What Does Joshua 18:17 Mean?
And it turned from the north, and came out to Enshemesh, and came out toward Geliloth, which faces the ascent of Adummim, and went down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben.
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 was drawn from the north, and went forth to En-shemesh, and went forth toward Geliloth, which is over against the going up of Adummim, and descended to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben,THE KEY
The boundary becomes a journey you can follow, descending through named places until it reaches a particular stone.
THE MEANING
A boundary becomes knowable as a route: the line starts at the north, passes named places, and descends to a stone. עֵין שֶׁמֶשׁ (Ein-shemesh, “spring of the sun”), בֹּהַן (Bohan, “thumb”), and רְאוּבֵן (Re’uven, “behold a son”) let the route carry the names of place, person, and lineage.
THE ROOT
וְיָרַד
we-yarad
GROWS FROM
ירד
descend, go down
“went down” in this verse is we-yarad. The border does not simply arrive at Bohan’s stone; it comes down to it. This root preserves that downward movement in words for descent and slope, so the endpoint is a change in elevation as well as a point on the map.
ALSO GROWS
yeridah: descent, downward movement
יְרִידָה
It names the movement that brings the boundary down to the stone.
morad: slope, downhill stretch
מוֹרָד
It carries the same downward motion into the shape of the land.
Yarden: Jordan
יַרְדֵּן
The name is traditionally connected with this root, preserving the sense of a descending course in a place-name.
וְיָצָא
we-yatsa
GROWS FROM
יצא
go out, emerge, depart
“came out” in this verse is we-yatsa. The same verb appears twice, translated “went forth” both times. Its root also names an emergence or departure, so the boundary unfolds as movement through landmarks rather than as an unnamed line.
ALSO GROWS
yetsi'ah: going out, departure
יְצִיאָה
It makes explicit the outward movement repeated in the boundary’s route.
motsa: outlet, source
מוֹצָא
It names a point from which something comes out, echoing the route’s emergence through named locations.
hotsi: bring out, cause to go out
הוֹצִיא
This form makes the root’s outward movement active, a motion carried along the border.
מִצָּפוֹן
mi-tsafon
GROWS FROM
צפן
hide, conceal, store away
The verse begins from צָפוֹן (tsafon, north), a word in the consonantal family of hiding and storing away. The route then makes that distant edge traceable through named landmarks.
ALSO GROWS
tsafan: hide, store away
צָפַן
It shares the root that names the verse’s starting direction.
tsafun: hidden, stored away
צָפוּן
It carries the root’s sense of what is concealed or held out of sight.
tsafon: north
צָפוֹן
This is the directional word in the verse, linking the boundary’s starting edge to the צפן root family.
THE PATTERN
A portion becomes legible through fixed bounds: lines, borders, and landmarks disclose its shape.
When the One Above allotted the nations their inheritance, when he split apart the sons of Adam, he stationed the borders of the peoples by the count of the children of Israel.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.THE THREAD
And the border went down to the edge of the mountain that lies before the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is in the valley of the Rephaim on the north, and went down to the valley of Hinnom, to the shoulder of Jebusi on the south, and went down to Enrogel.The preceding verse uses the same descent root for “came down” and “descended,” and this verse carries that movement to Bohan’s stone. Together they trace one continuous boundary through successive landmarks.
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