What Does Joshua 17:9 Mean?
And the coast descended unto the streambed of Kanah, southward of the streambed; these cities of Ephraim are among the cities of Manasseh; the coast of Manasseh also was on the north side of the streambed, and the goings out of it were at the sea.
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 the coast descended unto the river Kanah, southward of the river: these cities of Ephraim are among the cities of Manasseh: the coast of Manasseh also was on the north side of the river, and the outgoings of it were at the sea:THE KEY
The boundary reaches the sea, yet Ephraim’s cities remain among Manasseh’s, a border can mark a limit without making everything on either side separate.
THE MEANING
This verse holds distinction and overlap together: the river marks a boundary, while Ephraim’s cities sit among Manasseh’s. Manasseh’s border reaches outward to the sea, giving its territory both a line and an extent.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A boundary always makes neighboring territories wholly separate; here, Ephraim’s cities remain among Manasseh’s even as the river marks the edge.
THE ROOT
תֹּצְאֹתָיו
totsa’otav
GROWS FROM
יצא
y-ts-ʾ
To go out, emerge, or come forth.
“goings out” in this verse is totsa’otav. The boundary’s “outgoings” come from the root meaning to go out or come forth. This describes the edge through where it reaches and opens outward, so the map is more than a line of separation.
ALSO GROWS
yatsa: To go out or come forth.
יָצָא
This is the root action behind the boundary’s described reach.
motsa: A going out, outlet, or source.
מוֹצָא
Like the boundary’s outgoings, this word names where something emerges or reaches outward.
THE PATTERN
A boundary can define distinct portions while those portions remain joined within a larger whole.
The cords fall to me in sweet places; indeed, my inheritance is beautiful.And he made from one blood every nation of humankind to settle upon all the face of the earth, marking out their fitted seasons and setting the boundary stones of their dwelling.But now God has set the limbs, each one of them, in the body, as he willed.THE THREAD
And the border shall go down to Jordan, and its goings out shall be at the salt sea. This shall be your land with its borders round about.Both verses use יצא (yatsa, to go out or come forth) for the border’s “outgoings” or “goings out.” Together they describe a boundary through its route and reach, traced between landmarks rather than left as an abstract dividing line.
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