What Does Joshua 9:27 Mean?
And Joshua made them that day cutters of wood and drawers of waters for the assembly, and for the altar of the LORD, even until this day, in the place which he would choose.
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 Joshua made them that day hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the altar of the LORD, even unto this day, in the place which he should choose.THE KEY
Here sacred continuity rests on coerced, enduring labor: the people set to supply the congregation also supply its altar.
THE MEANING
The verse keeps an uncomfortable truth visible: sacred communal life can depend on labor imposed on people. The wood-cutting and water-drawing serve both the congregation and the altar, and “even unto this day” gives that arrangement a continuing place in the scene.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A sacred place is sustained only by freely offered service: this verse names people placed into work that continues without release.
THE ROOT
וַיִּתְּנֵם
vayyittenem
GROWS FROM
נתן
give, set, place
Rendered “made,” וַיִּתְּנֵם (vayyittenem) comes from נתן (natan), whose range includes giving, setting, and placing. The role is presented as a placement into ongoing service, and the sense of setting sharpens the force of “even unto this day.”
ALSO GROWS
mattanah: gift; something given
מַתָּנָה
This branch shows giving as a concrete transfer, illuminating how the workers are assigned a place and function.
natun: given, placed, assigned
נָתוּן
This form makes the root’s sense of placement visible in the enduring role described here.
עֵדָה
edah
GROWS FROM
יעד
appoint, designate, meet at an appointed place
The word for congregation is linked to the root of appointment and meeting. The labor is assigned in service to an assembly gathered around a shared place, not to isolated individuals.
ALSO GROWS
mo'ed: appointed time, meeting, or place
מוֹעֵד
It carries the idea of a gathering arranged around a particular time or place, adding structure to the congregation served here.
no'ad: met or assembled by appointment
נוֹעַד
This form connects the congregation with people coming together at a designated meeting.
מִזְבֵּחַ
mizbeach
GROWS FROM
זבח
slaughter for sacrifice
The word for altar grows from the root for sacrificial slaughter. That root makes the destination of the workers’ labor concrete: it supports the activity of sacrifice as well as the life of the congregation.
ALSO GROWS
zavach: to slaughter or sacrifice
זָבַח
This verb names the sacrificial action for which the altar is used.
zevach: sacrifice or sacrificial meal
זֶבַח
This noun connects the altar to the sacrifice and shared meal its service supports.
THE PATTERN
Communal worship rests on concrete provision and the labor that carries it to the altar.
And you shall command the children of Israel, that they take to you clear oil of crushed olives for the light, to cause the lamp to rise continually.And we let the lots fall among the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the drawing near of the wood, to bring it into the house of our God, after the houses of our fathers, at the appointed times, year by year, to burn upon the altar of the LORD our God, as it is written in the instruction;Do you not know that those who serve the set-apart things eat from the temple, and those who sit beside the altar share with the altar?THE THREAD
Your little ones, your wives, and the sojourner within your camp, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water.The same Hebrew work-words appear here for the wood-hewer and water-drawer, naming laborers within the full range of the community. Joshua’s verse shows that work directed to the congregation and altar. The echo keeps the workers visible within communal life.
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