Joshua 19:20 — Word Study
WLCוְהָֽרַבִּ֥ית וְקִשְׁי֖וֹן וָאָֽבֶץ׃
BSARabbithRabbîyth△ [a town of multitude] KishionQishyôwn [a boundary town] EbezʼEbets△ [I will gather, a city in Issachar]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וְהָֽרַבִּ֥ית | and Rabbith | Conjunction, particle, noun proper |
| וְקִשְׁי֖וֹן | and Kishion | Conjunction, noun proper |
| וָאָֽבֶץ׃ | and Ebez | Conjunction, noun proper |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, |
| KJV | And Rabbith, and Kishion, and Abez, |
| ASV | and Rabbith, and Kishion, and Ebez, |
| YLT | and Rabbith, and Kishion, and Abez, |
| WEB | Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, |
| BBE | And Rabbith and Kishion and Ebez |
There are no significant variations in how the towns are named across translations.
The verse consists of a simple enumeration of towns, linked by conjunctions.
5 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Ellicott, Cambridge & more — read them ›
clause
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
2 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 19:20
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 Issachargenerated
Joshua 19:20 lists the towns allocated to the tribe of Issachar. These towns were significant for the people living in them and played a role in the geographical and cultural landscape of ancient Israel. The towns mentioned here reflect the diverse character of the region, with names that convey meaning and history.
Cross References
The Key Word — רַבִּית, ve.ha.ra.Bitgenerated
The word רַבִּית (Rabbith) is a proper noun referring to a town in the territory of Issachar. Its meaning, 'multitude', suggests a place of gathering or a populous area. The parsing indicates it is a noun, specifically a proper noun, and it appears only once in the biblical text.
The root of רַבִּית is רַב (rav), which means 'many' or 'multitude'. This connection reinforces the idea that Rabbith was a significant location, possibly due to its size or population.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
The verse is rendered consistently across translations, including the Berean Standard Bible, King James Version, and American Standard Version.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The structure of this verse is straightforward, presenting a list of three proper nouns: רַבִּית, קִשְׁיוֹן, and אֶבֶץ. Each noun is connected by the conjunction 'and', indicating they are part of the same category — towns in Issachar.
This simple structure emphasizes the enumeration of towns, reflecting the geographical distribution of the tribe of Issachar.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates רַבִּית as δαβιρων, which does not carry the same meaning as the Hebrew. This choice may indicate a different understanding or interpretation of the town's significance.
The other towns, קִשְׁיוֹן and אֶבֶץ, are rendered as κισων and ρεβες, respectively, which also differ from their Hebrew meanings, suggesting a broader interpretative approach in the Greek translation.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Joshua 19:20 lists three towns: Rabbith, Kishion, and Ebez, which are all located in the territory of Issachar. Each name has a meaning that reflects its significance in the region.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Rabbith means 'multitude', suggesting it was a place of gathering.
Kishion is described as a boundary town, indicating its importance in marking territory.
Ebez means 'I will gather', which may reflect its role in the community.
These towns are part of the allocation of land to the tribes of Israel, highlighting their geographical and cultural importance.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What can we learn about the significance of place names in our own communities?
- How do the meanings of these towns reflect the culture and history of the tribe of Issachar?
- In what ways do names carry meaning in our lives today?
- How does understanding the geography of ancient Israel enhance our reading of the Bible?
Commentators on this verse — 5 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Joshua 19:20 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleAnd Rabbith,.... The first of these Jerom calls (a) Rabboth in the tribe of Issachar; and Kishion, as Masius notes, seems to given name to the river Kishon near it; some take it to be the same with
Read John Gill on Joshua 19 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryAnd the fourth lot came out to Issachar, for the children of Issachar according to their families. The fourth lot came out to Issachar.
Read Robert Jamieson on Joshua 19 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(20) Râba (sheet 12), El Beida (sheet 5).
Read Charles John Ellicott on Joshua 19 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges20, 21. Rabbith, Kishion (1 Chronicles 6:72), Abez, Remeth (1 Chronicles 6:73), are all unknown. En-gannim] = the spring of the gardens, the modern Jenîn. Even now it justifies its ancient name; for the village lies, according to Robinson, Bib. Res. iii. 155, “in the midst of gardens of fruit trees, which are surrounded by hedges of the prickly pear.” But its most remarkable feature is a flowing, public fountain, rising in the hills at the back of the town, and brought down so that it issues in a copious stream in the midst of the place. Ahaziah was driving towards the mountain-pass by En-gannim (2 Kings 9:27—the Bethgan of the LXX. = En-gannim), when he was overtaken by Jehu, and fled to…
Read Cambridge on Joshua 19 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible’S LOT, Joshua 19:17-23.The territory of this tribe was bounded on the north by Zebulun, on the east by the Jordan, and on the south and west by Manasseh.
Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Joshua 19 →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
Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez,
Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez,
Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez,
Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez,
Tyndale line
And Rabbith, and Kishion, and Abez,
and Rabbith, and Kishion, and Ebez,
and Rabbith, and Kishion, and Ebez;
And Rabbith, and Kishion, and Abez,
And Harabbith, and Kishion, and Abez,
Strictly literal
and Rabbith, and Kishion, and Ebez,
and Rabbith, and Kishion, and Abez,
and Rabbith, and Kishion, and Abez,
And Rabbith, and Kishyon, and Abez,
It also included Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez,
From the Latin
And Rabboth and Cesion, Abes,
Simplified
Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez,
And Rabbith and Kishion and Ebez
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 names of the towns listed in this verse. The Septuagint's translations, while differing in word choice, correspond to the Hebrew terms, maintaining the reference to the same locations.
וְהָֽרַבִּ֥ית וְקִשְׁי֖וֹן וָאָֽבֶץ׃
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 19:20
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.
רַבִּית (Rabbiyth) refers to a location in Issachar, identified as a town meaning 'multitude.' It is derived from the root word for multitude, רַב (rav). The only biblical reference provided is in Joshua 19:20.
רַבִּית n.pr.loc. in Issachar;—Jos 19:20
ref
H7245 רַבִּית
7245 Rabbiyth rab-beeth'
from 7231; multitude; Rabbith, a place in
Palestine:--Rabbith.
see HEBREW for 07231
רַבִּית (rab.bit) — Rabbith.
§ Rabbith = "multitude"
a town in Issachar
Conj | Art | N-proper — Conjunction · particle · noun properHC/Td/Npl
rab'-ith (ha-rabbith; Codex Vaticanus Dabeiron; Codex Alexandrinus Rhabboth): A town in the territory of Issachar (Jos 19:20) which is probably represented today by Raba, a village in the southern part of the Gilboa range and North of Ibzaq. The "ha" is, of course, the definite article.
(multitude) a town in the territory, perhaps on the boundary, of Issachar. (Joshua 18:20) only.
→ A city in the territory of the tribe of Issachar Jos 19:20
קִשְׁיוֹן (Qishyown) refers to a location in ancient Palestine, specifically a town in the territory of Issachar allocated to the Gershonite Levites. The name suggests a meaning related to 'hard ground.' It is also associated with the name קֶ֫דֶשׁ (Kedesh), indicating a connection to another place.
קִשְׁיוֹן n.pr.loc. Levit. city in Issachar
base
H7191 קִשְׁיוֹן
7191 Qishyown kish-yone'
from 7190; hard ground; Kishjon, a place in
Palestine:--Kishion, Keshon.
see HEBREW for 07190
קִשְׁיוֹן (qish.yon) — Kishion.
Kishion = "hard"
a town on the boundary of Issachar allotted to the Gershonite Levites
Also named: qe.desh (קֶ֫דֶשׁ "Kedesh" H6943I)
Conj | N-proper — Conjunction · noun properHC/Npl
kish'-i-on, kish'-yon (qishyon): A city in the territory of Issachar (Jos 19:20), given to the Gershonite Levites (21:28; the King James Version wrongly "Kishon"). The parallel passage in 1Ch 6:72 reads "Kedesh" instead of "Kishion." The true reading is probably qidhshon. Conder suggests a likely identification with Tell Abu Kedes, not far from Taanach.
Kishion
Hardness, a city of Issachar assigned to the Gershonite Levites (Josh. 19:20), the same as Kishon (21:28).
(hardness), one of the towns on the boundary of the tribe of Issachar, (Joshua 19:20) which with its suburbs was allotted to the Gershonite Levites. (Joshua 21:28) Authorized Version KISHON.
hardness; soreness
אֶ֫בֶץ (Ebets) refers to a city located in the territory of Issachar. The name is thought to derive from a root meaning to gleam or be conspicuous. It appears in the context of Joshua 19:20, where it is mentioned as a geographical location.
[אֶ֫בֶץ] n.pr.loc. city in Issachar אָ֑בֶץ Jos 19:20.
done
H77 אֶ֫בֶץ
77 'Ebets eh'-bets
from an unused root probably meaning to gleam; conspicuous;
Ebets, a place in Palestine:--Abez.
אֶ֫בֶץ (e.vets) — Ebez.
§ Abez = "I will make white (or miry)"
a city in Issachar
Conj | N-proper — Conjunction · noun properHC/Npl
e'-bez ('ebhets, meaning unknown; Rhebes; the King James Version Abez):
One of the 16 cities in Issachar (Jos 19:20). The name seems to be cognate to that of the judge Ibzan (Jud 12:8-10). All else concerning it is conjecture.