Joshua 15:30 — Word Study
WLCוְאֶלְתּוֹלַ֥ד וּכְסִ֖יל וְחָרְמָֽה׃
BSAEltoladʼEltôwlad [God's generations, a city in southern Judah] ChesilKᵉçîyl△ [a place of foolishness, in southern Judah] HormahChormâh [devotion, a town of consecration]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וְאֶלְתּוֹלַ֥ד | and Eltolad | Conjunction, noun proper |
| וּכְסִ֖יל | and Kesil | Conjunction, noun proper |
| וְחָרְמָֽה׃ | and Hormah | Conjunction, noun proper |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, |
| KJV | And Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah, |
| ASV | and Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah, |
| YLT | And Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah, |
| WEB | Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, |
| BBE | And Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah; |
Translations agree on the names of the cities listed, with no significant differences.
The verse consists of a simple list of cities, each connected by conjunctions.
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 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 15:30
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 15:30 lists towns in the territory of Judah, highlighting the regions where the Israelites settled after entering the Promised Land. Each city mentioned has a significance that reflects the history and character of the people who lived there, contributing to the overall narrative of the Israelite conquest and settlement.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joshua 19:4 | Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, |
| 2 | Numbers 14:45 | Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that part of the hill country came down, attacked them, and routed them all the way to Hormah. |
| 3 | Deuteronomy 1:44 | Then the Amorites who lived in the hills came out against you and chased you like a swarm of bees. They routed you from Seir all the way to Hormah. |
| 4 | Judges 1:17 | Then the men of Judah went with their brothers the Simeonites, attacked the Canaanites living in Zephath, and devoted the city to destruction. So it was called Hormah. |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 4 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — אֶלְתּוֹלַד, ve.'el.to.Ladgenerated
The noun אֶלְתּוֹלַד (Eltolad) is a proper noun referring to a city in southern Judah. Its name means 'God's generations', likely derived from the words for 'God' and a masculine form related to 'generations'. This city is part of the historical geography of the Israelites.
The parsing identifies it as a conjunction followed by a noun proper, indicating its role in the list of cities. The word appears twice in the text, emphasizing its importance in the geographical context.
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, with a series of noun phrases connected by conjunctions. The finite verb is implied as part of a list, indicating the cities that were part of the territory of Judah.
The noun phrases are coordinated, with each city name standing as a distinct entity within the list, reflecting the geographical organization of the text.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates אֶלְתּוֹלַד as ελβωυδαδ, which does not carry a direct meaning but serves to represent the Hebrew name. This choice indicates a transliteration rather than a translation of meaning.
The other cities, כְּסִיל and חָרְמָה, are also rendered in the Septuagint, showing a consistent effort to maintain the original names from the Hebrew.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Joshua 15:30 lists three cities in southern Judah: Eltolad, which means 'God's generations'; Chesil, meaning 'foolish'; and Hormah, which signifies 'devotion'. These towns were part of the land given to the tribe of Judah.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Eltolad means 'God's generations' and refers to a city in southern Judah.
Chesil means 'foolish' and is noted as a location in southern Judah.
Hormah means 'devotion' and was a town in southern Judah that was conquered by Joshua.
These cities represent the settlements of the Israelites after their conquest of Canaan, highlighting their heritage.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What can we learn about the significance of names in our own communities?
- How does understanding the history of places like Eltolad, Chesil, and Hormah enrich our reading of the Bible?
- In what ways can we reflect on the concept of devotion in our lives, as seen in the name Hormah?
- What does it mean to be part of a 'generation' of believers today, as suggested by the name Eltolad?
Commentators on this verse — 5 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Joshua 15:30 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleAnd Eltolad,.... The first of these cities is called Tolad, 1 Chronicles 4:29; and Chesil seems to be the same with Bethul and Bethuel, Joshua 19:4 1 Chronicles 4:30; and here the Greek version calls
Read John Gill on Joshua 15 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryAnd Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah, (21) And Eltolad - or Tolad (1 Chronicles 4:29), 'born of God;' a name which Wilton supposes Abraham gave to this place as the scene of Isaac's nativity.
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 30. Hormah] A place rendered famous by the defeat of the Hebrews by the Canaanites. See Numbers 14:45, Deuteronomy 1:44.
Read AdamClarke on Joshua 15 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible30. Hormah — This is doubtless the same city whose king Joshua smote, and whose original name was Zephath.
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
Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah,
Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah,
Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah,
Eltolad, Kesil, Hormah,
Tyndale line
And Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah,
and Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah,
and Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah;
And Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah,
And Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah,
Strictly literal
and Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah,
And Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah,
and Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah,
And Eltolad, and Kessil, and Chormah,
Eltolad, Kesil, Hormah,
From the Latin
And Eltholad and Cesil and Harma,
Simplified
Eltolad, Kesil, Hormah,
And Eltolad, and Chesil, and Hormah;
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 naming of the cities Eltolad, Chesil, and Hormah. The Septuagint provides a direct correspondence to the Hebrew words, confirming the integrity of the names across these texts.
