And when they came to their brethren at Zorah and Eshta-ol renders an independent clause in Hebrew, literally “and they came….” The pronoun they may be rendered “the five men” (Good News Translation) or “the five spies.” The phrase came to their brethren assumes that the men left Laish and made their way back home. In some languages this information may need to be made explicit by saying “Then the five spies went back home to their brothers….” Their brethren refers to the Danites who sent the spies out in the first place. As elsewhere, the Hebrew word for brethren is not just used for relatives, but also for people in the same village, clan, or ethnic group. If need be, translators may use a more general expression, such as “their tribe” ( NET Bible) or “their people.” For Zorah and Eshta-ol, see verse 13.25 and verse 18.2.

Their brethren said to them: Their brethren seems to be repeated for emphasis. The general verb said may be rendered “asked” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version) in this context. The pronoun them refers to the spies.

What do you report? is literally “What you?” This question is an idiomatic expression, which may be rendered “How are you?” (Hebrew Old Testament Text Project). We might also say more generally “How did it go?” ( NET Bible). Versions that ask for a report are going slightly beyond the text.

Translation models for this verse are:

• Later, when the spies came back to Zorah and Eshtaol, their tribesmen asked them how things had gone.

• When the spies came back to their people at Zorah and Eshtaol, their people asked them, “What did you find out?”

Quoted with permission from Zogbo, Lynell and Ogden, Graham S. A Handbook on Judges. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .