What Does Joshua 21:37 Mean in the King James?
Kedemoth with her suburbs, and Mephaath with her suburbs; four cities.
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
A city’s edges are part of the gift: the open land around it is provision, not leftover space.
THE MEANING
You are shown a place as more than its houses: the city includes its assigned open ground around it. Dwelling and surrounding land belong together as one provision for a community.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The land beyond the built center is not surplus outside the community’s provision; it belongs to that provision.
THE ROOT
מִגְרָשֶׁיהָ
migrasheha
GROWS FROM
גרש
garash
to drive out, expel, or send away
“suburbs” in this verse is migrasheha. The noun מִגְרָשׁ (migrash, open common land around a town) is traditionally connected to this root. Here it names the land assigned around the city, giving the city an open margin as part of its provision.
ALSO GROWS
garash: to drive out or expel
גָּרַשׁ
This is the root’s basic action, behind the word-family link to the land around the city.
gerushah: a woman put away or divorced
גְּרוּשָׁה
The same root names someone sent away, showing the family’s sense of removal.
migrash: open common land or pastureland around a town
מִגְרָשׁ
This is the noun in the verse; the city’s assigned ground extends beyond its dwellings.
THE PATTERN
Communal service is sustained by concrete provision, including the places and resources that support those who serve.
Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth.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.Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?THE THREAD
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.Numbers spells out what this verse lists: cities for the Levites and open ground around them. The repeated מִגְרָשׁ (migrash, common land around a town) shows that the margin belongs to the allotment itself.
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