Joshua 15:28 — Word Study
WLCוַחֲצַ֥ר שׁוּעָ֛ל וּבְאֵ֥ר שֶׁ֖בַע וּבִזְיוֹתְיָֽה׃
BSAHazar-shualChătsar Shûwʻâl [jackal village, a town in southern Judah] BeershebaBᵉʼêr Shebaʻ [well of the sevenfold oath] Biziothiahbizyôwthᵉyâh△ [a town of contempt or shame, near Beersheba]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וַחֲצַ֥ר | and Hazar | Conjunction, noun proper |
| שׁוּעָ֛ל | Shual | Noun proper |
| וּבְאֵ֥ר | and Beer | Conjunction, noun proper |
| שֶׁ֖בַע | Sheba | Noun proper |
| וּבִזְיוֹתְיָֽה׃ | and Biziothiah | Conjunction, noun proper |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Hazar-shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, |
| KJV | And Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and Bizjothjah, |
| ASV | and Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and Biziothiah, |
| YLT | and Hazar-Shual, and Beer-Sheba, and Bizjothjah, |
| WEB | Hazar Shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, |
| BBE | And Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and Biziothiah; |
All translations agree on the naming of the towns in this verse.
The verse consists of a simple list of towns, emphasizing their significance in the region.
5 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Ellicott, AdamClarke & more — read them ›
clause
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
1 of 5 occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament — a word chosen on purpose.
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 — Joshua 15:28
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 — The Cities of Judahgenerated
Joshua 15:28 lists towns in the southern region of Judah, highlighting their significance in the biblical narrative. This verse is part of a larger section that details the boundaries and cities allotted to the tribes of Israel, emphasizing the historical and geographical context of these locations.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joshua 19:3 | Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem, |
| 2 | 1 Chronicles 4:28 | They lived in Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual, |
| 3 | Joshua 19:2 | and included Beersheba (or Sheba), Moladah, |
| 4 | Genesis 21:14–31 | Early in the morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a skin of water, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her away with the boy. She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. |
| 5 | Genesis 26:33 | So he called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the city is Beersheba. |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 5 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — בְּאֵר, u.ve.'Ergenerated
The word בְּאֵר (Beer) is a noun that means 'well.' It is a significant location in the Bible, often associated with oaths and covenants, as indicated by its full name בְּאֵר שֶׁ֫בַע (Beersheba), which translates to 'well of the sevenfold oath.'
The parsing as a proper noun indicates its importance as a city in southern Judah, marking it as a place of historical and cultural relevance in the biblical narrative.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
All translations agree on the naming of the towns in this verse.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The structure of the verse is straightforward, listing three towns connected by conjunctions. The main clause is a noun phrase that serves as an object, presenting the towns in a simple enumerative form.
This listing style is typical in biblical texts, providing clarity and emphasis on the names and their significance.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates the Hebrew conjunction וְ as καὶ, maintaining the connective structure. The Greek version reflects the same towns but may differ in word order and articles, illustrating the translators' approach to rendering the Hebrew text.
The consistent naming of the towns in both the Hebrew and Greek versions highlights their importance in the biblical tradition.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Joshua 15:28 lists three towns in southern Judah: Hazar-shual, Beersheba, and Biziothiah. These towns are significant in the biblical narrative, representing the geography and culture of the region.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Beersheba means 'well of the sevenfold oath,' indicating its importance as a site of covenant.
These towns reflect the historical boundaries and settlements of the tribe of Judah.
Biziothiah means 'contempt of Jehovah,' reflecting a negative reputation associated with the town.
Hazar-shual is a town in southern Judah, known as 'jackal village'.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What significance do these towns hold in the context of Israel's history?
- How do the names of these towns reflect the culture and beliefs of the people in ancient Judah?
- In what ways do these locations connect to the broader narrative of the Bible?
- How can understanding the geography of these towns enhance our reading of the biblical text?
Commentators on this verse — 5 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Joshua 15:28 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleAnd Hazarshual,.... The first of these seems to have its name from an haunt of foxes here, and was given to the tribe of Simeon, Joshua 19:3; and is mentioned as here with Beersheba, 1 Chronicles
Read John Gill on Joshua 15 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryAnd Hazar-shual, and Beersheba, and Bizjothjah, (17) And Hazar-shual - i:e., the habitat of the Shual. [Septuagint, [Cholaseoola].
Read Robert Jamieson on Joshua 15 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(21) And the uttermost cities.—The cities of the tribe of Judah are given under four heads: (a) towards Edom; (b) in the Shephêlah, or plain of the coast (Joshua 15:33, &c.); (c) in the mountains (Joshua 15:48); (d) in the wilderness (Joshua 15:61). Of those in Joshua 15:21-32, the first twenty-nine, Conder identifies only four—viz., Adadah, Joshua 15:22 (Ad’adah); Kerioth Hezron (some see a trace of Kerioth in the sobriquet of Judas Is-cariot, the man of Kerioth), Joshua 15:25 (Hudîreh); Beer-sheba, Joshua 15:28 (Bîr es-seb’a); and Ain Rimmon, Joshua 15:32 ( Umm er-Rumânûn). It is not easy to say precisely how the twenty-nine are to be obtained from the thirty-three, but evidently some of…
Read Charles John Ellicott on Joshua 15 →AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the BibleVerse 28. Beer-sheba] A city, famous in the book of Genesis as the residence of the patriarchs Abraham and Jacob, Genesis 22:19; Genesis 28:10; Genesis 46:1. See Clarke on Genesis 21:31. It lay on the way between Canaan and Egypt, about forty miles from Jerusalem.
