What Does Joshua 21:11 Mean in the King James?
And they gave them the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with the suburbs thereof round about it.
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
Hebron’s name carries the root for joining, so the city given with its surrounding land bears the nature of joinedness.
THE MEANING
You encounter the city both through its lineage, Arba, father of Anak, and through the name Hebron, whose root carries joining. It is given with the open land around it, in Judah’s hill country.
THE ROOT
חֶבְרוֹן
Ḥeḇrôn
GROWS FROM
חבר
ḥ-b-r
To join, bind, or associate.
Hebron carries the nature of joining in its name. The English proper name conceals how the place itself echoes connection as it is given as a dwelling.
ALSO GROWS
ḥaver: Friend or companion
חָבֵר
A companion is someone joined in relationship; this branch brings the city’s name close to shared belonging.
ḥibbur: Connection or joining
חִבּוּר
This branch makes the root’s joining explicit: Hebron’s name holds the idea of connection within the city itself.
וַיִּתְּנוּ
vayyitnu
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
To give, set, or place.
“gave” in this verse is vayyitnu. The verb can mean both giving and placing. The city is not only handed over; it is set into a community’s place.
ALSO GROWS
mattanah: Gift
מַתָּנָה
A gift is what is given into someone’s keeping; the city is presented as something placed in their care.
nethinim: Given ones; temple servants
נְתִינִים
Their name preserves the sense of being assigned or given to service, echoing the verse’s language of a place set apart for a community.
THE PATTERN
Belonging becomes visible through shared dwelling, shared space, and common life.
Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and ye shall give also unto the Levites suburbs for the cities round about them.A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!And all that believed were together, and had all things common;THE THREAD
Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:The Hebrew root in Hebron, חבר (ḥ-b-r), also appears in the word rendered “compact together.” The city name and the psalm’s image meet in the same idea: a place held together by joining.
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