What Does Joshua 15:13 Mean?
And to Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a portion among the children of Judah, according to the mouth of the LORD to Joshua, even the city of Arba the father of Anak, which is Hebron.
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 Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a part among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua, even the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron.THE KEY
Caleb’s distinct portion is placed among Judah’s people in Hebron, a name that carries the sense of joining.
THE MEANING
Caleb receives a defined portion within Judah’s inheritance, under the LORD’s direction. Hebron’s name carries the sense of joining or association, holding a particular share and belonging together. The inheritance is distinct without being detached.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This dissolves the idea that receiving a distinct share requires separation: Caleb’s portion is specifically placed among Judah’s children.
THE ROOT
חֶבְרוֹן
Ḥevron
GROWS FROM
חבר
To join, associate, or unite.
“Hebron” in this verse is Ḥevron. The city name carries the same root as the Hebrew verb translated “joined together” in Genesis 14:3. Here, Caleb’s inheritance is located in a place whose name echoes joining, while the verse places his share among Judah’s people.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāveru: They were joined together.
חָבְרוּ
This form appears in Genesis 14:3 and shows the root as an act of joining; Hebron carries the same root in a place name.
ḥāver: Companion or associate.
חָבֵר
This branch gives the root a relational sense, fitting the verse’s picture of Caleb’s distinct portion within a people.
יְהוּדָה
Yehudah
GROWS FROM
ידה
To acknowledge, give thanks, or praise.
Judah’s name is linked to praise: when Leah names him, she says, “Now will I praise the LORD” (Genesis 29:35). Caleb’s portion is placed among the children of Yehudah, a name that carries praise within the inheritance’s language of belonging.
ALSO GROWS
yādāh: To give thanks or praise; to acknowledge.
יָדָה
This verb supplies the root sense behind Judah’s name, so “among the children of Judah” also evokes a people whose name carries praise.
tōdāh: Thanksgiving or praise.
תּוֹדָה
This related word makes the praise carried by Judah’s name audible as an expression of thanks.
THE PATTERN
A distinct portion can remain part of a larger whole.
Out of the portion of the children of Judah was the inheritance of the children of Simeon; for the part of the children of Judah was too much for them; therefore the children of Simeon had their inheritance within the inheritance of them.The LORD is the portion of my share and of my cup; you hold fast my lot.But now God has set the limbs, each one of them, in the body, as he willed.THE THREAD
All these joined together in the valley of Siddim, which is the Salt Sea.The Hebrew verb חָבְרוּ (ḥāveru, “they were joined together”) comes from חבר (ḥ-b-r, “to join or associate”), the root behind חֶבְרוֹן (Ḥevron, “joining or association”). Genesis shows the root as an act; Joshua places Caleb’s portion in a place whose name carries that same joining, within Judah’s people.
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