Read AdamClarke on Joshua 15 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible28. Beer-sheba — This spot, so much associated with patriarchal history, has been identified with the modern Bir-es-Seba, some thirty miles southwest of Hebron.
Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Joshua 15 →The verse in English, compared — 17 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
Hazar-shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah,
Hazar Shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah,
Hazar-shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah,
Hazar Shual, Beer Sheba, Biziothiah,
Tyndale line
And Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and Bizjothjah,
and Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and Biziothiah,
and Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and Biziothiah;
And Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and Bizjothjah,
And Hasar-shual, and Beersheba, and Biziothiah,
Strictly literal
and Hazar-Shual, and Beer-sheba, and Biziothiah;
and Hazar-Shual, and Beer-Sheba, and Bizjothjah,
and Hazar-Shual, and Beer-Sheba, and Bizjothjah,
And Chazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and Bizyotheyah,
Hazar Shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah.
From the Latin
And Hasersual and Bersabee and Baziothia,
Simplified
Hazar-shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah,
And Hazar-shual, and Beer-sheba, and Biziothiah;
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 lists the towns as וַחֲצַ֥ר שׁוּעָ֛ל וּבְאֵ֥ר שֶׁ֖בַע וּבִזְיוֹתְיָֽה׃, while the Septuagint matches three of the five words. This agreement indicates a shared understanding of these locations, though the Greek text may present them differently in structure.
וַחֲצַ֥ר שׁוּעָ֛ל וּבְאֵ֥ר שֶׁ֖בַע וּבִזְיוֹתְיָֽה׃
3 of the 5 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
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 Joshua 15:28
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.
חֲצַר שׁוּעָל n.pr.loc.
place in southern Judah
place in Simeon
base
H2705 חֲצַר שׁוּעָל
2705 Chatsar Shuw`al khats-ar' shoo-awl'
from 2691 and 7776; village of (the) fox; Chatsar-Shual, a
place in Palestine:--Hazar-shual.
see HEBREW for 02691
see HEBREW for 07776
חֲצַר שׁוּעָל (cha.tsar shu.al) — Hazar-shual.
§ Hazar-shual = "jackal village"
a town in southern Judah
N-proper — Conjunction · noun properHC/Npl
ha'-zar (chatsar, construct of chatser, "an enclosure," "settlement," or "village"): Is frequently the first element in Hebrew place-names.
1. Hazar-addar:
Hazar-addar (Hebrew chatsar 'addar), a place on the southern boundary of Judah (Nu 34:4), is probably identical with Hazron (Jos 15:3), which, in this case, however, is separated from Addar (the King James Version "Adar"). It seems to have lain somewhere to the Southwest of Kadesh-barnea.
חֲצַר שׁוּעָל n.pr.loc.
place in southern Judah
place in Simeon
base
H2705 חֲצַר שׁוּעָל
2705 Chatsar Shuw`al khats-ar' shoo-awl'
from 2691 and 7776; village of (the) fox; Chatsar-Shual, a
place in Palestine:--Hazar-shual.
see HEBREW for 02691
see HEBREW for 07776
חֲצַר שׁוּעָל (cha.tsar shu.al) — Hazar-shual.
§ Hazar-shual = "jackal village"
a town in southern Judah
HNpl — Noun properHNpl
shoo'-al (shu`al): An Asherite (1Ch 7:36).
(a jackal), son of Zophah, an Asherite. (1 Chronicles 7:36) (B.C. after 1445.)
fox; path; first
בְּאֵר שֶׁ֫בַע (B'er Sheba) refers to Beersheba, a location in Palestine. The name means 'well of an oath,' derived from the roots for 'well' and 'oath.' It is noted as a city at the southern edge of Israel.
בְּאֵר שֶׁ֫בַע n.pr.loc. Beersheba
base
H884 בְּאֵר שֶׁ֫בַע Beersheba
884 B'er Sheba` be-ayr' sheh'-bah
from 875 and 7651 (in the sense of 7650); well of an oath;
Beer-Sheba, a place in Palestine:--Beer-shebah.
see HEBREW for 0875
see HEBREW for 07651
see HEBREW for 07650
בְּאֵר שֶׁ֫בַע (be.er she.va) — Beersheba.
§ Beer-sheba = "well of the sevenfold oath"
a city at the south edge of Israel
Adj — Conjunction · noun properHC/Npl
be'-er (be'er; phrear; Latin puteus = "well"):
(1) A station on the march of the Israelites to the North of the Arnon (Nu 21:16). Here it was that they sang round the well this song: `Spring up O well; greet it with song, Well, that the princes have dug, The nobles of the people have bored, With the scepter--with their staves' (Nu 21:16 ff). The place is not identified.
(2) The town to which Jotham fled from his brother Abimelech after declaring his parable from Mt. Gerizim (Jud 9:21). This may be identical with BEEROTH, which see.
Beer
Well. (1.) A place where a well was dug by the direction of Moses, at the forty-fourth station of the Hebrews in their wanderings (Num. 21:16-18) in the wilderness of Moab. (See WELL.)
(2.) A town in the tribe of Judah to which Jotham fled for fear of Abimelech (Judg. 9:21). Some have identified this place with Beeroth.
(a well). One of the latest halting-places of the Israelites, lying beyond the Arnon. (Numbers 21:16-18) This is possibly the BEER-ELIM of (Isaiah 15:8) A place to which Jotham, the son of Gideon, fled for fear of his brother Abimelech. (Judges 9:21)
A well,
1. A station of the Hebrews in Moab, where God gave them water, Nu 21:16-18; Isa 15:8.
2. A town in Judah, according to Eusebius and Jerome a few miles west of Jerusalem, near Beth-shemesh. Jotham took refuge there from his brother Abimelech, Jud 9:21.
בְּאֵר שֶׁ֫בַע (B'er Sheba) refers to Beersheba, a location in Palestine. The name means 'well of an oath,' derived from the roots for 'well' and 'oath.' It is noted as a city at the southern edge of Israel.
בְּאֵר שֶׁ֫בַע n.pr.loc. Beersheba
base
H884 בְּאֵר שֶׁ֫בַע Beersheba
884 B'er Sheba` be-ayr' sheh'-bah
from 875 and 7651 (in the sense of 7650); well of an oath;
Beer-Sheba, a place in Palestine:--Beer-shebah.
see HEBREW for 0875
see HEBREW for 07651
see HEBREW for 07650
בְּאֵר שֶׁ֫בַע (be.er she.va) — Beersheba.
§ Beer-sheba = "well of the sevenfold oath"
a city at the south edge of Israel
HNpl — Noun properHNpl
Sheba
An oath, seven. (1.) Heb. shebha, the son of Raamah (Gen. 10:7), whose descendants settled with those of Dedan on the Persian Gulf.
(2.) Heb. id. A son of Joktan (Gen. 10:28), probably the founder of the Sabeans.
(3.) Heb. id. A son of Jokshan, who was a son of Abraham by Keturah (Gen. 25:3).
(4.) Heb. id. A kingdom in Arabia Felix. Sheba, in fact, was Saba in Southern Arabia, the Sabaeans of classical geography, who carried on the trade in spices with the other peoples of the ancient world. They were Semites, speaking one of the two main dialects of Himyaritic or South Arabic. Sheba had become a monarchy before the days of Solomon. Its queen brought him gold, spices, and precious stones (
one of the towns of the allotment of Simeon, (Joshua 19:2) probably the same as Shema. (Joshua 15:26)
1. Son of Raamah, Ge 10:7. His posterity is supposed to have settled near the head of the Persian Gulf. See CUSH and RAAMAH.
2. Son of Joktan, of the race of Shem, Ge 10:28. See SABEANS 2.
3. Son of Jokshan, and grandson of Abraham by Keturah, Ge 25:3. He is supposed to have settled in Arabia Deserta.
4. A turbulent Benjamite, who after the death of Absalom made a fruitless effort to excite a rebellion in Israel against David. Being pursued, and besieged in Abel-beth-maachah, near the southern part of Lebanon, he was beheaded by the people of the city, 2Sa 20:1-26.
captivity; old man; repose; oath
בִּזְיוֹתְיָה (bizyowthyah) refers to a location in southern Judah near Beersheba, meaning 'contempt of Jehovah.' It is derived from two Hebrew roots, one indicating 'contempt' and the other referring to God (Jah). The entries consistently identify this word as a proper noun for a town.
בִּזְיוֹתְיָה n.pr.loc. acc. to MT place near Beersheba
base
H964 בִּזְיוֹתְיָה
964 bizyowthyah biz-yo-the-yaw'
from 959 and 3050; contempts of Jah; Bizjothjah, a place in
Palestine:--Bizjothjah.
see HEBREW for 0959
see HEBREW for 03050
בִּזְיוֹתְיָה (biz.yo.te.yah) — Biziothiah.
§ Bizjothjah = "contempt of Jehovah"
a town in southern Judah near Beersheba
Conj | N-proper — Conjunction · noun properHC/Npl
biz-yo-thi'-a, biz-joth'-ja (bizyotheyah; Septuagint hai komai auton, literally "their villages"; the King James Version Bizjothjah, "place of Jah's olives" (Young), or "contempt of Jah" (Strong)): According to Massoretic Text, a town in the south of Judah, near Beersheba (Jos 15:28). Septuagint reads "and her daughters," only one consonant of Massoretic Text being read differently; and so We, Hollenberg, Di and others The Septuagint has probably preserved the original text (compare Ne 11:27).