Bible Strands
Joshua 21:25
And from the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Taanach and Gath-rimmon—two cities, together with their pasturelands.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records Joshua allocating Levitical cities to the Kohathite clans from the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh. This occurs during the final phase of territorial distribution to Israel's tribes and priestly families.
The words — The text specifies תַּעְנַךְ (Ta'anakh, "Taanach") and מִגְרָשֶׁהָ (migra'shehah, "its pasturelands"), identifying the granted city and its attached agricultural support. These terms anchor the allocation to concrete geographic and economic boundaries rather than abstract promises.
The thread — Taanach appears in Joshua 17:11 as part of Manasseh's initial tribal inheritance and in Judges 5:19 as the location of a Canaanite battle. The Kohathite grant here transfers administrative control of that same locale from tribal possession to priestly maintenance.
Why it lands — The verse documents the precise transfer of land and resources to the Levitical line without narrative embellishment. It requires the reader to acknowledge that tribal inheritance and priestly provision were executed through specific, recorded geographic boundaries.
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 out of the half tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with her suburbs, and Gath–rimmon with her suburbs; two cities.
Cross-references
- Joshua 17:11 Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh was assigned Beth-shean, Ibleam, Dor (that is, Naphath), Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, each with their surrounding settlements.
- Judges 5:19 Kings came and fought; then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they took no plunder of silver.