Joshua 18:23 — Word Study
WLCוְהָעַוִּ֥ים וְהַפָּרָ֖ה וְעָפְרָֽה׃
BSAAvvimʻAvvîym [the Avvites, a group of people] ParahPârâh△ [heifer-town, a place in Benjamin] OphrahʻOphrâh [a city, a place of dust or fawn-colored]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וְהָעַוִּ֥ים | and Avvites | Conjunction, particle, noun proper |
| וְהַפָּרָ֖ה | and Parah | Conjunction, particle, noun proper |
| וְעָפְרָֽה׃ | and Ophrah | Conjunction, noun proper |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, |
| KJV | And Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah, |
| ASV | and Avvim, and Parah, and Ophrah, |
| YLT | and Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah, |
| WEB | Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, |
| BBE | And Avvim and Parah and Ophrah |
Where they part company is in the rendering of the names, which are consistent across translations.
The verse is structured as a simple list of towns, emphasizing their equal status.
5 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Ellicott, Cambridge & more — read them ›
clause
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
1 of 3 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 18:23
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 of Benjamingenerated
Joshua 18:23 lists towns allocated to the tribe of Benjamin. This verse is part of a larger section that details the distribution of land among the tribes of Israel, emphasizing the importance of each location in the biblical narrative and its historical significance.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 Samuel 13:17 | And raiders went out of the Philistine camp in three divisions. One headed toward Ophrah in the land of Shual, |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 1 reference, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — עַוִּים, ve.ha.'a.Vimgenerated
The word עַוִּים (Avvim) is a proper noun referring to the Avvites, a group of people who lived in the southwestern coastal region of ancient Palestine. The name is derived from a root meaning 'ruins,' indicating a connection to a historical context of displacement and settlement.
In this verse, it identifies both the people and their city, highlighting their presence in the land as the Israelites take possession of it. The term emphasizes the historical continuity of the region's inhabitants.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
In the Berean Standard Bible, the names are rendered consistently: Avvim, Parah, and Ophrah.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The verse consists of a simple list of three noun phrases, each introduced by the conjunction וְ (and). The structure is straightforward, indicating a series of locations without additional clauses.
This construction emphasizes the equal importance of each town in the context of the land distribution.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates עַוִּים as αιιν, which maintains the identification of the Avvites. This choice reflects a direct correspondence to the Hebrew term without altering its meaning.
The other towns, פָּרָה and עָפְרָה, are rendered as φαρα and εφραθα, respectively, showing consistency in the translation of proper names.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Joshua 18:23 lists three towns: עַוִּים, Avvim; פָּרָה, Parah; and עָפְרָה, Ophrah. These places were part of the territory allotted to the tribe of Benjamin, reflecting the historical landscape of ancient Israel.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
It refers to the Avvites, a group of people and their city in ancient Palestine.
Parah means heifer-town and is a town in the territory of Benjamin.
Ophrah means fawn and refers to both a town and a person's name in the Bible.
They are part of the cities allocated to the tribe of Benjamin, showing the distribution of land among the tribes of Israel.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What do you think the significance of the Avvites' presence in this region is?
- How do the names of these towns reflect their historical or geographical context?
- In what ways can understanding the locations of these towns enhance our reading of the biblical narrative?
- How does the allocation of land among the tribes illustrate the fulfillment of God's promises to Israel?
Commentators on this verse — 5 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Joshua 18:23 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleAnd Avim, and Parah,.... Of the two first of these we read nowhere else; and Ophrah is not the same with Ophrah in Jude 6:11; that belonged to the tribe of Manasseh, but rather that which was in the land of Shuah, 1 Samuel 13:17.
Read John Gill on Joshua 18 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryAnd Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah, Avim , [Septuagint, Aiein] - probably a corruption of Ai. Parah , [Septuagint, Fara]. Jerome ('Onomast.') says it stood 5 miles off Bethel. Ophrah , [Septuagint, Efratha] (cf.
