1 tn Or “fathers.”
2 tn Or “bowed before” (the same expression occurs in the following verse).
3 tn Or “did not listen to.”
4 tn Or “bowed before.”
5 tn Or “way [of life].”
6 tn Or “fathers.”
7 tn Heb “…walked, obeying the
8 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the next generation) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn The verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to return; to turn”) is sometimes translated “turn back” here, but it is probably used in an adverbial sense, indicating that the main action (“act wickedly”) is being repeated.
10 tn Heb “their fathers.”
sn The statement the next generation would again act more wickedly than the previous one must refer to the successive sinful generations after Joshua, not Joshua’s godly generation (cf. vv. 7, 17).
11 tn Or “serving [them]”; or “following [them].”
12 tn Or “drop.”