Joshua 19:23

Study note

Setting — Joshua 19:23 concludes the territorial description for the tribe of Issachar immediately after the narrator lists its sixteen cities and villages. The verse marks the end of the Issachar allotment before the narrative shifts to the fifth lot for Asher in the following passage.

The words — The Hebrew זֹאת נַחֲלַת (zot nachalat) literally translates to "this [was] the inheritance of," directly pointing back to the preceding geographical inventory. The term חַצְרֵיהֶן (chatzereyhen) specifically names the villages or settlements attached to the enumerated cities.

The thread — This verse operates as a structural summary clause that seals the Issachar land distribution before the text records the next tribal inheritance. It continues the book's administrative pattern of pairing tribal names with their corresponding urban centers and dependent outlying settlements.

Why it lands — The text asks the reader to acknowledge the completed boundary and inventory for Issachar and to recognize that each tribal allotment is defined by both its primary cities and their surrounding villages. It presents a concrete land record without adding commentary beyond the stated territorial facts.

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.