What Does Joshua 18:13 Mean in the King James?
And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Beth-el, southward; and the border descended to Ataroth-adar, near the hill that lieth on the south side of the nether Beth-horon.
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 boundary passes לוז (Lûz, “almond tree”), also called בֵּית־אֵל (Bêt-ʾEl, “house of God”), then descends, making a route through named terrain rather than an abstract line.
THE MEANING
The border takes shape as a path: it passes Luz, also named Bethel, turns south, and descends by the hill at lower Beth-horon. Its limits become visible through the places and elevation the line follows.
THE ROOT
וְיָרַד
ve-yarad
GROWS FROM
ירד
to descend, to go down
“descended” in this verse is ve-yarad. The Hebrew ירד (y-r-d, “to descend”) makes the border’s downward movement part of its description. The same root is heard in יַרְדֵּן (Yardēn, “Jordan”), linking the boundary’s descent to a familiar name formed from the language of going down.
ALSO GROWS
yōrēd: one who descends; descending
יֹרֵד
This participle keeps the root’s movement active, matching the verse’s account of a boundary that follows the land downward.
Yardēn: Jordan, a name linked to the idea of descent
יַרְדֵּן
The river’s name carries the same consonants, ירד, so the verse’s downward route echoes in a name associated with descending waters.
THE PATTERN
A boundary becomes legible as a route through named places and terrain.
And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall descend, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward:The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;THE THREAD
Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.The Hebrew root ירד (“to descend”) appears in “went he down” and is echoed in יַרְדֵּן (Yardēn, “Jordan”). Joshua’s border follows that same downward movement through the land.
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