What Does Joshua 21:17 Mean in the King James?

And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with her suburbs, Geba with her suburbs,

Joshua 21:17 · 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

What English calls “suburbs” is allotted open ground around a city, so each place here includes its margin as part of the dwelling.

THE MEANING

Gibeon and Geba appear with the open ground attached to each. Dwelling here has both a center and a surrounding margin; the space around a town belongs in the picture, too.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

A dwelling is only the buildings within its boundary.

THE ROOT

מִגְרָשֶׁיהָ

migresheha

GROWS FROM

גרש

garash

Drive out; expel. The related noun ⁨מִגְרָשׁ⁩ (migrash) means open ground assigned around a town.

“suburbs” in this verse is migresheha. The noun is lexically tied to ⁨גרש⁩ (garash, drive out or expel), while here ⁨מִגְרָשׁ⁩ (migrash) names the open land assigned around a city. The allotment names each town together with its surrounding space, rather than presenting it as only a built center.

ALSO GROWS

garash: Drive out; expel.

גָּרַשׁ

This verb shares the root and its outward sense with the word for the open ground around a town.

migrash: Open ground assigned around a town.

מִגְרָשׁ

This is the singular form behind “suburbs”; the verse pairs this land with each named city.

גִּבְעוֹן

Givʿon

GROWS FROM

גבע

g-b-ʿ

Hill; elevated ground.

Gibeon and Geba share the consonants ⁨גבע⁩ (g-b-ʿ), the Hebrew word-family for a hill or elevated ground. Their names echo a shared landscape as the verse lists one place beside another.

ALSO GROWS

givʿah: Hill; hilltop.

גִּבְעָה

This common form shows the hill-word carried in the names Gibeon and Geba.

gevaʿ: Hill; height.

גֶּבַע

This is the name Geba itself, making the root visible in the verse.

THE PATTERN

A dwelling’s allotted place extends beyond its built center into the open ground around it.

And the cities shall they have to dwell in; and the suburbs of them shall be for their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their beasts.

Numbers 35:3 · KJVThe surrounding ground is named as practical space that belongs with the cities.

But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.

Leviticus 25:34 · KJVThe open land around the cities remains part of what belongs to them.

Of this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred in length, with five hundred in breadth, square round about; and fifty cubits round about for the suburbs thereof.

Ezekiel 45:2 · KJVEven the sanctuary is pictured with a defined margin of land around it.

THE THREAD

And the cities shall they have to dwell in; and the suburbs of them shall be for their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their beasts.

Numbers 35:3 · KJV

Numbers gives the same word, ⁨מִגְרָשׁ⁩ (migrash, open ground assigned around a town), a practical use: space for cattle, goods, and beasts. That clarifies the “suburbs” paired with Gibeon and Geba as working ground attached to each city.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us