What Does 1 Chronicles 6:61 Mean?
And to the sons of Kohath, who were left behind among the family of that tribe, were cities given by the cast stone out of the half tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And unto the sons of Kohath, which were left of the family of that tribe, were cities given out of the half tribe, namely, out of the half tribe of Manasseh, by lot, ten cities.THE KEY
The allotment carries an act of placing: ten cities are given from Manasseh’s portion, making another tribe’s land a home for Kohath’s families.
THE MEANING
A place to belong can come through another’s share; it need not be self-claimed to be real. The ten cities given to Kohath’s remaining families show provision taking a concrete form: a bounded place assigned by lot.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A place counts as yours only if it comes from your own inheritance.
THE ROOT
וַיִּתְּנוּ
wayyittenu
GROWS FROM
נתן
נָתַן (natan): to give, set, or place.
“given” in this verse is wayyittenu. The Hebrew verb is active: “they gave,” giving the allotment an active giver alongside its recipients. The root holds giving and placing together, so this is provision with a location.
ALSO GROWS
mattanah: gift
מַתָּנָה
A gift is something placed into another’s hands; here, the cities are a concrete gift of place.
nethinim: “Given ones,” a group assigned to temple service
נְתִינִים
The same root can describe people set into an assigned role, echoing how giving can establish a place or relation.
THE PATTERN
A place becomes provision when it is assigned from a shared inheritance.
Command the children of Israel to give the Levites cities to settle in from the inheritance of their holding, and you shall also give the Levites pasturelands for the cities round about them.The LORD is the portion of my share and of my cup; you hold fast my lot.And they cast their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven sent ones.THE THREAD
And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, by the mouth of the LORD, these cities and their pastures.Joshua uses the same root נתן (natan, “give”) for the cities Israel gives the Levites. The shared root makes the allotment here part of a wider pattern: inheritance becomes provision by being given a place.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us