Read Robert Jamieson on Joshua 18 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English ReadersTHE OF .(11-28) The lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin.—It can have been by no accident that their lot came forth “between Judah and Joseph.” No wiser method could have been devised to secure an united Israel than thus to make Benjamin the link between the two most powerful and naturally rival tribes. In the story of Joseph, the brethren are reconciled through the mutual affection of Judah and Joseph for Benjamin as their father’s youngest and best-loved son. The position thus given to Benjamin under Joshua was still further developed by circumstances. The tribe was almost exterminated in the time of the judges; the survivors were united in marriage with women of Ephraim and…
Read Charles John Ellicott on Joshua 18 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges23. 7. Avim] Some have regarded this as identical with Ai, which is also called Aija (Nehemiah 11:31) and Aiath (Isaiah 10:28). 8. Parah is unknown. 9. Ophrah appears to be mentioned again in 1 Samuel 13:17 in describing the spoilers who issued from the Philistine camp at Michmash. Robinson would identify it with El-Taiyibeh, a small village 4 miles E.N.E. of Beitin (Bethel). This was not the Ophrah of Gideon (Judges 6:11; Judges 6:15).
Read Cambridge on Joshua 18 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible23. Avim — This is supposed by Knobel and others to stand for Ai, the city near Beth-el which was among the first destroyed by Joshua. See Joshua 7:2, note.
Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Joshua 18 →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
Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,
Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,
Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,
Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,
Tyndale line
And Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah,
and Avvim, and Parah, and Ophrah,
and Avvim, and Parah, and Ophrah;
And Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah,
And Auim, and Parah, and Ophrah,
Strictly literal
and Avvim, and Parah, and Ophrah,
and Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah,
and Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah,
And Avvim, and Parah, and 'Ophrah,
Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,
From the Latin
And Avim and Aphara and Ophera,
Simplified
Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,
And Avvim and Parah and Ophrah
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 agree on the wording of this verse, with all three names matching in both versions. This consistency highlights the reliability of the textual tradition concerning these locations.
וְהָעַוִּ֥ים וְהַפָּרָ֖ה וְעָפְרָֽה׃
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 18:23
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.
עַוִּים (Avviym) refers to a group of people known as the Avvites, who lived in the southwestern coastal region of ancient Palestine, as well as a city in the territory of Benjamin. The term is derived from the root meaning 'ruins.' It is first mentioned in Deuteronomy 2:23.
עַוִּים n.pr.
gent. people on SW. coast of Mediterr.
loc. city in Benj.
base
H5761 עַוִּים
5761 `Avviym av-veem'
plural of 5757; Avvim (as inhabited by Avvites), a place in
Palestine (with the article prefix):--Avim.
see HEBREW for 05757
עַוִּים (av.vim) — Avvim.
People who lived in modern Gaza, first mentioned at Deu.2.23
§ Avim = "ruins"
1) a people among the early inhabitants of Palestine located in the southwest corner of the seacoast
2) a city in Benjamin
עַוִּים (av.vim) — Avvim.
§ Avim = "ruins"
a city in Benjamin
עַוִּים (av.vim) — Avvite.
Group of iv.vah (עַוָּה "Ivvah" H5755)
§ Avim = "ruins"
a people among the early inhabitants of Palestine located in the southwest corner of the seacoast
2) a city in Benjamin
Conj | Art | N-proper — Conjunction · particle · noun properHC/Td/Npl
פָּרָה (Parah) refers to a location in Benjamin, specifically noted as a town in the Old Testament. The name translates to 'heifer-town.' It is mentioned in Joshua 18:23, and its identification is consistent across the lexicons.
פָּרָה n.pr.loc. in Benj., Jos 18:23
ref
H6511 פָּרָה
6511 Parah paw-raw'
the same as 6510; Parah, a place in Palestine:--Parah.
see HEBREW for 06510
פָּרָה (pa.rah) — Parah.
§ Parah = "heifer-town"
a town in Benjamin
Conj | Art | N-proper — Conjunction · particle · noun properHC/Td/Npl
pa'-ra, par'-a (ha-parah; Codex Vaticanus Phara; Codex Alexandrinus Aphar): A city named as in the territory of Benjamin between Avvim and Ophrah (Jos 18:23). It may with some confidence be identified with Farah on Wady Farah, which runs into Wady Suweinit, about 3 miles Northeast of `Anata.
