What Does Joshua 16:10 Mean in the King James?
And they drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: but the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites unto this day, and serve under tribute.
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
The verb for driving out grows from the same root as inheriting or taking possession, binding Ephraim’s inheritance to the dispossession named here.
THE MEANING
The Canaanites remain among Ephraim, and their presence becomes tribute labor. The separation is incomplete, yet power still organizes the relationship: they dwell there while serving under levy.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this dissolves is that controlling a presence is the same as removing it; tribute leaves that presence in place.
THE ROOT
הוֹרִישׁוּ
hōrîšû
GROWS FROM
יָרַשׁ
yārash
To take possession or inherit; in the causative stem used here, to dispossess or drive out.
“drave out” in this verse is hōrîšû. The root holds taking possession and dispossessing within one word family. Here the act of possessing the land is bound to the removal of those already living in it.
ALSO GROWS
yōrēsh: One who inherits or takes possession.
יֹרֵשׁ
It shares the root of “drave out,” linking Ephraim’s possession with the dispossession in this verse.
mōrāšāh: Inheritance or possession.
מוֹרָשָׁה
This noun makes the same root’s inheritance sense visible beside its dispossession sense.
הַיּוֹשֵׁב
hayyōshēv vayyēshev
GROWS FROM
יָשַׁב
yāshav
To sit, settle, remain, or dwell.
“dwelt / dwell” in this verse is hayyōshēv vayyēshev. The root carries the sense of sitting down and remaining in a place. The Canaanites are not a passing presence: the verse repeats this root as it describes them dwelling in Gezer and remaining among Ephraim.
ALSO GROWS
yōshēv: A dweller or inhabitant.
יֹשֵׁב
It names someone settled in a place, as the Canaanite is described in Gezer.
mōshāv: A dwelling or settlement.
מוֹשָׁב
This branch shows the root extending from the act of dwelling to the place where one settles.
לְמַס עֹבֵד
lemās ʿōvēd
GROWS FROM
עָבַד
ʿāvad
To work or serve.
“serve under tribute” in this verse is lemās ʿōvēd. The verse describes the Canaanites’ status through service under a levy. This root also gives the words for a servant and for work, connecting tribute with labor and subjection.
ALSO GROWS
ʿeved: A servant or bondservant.
עֶבֶד
It shows how the root of service can name the person placed in a subordinate condition.
ʿavōdāh: Work or service.
עֲבֹדָה
It makes the labor within “serve under tribute” explicit.
THE PATTERN
A presence left within the space from which it was meant to be removed remains an active force that reshapes the terms of life there.
But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you.THE THREAD
Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute; but did not utterly drive them out.This verse uses the same root, יָרַשׁ (yārash), for driving out, while also describing the Canaanites being put to tribute. It shows the same unresolved arrangement continuing even as Israel grows strong: the Canaanites remain, now as labor tributaries.
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