Joshua 15:59

Study note

Setting — Joshua records the southern tribal allotment for Judah, listing towns situated between the previously named Gedor and the subsequently named Kiriath-jearim.

The words — עָרִים ('a.Rim) translates literally as "cities," while חַצְרֵי (chatz.rei) means "villages" or enclosed settlements, together denoting the administrative and residential units of the territory.

The thread — This formulaic pairing of urban centers and their dependent settlements recurs throughout the Judah inheritance list in Joshua 15:44-62 and the Benjamin allotment in Joshua 18:28.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition of God’s precise, methodical distribution of land, where every major city is accounted for alongside its surrounding agricultural communities.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.