What Does Joshua 21:7 Mean in the King James?
The children of Merari by their families had out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve 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
Merari’s families are woven through three tribal lands, making their place a shared geography rather than a single territory.
THE MEANING
The verse places Merari’s families among Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun, with twelve cities across their territories. Belonging takes concrete form as a place within the life of a wider people.
THE ROOT
בְּנֵי
benei
GROWS FROM
בנה
banah
Build, establish.
The Hebrew for “children” carries an echo of בָּנָה (banah, “to build”): lineage is voiced through the language of building. Here, that lineage is placed within the settled geography of twelve cities.
ALSO GROWS
ben: Son, child.
בֵּן
This noun belongs to the word family associated with בנה (banah, “to build”), linking descendants with the continuation of a household.
banah: Build, establish.
בָּנָה
The verb makes the building image explicit, giving “children” an echo of the human continuity through which a family is established.
THE PATTERN
Provision for a shared calling is distributed through the places where the whole community lives.
And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, at the commandment of the LORD, these cities and their suburbs.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.And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.THE THREAD
And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, at the commandment of the LORD, these cities and their suburbs.This verse shows the arrangement from Israel’s side: the Levites’ cities come from the inheritance of the tribes. Joshua 21:7 then shows one part of that distribution, with Merari’s families receiving cities across three territories.
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