Bible Strands
Joshua 19:15
It also included Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem. There were twelve cities, along with their villages.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records Joshua finalizing the territorial boundary and assigning specific settlements to the clans of the tribe of Zebulun.
The words — The Hebrew עָרִים ('a.Rim) translates literally as "cities," and the dual form שְׁתֵּים\־ (she.teim-) means "two," together specifying the exact count of twelve cities in this allotment.
The thread — The text later mentions Shimron in Joshua 11:1 and Joshua 12:20 as a location associated with defeated regional rulers, while Joshua 21:34 notes the Merarite Levites receiving cities from this same tribal inheritance.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to acknowledge that tribal inheritance was established through enumerated geographic boundaries and concrete settlements rather than abstract or unrecorded claims.
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.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Kattath, and Nahallal, and Shimron, and Idalah, and Beth–lehem: twelve cities with their villages.
Cross-references
- Joshua 11:1 Now when Jabin king of Hazor heard about these things, he sent word to Jobab king of Madon; to the kings of Shimron and Achshaph;
- Joshua 12:20 the king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one;
- Joshua 21:34 This is what the Merarite clan (the rest of the Levites) were given: From the tribe of Zebulun they were given Jokneam, Kartah,
- Judges 1:30 Zebulun failed to drive out the inhabitants of Kitron and Nahalol; so the Canaanites lived among them and served as forced laborers.
- Ruth 1:19 So Naomi and Ruth traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them, and the women of the town exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”
- 2 Samuel 23:15 David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!”
- 2 Chronicles 11:6 He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa,