Good News Translation has rearranged verses 6-8 in a more orderly manner; for the way in which the material appears in Hebrew, see Revised Standard Version. Notice that verse 6a is repeated in the last part of verse 7, and verse 6b is taken up again in verse 9a.

The information about how Moses had assigned territory east of the Jordan to one half of Manasseh and land west of the Jordan was assigned by Joshua to the other half is quite redundant in the context of the whole book. As it stands in the text, the command in verse 8 (see Revised Standard Version) appears to be directed to the men of East Manasseh alone (so Bright), but it is reasonable to assume that it applies to the two other eastern tribes as well (so Good News Translation; see also New English Bible, New American Bible).

If the command is understood to be directed to the men of East Manasseh alone, then it would seem advisable to retain the order of the text essentially as it appears in the Hebrew. The last part of verse 7 would then be “Now as Joshua sent the men of East Manasseh home with his blessing, 8 he said to them….” If the order of Good News Translation is retained, it may be helpful to translate with his blessing as part of the direct quotation: “6-8 Before the men started home Joshua said to them, ‘May the LORD continue to bless your lives. You are going back….’ ” Or, “6-8 … ‘May the LORD (continue to) be with you….’ ”

The command to share with their fellow Israelites the loot taken from enemies is in keeping with ancient Israelite practice (see Num 31.27; 1 Sam 30.21-25).

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 .