A shift may be made to indirect discourse: “But Joshua had told his men, ‘Do not shout or say a word until I give the order.’ ” The two expressions not to shout, not to say a word of Good News Translation represent a combining and shortening of the Hebrew “not shout or let your voice be heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth” (Revised Standard Version). Further combining is possible: “But Joshua had told his men, ‘Do not say a word until I give the order for you to shout.’ ”

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 .