to retain the direct discourse form.

In verse 16 Covenant Box translates a different Hebrew expression, literally “ark of the testimony (or instruction)” (see Revised Standard Version). The Hebrew word “testimony” is used in wisdom literature as one of the several words for the Torah or its specific ordinances. New English Bible “Ark of the Tokens” is a meaningless phrase in English. In verse 18 the usual phrase “ark of the covenant” (Revised Standard Version) is used. Although the Hebrew does use a slightly different term for Covenant Box, it is probably better in translation to maintain the continuity of the story by using the same term that has been used previously in the account. This is especially true for a common language translation, though for a translation at a literary level one may want to reflect the difference in the Hebrew form.

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 .