What Does Joshua 20:7 Mean in the King James?
And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah.
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 Hebrew names picture refuge as set-apart space, a shoulder that bears weight, and a joining that holds connection.
THE MEANING
Refuge appears as something concrete and findable, spread across the land. The city names deepen its shape as a set-apart place, a shoulder that bears weight, and a joining that holds people together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The names are not empty labels: their roots make refuge read as set-apart space, burden-bearing, and connection.
THE ROOT
קֶדֶשׁ
qedesh
GROWS FROM
קדש
q-d-sh
Set apart, make distinct for a purpose.
Kedesh carries the root of what is set apart and of the sanctuary. As one of the refuge locations, its name frames refuge as a designated space.
ALSO GROWS
qadosh: Set apart; sacred.
קָדוֹשׁ
This branch makes the name’s sense of a distinct, protected place audible.
miqdash: Sanctuary; a set-apart place.
מִקְדָּשׁ
The sanctuary branch links Kedesh’s name to a space designated for shelter and encounter.
שְׁכֶם
shekhem
GROWS FROM
שכם
sh-k-m
Shoulder; the related verbal form means to rise early.
Shechem’s root is literally shoulder, a bodily place for carrying weight. The refuge name gives shelter a load-bearing image that English renders only as a place name.
ALSO GROWS
shekhem: Shoulder.
שְׁכֶם
This is the direct bodily image carried by the city’s name: a place associated with bearing weight.
hishkim: Rise early; get up early.
הִשְׁכִּים
The same consonants appear in the verb for rising early, extending the shoulder image into movement and readiness.
חֶבְרוֹן
ḥevron
GROWS FROM
חבר
ḥ-b-r
Join, bind together, associate.
Hebron carries the root of joining and association. Its name gives refuge a social dimension: shelter includes connection and belonging.
ALSO GROWS
ḥavar: Join; bind together.
חָבַר
This verb makes the joining inside Hebron’s name explicit.
ḥever: Company; association.
חֶבֶר
This branch brings companionship and connection into the name of a refuge place.
THE PATTERN
Refuge becomes real when it is placed within reach and a route to it is made clear.
Ye shall give three cities on this side Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge.Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the coasts of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither.That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:THE THREAD
Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;The name Kedesh (קֶדֶשׁ, qedesh: “set apart”) shares its root, קדש (q-d-sh: “set apart”), with מִקֹּדֶשׁ (miqqodesh: “from the sanctuary”) in this verse. The link lets the refuge city’s name echo the sanctuary as a set-apart place from which help and strength come.
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