1 Chronicles 6:81 — Word Study
WLCוְאֶת־ חֶשְׁבּוֹן֙ וְאֶת־ מִגְרָשֶׁ֔יהָ וְאֶת־ יַעְזֵ֖יר וְאֶת־ מִגְרָשֶֽׁיהָ׃ ס
BSAand the object markerve.'Et Heshbonchesh.bOn and the object markerve.'Et pasture lands itsmig.ra.Shei.ha and the object markerve.'Et Jazerya'.Zeir and the object markerve.'Et pasture lands itsmig.ra.Shei.ha
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וְאֶת־ | and the object marker | Conjunction, particle |
| חֶשְׁבּוֹן֙ | Heshbon | Noun proper |
| וְאֶת־ | and the object marker | Conjunction, particle |
| מִגְרָשֶׁ֔יהָ | pasture lands its | Noun common masculine plural construct, suffix |
| וְאֶת־ | and the object marker | Conjunction, particle |
| יַעְזֵ֖יר | Jazer | Noun proper |
| וְאֶת־ | and the object marker | Conjunction, particle |
| מִגְרָשֶֽׁיהָ׃ ס | pasture lands its | Noun common masculine plural construct, suffix |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Heshbon, and Jazer, together with their pasturelands. |
| KJV | And Heshbon with her suburbs, and Jazer with her suburbs. |
| ASV | and Heshbon with its suburbs, and Jazer with its suburbs. |
| YLT | and Heshbon and its suburbs, and Jazer and its suburbs. |
| WEB | Heshbon with its pasture lands, and Jazer with its pasture lands. |
| BBE | And Heshbon with its outskirts, and Jazer with its outskirts. |
Where they part company is מִגְרָשֶׁ֔יהָ — see How Translations Differ.
The verse consists of a main clause listing the cities and a subordinate phrase describing their pasturelands.

2 commentators on this verse
Ellicott, Cambridge & more — read them ›
clause
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — 1 Chronicles 6:81
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — Cities and Pasturelands of the Tribesgenerated
1 Chronicles 6:81 lists Heshbon and Jazer, cities located east of the Jordan River, along with their pasturelands, indicating the allocation of land to the tribes of Reuben and Gad. This verse is part of a broader account of the territories assigned to the Israelite tribes as they settled in the Promised Land.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Numbers 21:25 | Israel captured all the cities of the Amorites and occupied them, including Heshbon and all its villages. |
| 2 | Numbers 32:37 | The Reubenites built up Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, |
| 3 | Deuteronomy 2:24 | “Arise, set out, and cross the Arnon Valley. See, I have delivered into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle. |
| 4 | Joshua 13:26 | the territory from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the border of Debir; |
| 5 | Nehemiah 9:22 | You gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner of the land. So they took the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and of Og king of Bashan. |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 9 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — מִגְרָשֶׁ֔יהָ, mig.ra.Shei.hagenerated
The word מִגְרָשׁ (migrash) refers to open land or pasture, often associated with areas where flocks graze. It can denote common land or the space surrounding a building. The parsing shows it as a noun in the plural form, indicating multiple areas of pasture.
In this verse, it is used in the construct form with a suffix, meaning 'its pasturelands', which connects the land directly to the cities of Heshbon and Jazer, emphasizing their agricultural significance.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, so the BSB is the wording every comparison below is made against.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The structure of the verse is straightforward, listing the cities and their associated lands. The finite verb is implied in the context, as it is a list of items rather than a complete sentence.
The repeated use of וְאֶת־ (ve.'Et) serves to connect each item in the list, emphasizing the relationship between the cities and their pasturelands.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
1 Chronicles 6:81 mentions Heshbon and Jazer, two cities east of the Jordan River, along with their pasturelands. This verse highlights the land given to the tribes of Reuben and Gad.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Heshbon and Jazer were important cities for the tribes of Reuben and Gad, serving as centers of settlement and agriculture.
The term 'pasturelands' refers to the open lands surrounding these cities, where livestock could graze.
They are mentioned together as part of the allocation of land to the tribes, indicating their geographical and administrative connections.
These cities represent the fulfillment of God's promise to the Israelites as they settled in the land He had given them.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What can we learn about the importance of land in the lives of the tribes of Israel?
- How does the allocation of pasturelands reflect on the agricultural practices of ancient Israel?
- In what ways do Heshbon and Jazer serve as examples of God's provision for His people?
- How can understanding the geographical context of these cities enhance our reading of the biblical narrative?
Commentators on this verse — 2 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on 1 Chronicles 6:81 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(54-81) The Levitical cities, beginning with those of the Aavonites, the principal branch of the Kohathite clan. This list deals with the same topic as Joshua 21:3-40, with which, upon the whole, it is in substantial agreement. 1 Chronicles 6:54-60 are parallel to Joshua 21:10-19.
Read Charles John Ellicott on 1 Chronicles 6 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges81. Heshbon] Numbers 21:25-26; Isaiah 15:4. Jazer] Numbers 21:32 (R.V.); Isaiah 16:8.
Read Cambridge on 1 Chronicles 6 →The verse in English, compared — 8 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
Heshbon, and Jazer, together with their pasturelands.
