What Does Joshua 15:55 Mean in the King James?

Maon, Carmel, and Ziph, and Juttah,

Joshua 15:55 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

Maon is not only a town name: it is the Hebrew word for a dwelling place.

THE MEANING

You encounter a place-name that still carries meaning: Maon is dwelling, habitation. The verse lets a place be more than a coordinate; the name holds the idea of home inside it.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

This loosens the assumption that a place-name is only a label: Maon is also the Hebrew word for dwelling.

THE ROOT

מָעוֹן

ma'on

GROWS FROM

עון

ʿ-w-n

To dwell or inhabit, inferred from the established sense of ⁨מָעוֹן⁩ as an abode.

Maon shares its Hebrew form with the common noun for a dwelling place. The name holds habitation inside the map, a connection made explicit when the same word names the LORD as a dwelling place in Psalm 90:1.

ALSO GROWS

ma'on: Dwelling place, habitation

מָעוֹן

This is both the town’s name and the common Hebrew word for an abode.

me'onah: Dwelling place, habitation

מְעוֹנָה

This related form carries the same sense of a place to dwell.

THE PATTERN

Scripture lets a place-name carry meaning, so a place can be read through what it is called as well as where it is.

And he called the name of that place Beth-el: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.

Genesis 28:19 · KJVThe place’s name changes, making its identity part of what the verse reveals.

Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.

Isaiah 62:4 · KJVNames spoken over the land carry meaning about its condition and belonging.

And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Revelation 21:2 · KJVThe city is presented through the identity and meaning carried by its name.

THE THREAD

A Prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.

Psalm 90:1 · KJV

Psalm 90:1 uses the same Hebrew word, ⁨מָעוֹן⁩ (ma’on, dwelling place), that stands behind the name Maon. The town-name connection opens habitation beyond a location on the map: home is also a dwelling-place held across generations.

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