Joshua 15:40 — Word Study
WLCוְכַבּ֥וֹן וְלַחְמָ֖ס וְכִתְלִֽישׁ׃
BSACabbonKabbôwn△ [the builder, a town in Judah] LahmasLachmâç△ [Lahmam, a place for storing provisions] ChitlishKithlîysh△ [Kithlish, a lowland town]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וְכַבּ֥וֹן | and Cabbon | Conjunction, noun proper |
| וְלַחְמָ֖ס | and Lahmas | Conjunction, noun proper |
| וְכִתְלִֽישׁ׃ | and Kitlish | Conjunction, noun proper |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Cabbon, Lahmas, Chitlish, |
| KJV | And Cabbon, and Lahmam, and Kithlish, |
| ASV | and Cabbon, and Lahmam, and Chitlish, |
| YLT | and Cabbon, and Lahmam, and Kithlish, |
| WEB | Cabbon, Lahmam, Chitlish, |
| BBE | And Cabbon, and Lahmas, and Chithlish; |
Where they part company is in the transliteration of the names — see How Translations Differ.
The verse consists of a single main clause listing the towns without additional modifiers.
3 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Whedon & more — read them ›
clause
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
3 of 3 occur nowhere else in the Old Testament — words 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 15:40
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 15:40 lists several towns in Judah, providing insight into the region's settlements. This verse is part of a larger passage detailing the cities allotted to the tribe of Judah, highlighting the geographical and cultural landscape of ancient Israel. The towns mentioned reflect the historical significance of these locations in the life of the Israelites.
Cross References
The Key Word — כַּבּוֹן, ve.kha.Bongenerated
The word כַּבּוֹן (kabbon) is a proper noun referring to a town in the low country of Judah. Its meaning, 'the builder,' suggests a place of construction or significance in the community's development.
As a noun, it indicates a specific location, and its mention in this verse emphasizes its importance within the context of the cities of Judah.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
The translations of this verse agree on the naming of the towns: Cabbon, Lahmas, and Chitlish.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The structure of this verse is straightforward, consisting of a list of proper nouns, each connected by the conjunction וְ (and). This creates a simple enumeration of the towns.
The absence of a finite verb indicates that this verse serves primarily as a catalog of names rather than a narrative.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates כַּבּוֹן as ξαβρα, which does not provide additional context but maintains the identification of the town.
This choice reflects the translators' intent to preserve the names of the locations while adapting them into Greek.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Joshua 15:40 lists three towns in Judah: Cabbon, Lahmas, and Chitlish. Each town has its own significance, with Cabbon meaning 'the builder,' Lahmas associated with provisions, and Chitlish identified as a lowland town.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
These towns represent the settlements in the region of Judah and reflect the life and culture of the Israelite community.
The names of these towns provide historical context and geographical understanding of the land allocated to the tribe of Judah.
The names often reflect the functions or characteristics of the towns, offering insights into the daily life and priorities of the people.
While specific archaeological findings may vary, many towns in Judah have been subjects of study, revealing their historical significance.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What can the names of these towns tell us about the people who lived there?
- How do the functions of these towns reflect the needs of the Israelite community?
- In what ways can we see the influence of geography on the settlement patterns in ancient Judah?
- How might the history of these towns inform our understanding of biblical narratives?
Commentators on this verse — 3 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Joshua 15:40 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleAnd Cabbon, and Lahmam, and Kithlish. Cities of which we can give no account, not being mentioned elsewhere.
Read John Gill on Joshua 15 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryAnd Cabbon, and Lahmam, and Kithlish, Cabbon , [Septuagint, Chabra] - not identified.
Read Robert Jamieson on Joshua 15 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible37-41. This second group of the cities in the Shephelah, sixteen in number, are now nearly all unknown. On Lachish and Eglon, see Joshua 10:3.
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
Cabbon, Lahmas, Chitlish,
Cabbon, Lahmam, Chitlish,
Cabbon, Lahmas, Chitlish,
Cabbon, Lahmas, Kitlish,
Tyndale line
And Cabbon, and Lahmam, and Kithlish,
and Cabbon, and Lahmam, and Chitlish,
and Cabbon, and Lahmam, and Chithlish;
And Cabbon, and Lahman, and Kithlish,
And Cabbon, and Lahmam, and Kithlish,
Strictly literal
and Cabbon, and Lahmas, and Chithlish,
and Cabbon, and Lahmam, and Kithlish,
and Cabbon, and Lahmam, and Kithlish,
And Cabbon, and Lachmass, and Kithlish,
Kabbon, Lahmas, Kitlish,
From the Latin
Chebbon and Leheman and Cethlis,
Simplified
Cabbon, Lahmam, Kitlish,
And Cabbon, and Lahmas, and Chithlish;
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 and the Septuagint both agree on the names of the towns listed in this verse. The Septuagint aligns with the Hebrew text, confirming the identification of these locations without introducing any variations.
וְכַבּ֥וֹן וְלַחְמָ֖ס וְכִתְלִֽישׁ׃
3 of the 3 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 15:40
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.
כַּבוֹן (kabbon) refers to a location in Judah, specifically a town mentioned in Joshua 15:40. The name is derived from an unused root meaning to heap up, suggesting a hilly area. It is noted as a place in the low country of Judah.
כַּבוֹן n.pr.loc. in Judah Jos 15:40
ref
H3522 כַּבוֹן, כַּבּוֹן
3522 Kabbown kab-bone'
from an unused root meaning to heap up; hilly; Cabon, a place
in Palestine:--Cabbon.
כַּבּוֹן (kab.bon) — Cabbon.
§ Cabbon = "the builder"
a town in the low country of Judah
Conj | N-proper — Conjunction · noun properHC/Npl
kab'-on (kabbon; Chabra): An unidentified place in the Shephelah of Judah near Eglon (Jos 15:40). It is possibly the same as MACHBENA, which see.
a town in the low country of Judah. (Joshua 15:40)
as though understanding
→ A place in the territory of the tribe of Judah Jos 15:40
לַחְמָס (lachmas) refers to a location in Judah, specifically a town called Lahmam, which is associated with provisions. The entries suggest it may derive from a term meaning 'food-like,' though there is some uncertainty regarding its transcription. It appears in Joshua 15:40.
לַחְמָס n.pr.loc. in Judah;—Jos 15:40
ref
H3903 לַחְמָס
3903 Lachmac lakh-maws'
probably by erroneous transcription for Lachmam {lakh-mawm'};
from 3899; food-like; Lachmam or Lachmas, a place in
Palestine:--Lahmam.
see HEBREW for 03899
לַחְמָס (lach.mas) — Lahmam.
§ Lahmam = "provisions"
a town in the lowland of Judah
Conj | N-proper — Conjunction · noun properHC/Npl
la'-mas.
See LAHMAM.
כִּתְלִישׁ (Kithliysh) refers to a location in Judah, specifically a town mentioned in Joshua 15:40. The word is derived from roots meaning 'wall of a man.' Its exact site is unknown, and it appears in various lexicons primarily as a proper noun.
כִּתְלִישׁ n.pr.loc. a city of Judah Jos 15:40, site unknown
ref
H3798 כִּתְלִישׁ, כְּתִלִישׁ
3798 Kithliysh kith-leesh'
from 3796 and 376; wall of a man; Kithlish, a place in
Palestine:--Kithlish.
see HEBREW for 03796
see HEBREW for 0376
כִּתְלִישׁ (kit.lish) — Chitlish.
one of the lowland towns of Judah
Conj | N-proper — Conjunction · noun properHC/Npl