What Does Joshua 21:43 Mean in the King James?
And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.
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
Gift, inheritance, and dwelling form one movement: what is given becomes a place of settled life.
THE MEANING
The verse holds divine giving and human inhabiting together. The land is given, taken as an inheritance, and lived in, a gift made concrete as a place to dwell.
THE ROOT
וַיִּרָשׁוּהָ
vayyirashuha
GROWS FROM
י־ר־שׁ
y-r-sh
To inherit or take possession; also, in some forms, to dispossess.
“possessed / inherited” in this verse is vayyirashuha. The word translated “possessed” also carries the sense of inheriting. The verse holds receiving and taking possession together: the land is given, then becomes a lived inheritance.
ALSO GROWS
yerushah: Inheritance
יְרֻשָּׁה
It makes explicit the inheritance contained within the verse’s word for possessing.
morashah: Heritage or possession
מוֹרָשָׁה
It shows how the same root can name what is received as an inheritance.
וַיִּתֵּן
vayyitten
GROWS FROM
נ־ת־ן
n-t-n
To give, set, or place.
The root behind “gave” also carries the sense of setting or placing. The gift here is spatial: the land is given as the place where life can be established.
ALSO GROWS
mattanah: Gift
מַתָּנָה
It names the gift as something received, keeping the verse’s emphasis on giving in view.
nittan: Was given or set
נִתַּן
It shows the root’s reach from giving something to placing it in a particular position.
וַיֵּשְׁבוּ
vayyēshvu
GROWS FROM
י־שׁ־ב
y-sh-b
To sit, settle, or dwell.
The word translated “dwelt” grows from a root that also means sitting and settling. The verse ends with the inheritance becoming settled life within the land.
ALSO GROWS
yoshev: One who dwells; an inhabitant
יוֹשֵׁב
It names a person by the settled presence that closes the verse.
moshav: Dwelling place or settlement
מוֹשָׁב
It shows how the root can name the place made by dwelling.
THE PATTERN
A gift becomes lived reality when it is received as an inheritance and inhabited.
For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.THE THREAD
And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.The paired roots remain visible: נָתַן (natan, give) and יָרַשׁ (yarash, inherit or possess). Their movement is gift into lived inheritance; “dwelt” in Joshua completes it by naming settled life within what is received.
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