Parah
The heifer, a town in Benjamin (Josh. 18:23), supposed to be identical with the ruins called Far’ah, about 6 miles north-east of Jerusalem, in the Wady Far’ah, which is a branch of the Wady Kelt.
(heifer-town) one of the cities in the territory allotted to Benjamin, named only in the lists of the conquest. (Joshua 18:23)
a cow; increasing
עָפְרָה (Ophrah) means "fawn" and refers to both a personal name and locations in ancient Israel. It is identified as a town in Benjamin and another in Manasseh, associated with Gideon. Additionally, there is mention of a man from Judah named Ophrah in 1 Chronicles 4:14.
עָפְרָה n.pr.
loc.
in Benj.
in Manasseh
m. in Judah
base
H6084 עָפְרָה
6084 `Ophrah of-raw'
feminine of 6082; female fawn; Ophrah, the name of an
Israelite and of two places in Palestine:--Ophrah.
see HEBREW for 06082
עׇפְרָה (oph.rah) — Ophrah.
Ophrah = "fawn"
a town of Benjamin approximately 5 miles (8 km) east of Bethel
Also named: bet le.aph.rah (בֵּית לְעַפְרָה "Beth-le-aphrah" H1036)
עׇפְרָה (oph.rah) — Ophrah.
Ophrah = "fawn"
a place in Manasseh, native place of Gideon; probably located close to Shechem
Also named: cha.pha.ra.yim (חֲפָרַיִם "Hapharaim" H2663)
עׇפְרָה (oph.rah) — Ophrah.
A man of the tribe of Judah living at the time of Divided Monarchy, only mentioned at 1Ch.4.14;
son of: Meonothai (H4587)
§ Ophrah = "fawn"
a Judaite, son of Meonothai
Conj | N-proper — Conjunction · noun properHC/Npl
of'-ra (`ophrah; Codex Vaticanus Aphra; Codex Alexandrinus Iephratha, etc.):
(1) A town in the territory allotted to Benjamin named between Parah and Chephar-ammoni (Jos 18:23). It is mentioned again in 1Sa 13:17. The Philistines who were encamped at Michmash sent out marauding bands, one of which went westward, another eastward, down "the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness"; the third "turned unto the way that leadeth to Ophrah, unto the land of Shual." This must have been northward, as Saul commanded the passage to the South. Eusebius, Onomasticon places it 5 Roman miles East of Bethel. A site which comes near to fulfilling these conditions is eT-Taiyebeh, which stands on a conical hill some 5 miles Northeast of Beitin. This is possibly identical with "Ephron" (
Ophrah
A fawn. 1 Chr. 4:14. (1.) A city of Benjamin (Josh. 18:23); probably identical with Ephron (2 Chr. 13:19) and Ephraim (John 11:54).
(2.) “Of the Abi-ezrites.” A city of Manasseh, 6 miles south-west of Shechem, the residence of Gideon (Judg. 6:11; 8:27, 32). After his great victory over the Midianites, he slew at this place the captive kings (8:18-21). He then assumed the function of high priest, and sought to make Ophrah what Shiloh should have been. This thing “became a snare” to Gideon and his house. After Gideon’s death his family resided here till they were put to death by Abimelech (
(fawn). A town in the tribe of Benjamin. (Joshua 18:23; 1 Samuel 13:17) Jerome places it five miles east of Bethel. It is perhaps et-Taiyibeh , a small village on the crown of a conspicuous hill, four miles east-northeast of Beitin (Bethel). More fully, OPHRAH OF THE ABIEZRITES, the native place of Gideon (Judges 6:11) and the scene of his exploits against Baal, ver. (Judges 6:24) his residence after his accession to power ch. (Judges 9:5) and the place of his burial in the family sepulchre. ch. (Judges 8:32) It was probably In Manasseh, ch. (
1. A town of the Benjamites, located by Eusebius five miles east of Bethel; near which site stands the modern village Taiyibeh, on a conical hill, Jos 18:23; 1Sa 13:17.
2. A town of Manesseh where Gideon resided; and where after his death his ephod was superstitiously adored, Jud 6:11-24; 8:27.