וְאֶלְתּוֹלַ֥ד וּכְסִ֖יל וְחָרְמָֽה׃
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 15:30
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.
The Hebrew word אֶלְתּוֹלַד (Eltowlad) refers to a city in southern Judah, meaning 'God's generations.' It is likely derived from the words for 'God' and a masculine form related to 'generations.' The entries consistently identify it as a proper location without significant disagreement.
אֶלְתּוֹלַד n.pr.loc. city in southern Judah
base
H513 אֶלְתּוֹלַד
513 'Eltowlad el-to-lad'
probably from 410 and a masculine form of 8435 (compare
8434); God (is) generator; Eltolad, a place in Palestine:--
Eltolad.
see HEBREW for 0410
see HEBREW for 08435
see HEBREW for 08434
אֶלְתּוֹלַד (el.to.lad) — Eltolad.
§ Eltolad = "God's generations"
a city in southern Judah
Conj | N-proper — Conjunction · noun properHC/Npl
(God’s kindred), one of the cities in the south of Judah, (Joshua 15:30) allotted to Simeon, (Joshua 19:4) and in possession of that tribe until the time of David. (1 Chronicles 4:29)
the generation of God
כְּסִיל (kesil) refers to a location in the southern region of Judah, specifically a town called Chesil. The name is associated with the meaning 'foolish.' It is noted that this place may be linked to another location called Bethul.
כְּסִיל n.pr.loc. in S of tribe of Judah
base
H3686 כְּסִיל
3686 Kciyl kes-eel'
the same as 3684; Kesil, a place in Palestine: -Chesil.
see HEBREW for 03684
כְּסִיל (ke.sil) — Chesil.
§ Chesil = "foolish"
a town in the extreme south of Judah and 15 miles southwest of Beersheba; maybe same as be.tul (בְּתוּל "Bethul" H1329)
Conj | N-proper — Conjunction · noun properHC/Npl
ke'-zil (Orion).
See ASTRONOMY.
חָרְמָה (Chormah) refers to a town in ancient Canaan, associated with the tribe of Simeon. It is described as a royal city and is linked to the concept of devotion. The town was conquered by Joshua and is also identified with another name, Zephath. The word is derived from a root meaning 'devoted'.
חָרְמָה n.pr.loc. (asylum)—a royal city of Canaanites, in the South, in tribe of Simeon
base
H2767 חָרְמָה (asylum)—a royal city of Canaanites, in the South, in tribe of Simeon
2767 Chormah khor-maw'
from 2763; devoted; Chormah, a place in Palestine:--Hormah.
see HEBREW for 02763
חׇרְמָה (chor.mah) — Hormah.
Hormah = "devotion"
a town of the Canaanites, conquered by Joshua, allotted to Judah, and located in the south of Judah
Another name of tse.phat (צְפַ֑ת "Zephath" H6857)
Conj | N-proper — Conjunction · noun properHC/Npl
hor'-ma (chormah): A city first mentioned in connection with the defeat of the Israelites by the Amalekites and the Canaanites, when, after the ten spies who brought an evil report of the land had died of plague, the people persisted, against the will of Moses, in going "up unto the place which Yahweh hath promised" (Nu 14:45; De 1:44). after the injury done them by the king of Arad, Israel took the city, utterly destroyed it, and called it Hormah, i,e. "accursed" (Nu 21:3). To this event probably the reference is in Jud 1:17; where Judah and Simeon are credited with the work. In Jos 12:14 it is named between Geder and…
Hormah
Banning; i.e., placing under a “ban,” or devoting to utter destruction. After the manifestation of God’s anger against the Israelites, on account of their rebellion and their murmurings when the spies returned to the camp at Kadesh, in the wilderness of Paran, with an evil report of the land, they quickly repented of their conduct, and presumed to go up “to the head of the mountain,” seeking to enter the Promised Land, but without the presence of the Lord, without the ark of the convenant, and without Moses. The Amalekites and the Canaanites came down and “smote and discomfited them even unto Hormah” (Num. 14:45). This place, or perhaps the watch-tower commanding it, was originally called Zephath (Judg. 1:17), the modern Sebaiteh. Afterwards (
(a place laid waste), or ZEPHATH, (Judges 1:17) was the chief town of a king of a Canaanitish tribe on the south of Palestine, which was reduced by Joshua, and became a city of the territory of Judah, (Joshua 15:30; 1 Samuel 30:30) but apparently belonged to Simeon. (1 Chronicles 4:30)
Destruction, Nu 21:1-3; also called Zephath; a city in the extreme south of Canaan, near which the rebellious Hebrews were defeated, in the second year after leaving Egypt, Nu 14:45; it was afterwards laid waste, Jud 1:16,17. The Simeonites repeopled it, Jos 19:4, and David sent them some of his spoils taken from the Amalekites, 1Sa 30:30.