Heshbon with its pasture lands, and Jazer with its pasture lands.
Tyndale line
And Heshbon with her suburbs, and Jazer with her suburbs.
and Heshbon with its suburbs, and Jazer with its suburbs.
And Heshbon with her suburbes, and Iaazer with her suburbes.
Simplified
And Heshbon with its outskirts, and Jazer with its outskirts.
Heshbon, and Jazer, together with their pasturelands.
Strictly literal
and Heshbon and its suburbs, and Jazer and its suburbs.
T4T (Translation for Translators) is not shown above. It restates the passage rather than the verse, so there is no line of English to set beside the others — which is a fact about that translation, not a fault in it.
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text aligns with the verse as presented, confirming the cities and pasturelands without variation.
וְאֶת־ חֶשְׁבּוֹן֙ וְאֶת־ מִגְרָשֶׁ֔יהָ וְאֶת־ יַעְזֵ֖יר וְאֶת־ מִגְרָשֶֽׁיהָ׃ ס
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in 1 Chronicles 6:81
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
אֵת (eth) is primarily a grammatical marker in Hebrew, indicating the definite direct object of a verb. It is not translated into English and typically precedes nouns that are definite. The word is derived from a demonstrative sense of entity, related to the Hebrew word for 'self.' Its Aramaic equivalent is יָת (yat).
אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite
base
H853 אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite
853 'eth ayth
apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of
entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more
definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or
namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).
see HEBREW for 0226
אֵת (et) — [Obj.].
sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative
Aramaic equivalent: yat (יָת "whom" H3487)
HC/To — Conjunction · particleHC/To
חֶשְׁבּוֹן (Cheshbown) refers to a city associated with Sihon, the king of the Amorites. It is described as a stronghold and is located east of the Jordan River, marking the boundary between the tribes of Reuben and Gad. The name suggests a connection to the concept of strength.
חֶשְׁבּוֹן n.pr.loc. of the city of Sihon king of the Amorites
base
H2809 חֶשְׁבּוֹן of the city of Sihon king of the Amorites
2809 Cheshbown khesh-bone'
the same as 2808; Cheshbon, a place East of the
Jordan:--Heshbon.
see HEBREW for 02808
חֶשְׁבּוֹן (chesh.bon) — Heshbon.
§ Heshbon = "stronghold"
the capital city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, located on the western border of the high plain and on the border line between the tribes of Reuben and Gad
HNpl — Noun properHNpl
hesh'-bon (cheshbon; Hesebon): The royal city of Sihon king of the Amorites, taken and occupied by the Israelites under Moses (Nu 21:25 f, etc.). It lay on the southern border of Gad (Jos 13:26), and was one of the cities fortified by Reuben (Nu 32:37). It is reckoned among the cities of Gad given to the Merarite Levites (Jos 21:39). In later literature (Isa 15:4; 16:8 f; Jer 48:2,34,45; 49:3) it is referred to as a city of Moab. It passed again into Jewish hands, and is mentioned by Josephus (Ant., XIII, xv, 4) as among their possessions in the country of Moab…
Heshbon
Intelligence, a city ruled over by Sihon, king of the Amorites (Josh. 3:10; 13:17). It was taken by Moses (Num. 21:23-26), and became afterwards a Levitical city (Josh. 21:39) in the tribe of Reuben (Num. 32:37). After the Exile it was taken possession of by the Moabites (Isa. 15:4; Jer. 48:2, 34, 45). The ruins of this town are still seen about 20 miles east of Jordan from the north end of the Dead Sea. There are reservoirs in this district, which are probably the “fishpools” referred to in Cant. 7:4.
(stronghold), the capital city of Sihon king of the Amorites. (Numbers 21:26) It stood on the western border of the high plain --Mishor, (Joshua 13:17) --and on the boundary line between the tribes of Reuben and Gad. The ruins of Hesban , 20 miles east of the Jordan, on the parallel of the northern end of the Dead Sea mark the site, as they bear the name; of the ancient Heshbon. There are many cisterns among the ruins. Comp. (Solomon 7:4)
A celebrated city of the Amorites, twenty miles east of the mouth of the Jordan, Jos 3:10; 13:17. It was given to Reuben; but was afterwards transferred to Gad, and then to the Levites. It had been conquered from the Moabites by Sihon, and because his capital; and was taken by the Israelites a little before the death of Moses, Nu 21:25; Jos 21:39. After the ten tribes were transplanted into the country beyond the Euphrates, the Moabites recovered it, Isa 15:4; Jer 48:2,34,45. Its ruins are still called Hesban, and cover the sides of a hill seven miles north of Medeba.
אֵת (eth) is primarily a grammatical marker in Hebrew, indicating the definite direct object of a verb. It is not translated into English and typically precedes nouns that are definite. The word is derived from a demonstrative sense of entity, related to the Hebrew word for 'self.' Its Aramaic equivalent is יָת (yat).
אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite
base
H853 אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite
853 'eth ayth
apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of
entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more
definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or
namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).
see HEBREW for 0226
אֵת (et) — [Obj.].
sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative
Aramaic equivalent: yat (יָת "whom" H3487)
HC/To — Conjunction · particleHC/To
מִגְרָשׁ (migrash) refers to common or open land, often associated with areas where flocks are driven for pasture. It can denote a suburb or the space around a building, and is noted in Ezekiel 27:28. The term is derived from a root meaning to drive out.
מִגְרָשׁ n.m. common, common-land, open land
base
H4054 מִגְרָשׁ
4054 migrash mig-rawsh'
also (in plural) feminine (Ezek. 27:28) migrashah
{mig-raw-shaw'}; from 1644; a suburb (i.e. open country
whither flocks are driven from pasture); hence, the area
around a building, or the margin of the sea:--cast out,
suburb.
see HEBREW for 01644
מִגְרָשׁ (mig.rash) — pasture.
common, common land, open land, suburb
HNcmpc/Sp3fs — Noun common masculine plural construct · suffixHNcmpc/Sp3fs
אֵת (eth) is primarily a grammatical marker in Hebrew, indicating the definite direct object of a verb. It is not translated into English and typically precedes nouns that are definite. The word is derived from a demonstrative sense of entity, related to the Hebrew word for 'self.' Its Aramaic equivalent is יָת (yat).
אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite
base
H853 אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite
853 'eth ayth
apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of
entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more
definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or
namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).
see HEBREW for 0226
אֵת (et) — [Obj.].
sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative
Aramaic equivalent: yat (יָת "whom" H3487)
HC/To — Conjunction · particleHC/To
יַעְזֵר (Ya`azeyr) refers to Jazer or Jaazer, a location east of the Jordan River, associated with the tribe of Gad. The name is derived from a root meaning 'helpful.' It is noted as a Levitical city and was originally an Amorite city, though its exact site remains uncertain.
יַעְזֵר and יַעְזֵיר n.pr.loc. E. of Jordan
base
H3270 יַעְזֵר and יַעְזֵיר E. of Jordan
3270 Ya`azeyr yah-az-ayr'
or Yazer {yah-zare'}; from 5826; helpful; Jaazer or Jazer, a
place East of the Jordan:--Jaazer, Jazer.
see HEBREW for 05826
יַעְזֵר (ya.a.zer) — Jazer.
§ Jazer or Jaazer = "helped"
a Levitical city east of the Jordan, in Gilead in the territory of Gad, formerly an Amorite city; site uncertain
יַעְזֵר (ya.a.zer) — (Sea of) Jazer.
§ Jazer or Jaazer = "helped"
a Levitical city east of the Jordan, in Gilead in the territory of Gad, formerly an Amorite city; site uncertain
HNpl — Noun properHNpl
ja'-zer (ya`zer or ya`zeyr; Septuagint Iazen in Codex Alexandrinus; Iazer): In some cases, e.g. Nu 21:32, the King James Version reads "Jaazer." This was a city of the Amorites East of the Jordan taken, along with its towns, by Moses, and occupied by the tribe of Gad (Nu 21:32; 32:35). The country was very fertile, and its spacious pasture-lands attracted the flock-masters of Gad (Nu 32:1), the southern border of whose territory it marked (Jos 13:25). It was assigned to the Merarite Levites (Jos 21:39; 1Ch 6:81). The place was reached by Joab when taking the census…
(Jehovah helps). [JAAZER, OR JAZER]
Or JAAZER, Nu 21:32, a city of the Amorites, in Gilead; afterwards a Levitical city in Gad. It lay some fifteen miles north of Heshbon, near a small stream, Nu 1:1-36:13 32:1 Jos 21:39 1Ch 26:31 Jer 48:32.
assistance; helper
אֵת (eth) is primarily a grammatical marker in Hebrew, indicating the definite direct object of a verb. It is not translated into English and typically precedes nouns that are definite. The word is derived from a demonstrative sense of entity, related to the Hebrew word for 'self.' Its Aramaic equivalent is יָת (yat).
אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite
base
H853 אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite
853 'eth ayth
apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of
entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more
definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or
namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).
see HEBREW for 0226
אֵת (et) — [Obj.].
sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative
Aramaic equivalent: yat (יָת "whom" H3487)
HC/To — Conjunction · particleHC/To
מִגְרָשׁ (migrash) refers to common or open land, often associated with areas where flocks are driven for pasture. It can denote a suburb or the space around a building, and is noted in Ezekiel 27:28. The term is derived from a root meaning to drive out.
מִגְרָשׁ n.m. common, common-land, open land
base
H4054 מִגְרָשׁ
4054 migrash mig-rawsh'
also (in plural) feminine (Ezek. 27:28) migrashah
{mig-raw-shaw'}; from 1644; a suburb (i.e. open country
whither flocks are driven from pasture); hence, the area
around a building, or the margin of the sea:--cast out,
suburb.
see HEBREW for 01644
מִגְרָשׁ (mig.rash) — pasture.
common, common land, open land, suburb
HNcmpc/Sp3fs — Noun common masculine plural construct · suffixHNcmpc/Sp3fs
