Joshua 15:45 — Word Study
WLCעֶקְר֥וֹן וּבְנֹתֶ֖יהָ וַחֲצֵרֶֽיהָ׃
BSAEkronʻEqrôwn [a major Philistine city] with its townsbath [daughter, villages, unwalled places] and villageschâtsêr [surrounding settlements, courts]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| עֶקְר֥וֹן | Ekron | Noun proper |
| וּבְנֹתֶ֖יהָ | and daughters its | Conjunction, noun common feminine plural construct, suffix |
| וַחֲצֵרֶֽיהָ׃ | and villages its | Conjunction, noun common masculine plural construct, suffix |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Ekron, with its towns and villages; |
| KJV | Ekron, with her towns and her villages: |
| ASV | Ekron, with its towns and its villages; |
| YLT | Ekron and its towns and its villages, |
| WEB | Ekron, with its towns and its villages; |
| BBE | Ekron, with her daughter-towns and her unwalled places; |
The translations agree on the rendering of Ekron and its associated settlements — see How Translations Differ.
The sentence is simple, with a main subject followed by a descriptive phrase.
6 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Ellicott & more — read them ›
clause
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
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 15:45
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 — Territory of Judahgenerated
Joshua 15:45 lists Ekron as one of the cities in the territory assigned to the tribe of Judah. This verse highlights the significance of Ekron as a major Philistine city, along with its towns and villages, which were part of the larger landscape of settlements in the region. The context shows how the land was divided among the tribes of Israel, emphasizing the importance of these cities in biblical history.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joshua 13:3 | from the Shihor east of Egypt to the territory of Ekron on the north (considered to be Canaanite territory)—that of the five Philistine rulers of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, as well as that of the Avvites; |
| 2 | 1 Samuel 5:10 | So they sent the ark of God to Ekron, but as it arrived, the Ekronites cried out, “They have brought us the ark of the God of Israel in order to kill us and our people!” |
| 3 | 1 Samuel 6:17 | As a guilt offering to the LORD, the Philistines had sent back one gold tumor for each city: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. |
| 4 | Amos 1:8 | I will cut off the ruler of Ashdod and the one who wields the scepter in Ashkelon. I will turn My hand against Ekron, and the remnant of the Philistines will perish,” says the Lord GOD. |
| 5 | Zephaniah 2:4 | For Gaza will be abandoned, and Ashkelon left in ruins. Ashdod will be driven out at noon, and Ekron will be uprooted. |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 6 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — עֶקְר֥וֹן, ek.Rongenerated
The name עֶקְר֥וֹן (ek.Ron) refers to a prominent Philistine city, one of the five major cities of the Philistines. It is significant in biblical accounts, notably mentioned in 1 Samuel 5:10 as a location where the Ark of the Covenant was taken. The city is associated with the tribe of Dan in later biblical texts.
The lexical meaning indicates that the name may derive from a root meaning 'emigration' or 'torn up by the roots,' reflecting its historical and geographical significance in the lowlands of Judah.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
In the Berean Standard Bible, the verse reads 'Ekron, with its towns and villages,' which is consistent across other translations like the KJV and ASV.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The structure of the verse is straightforward, with the main subject being עֶקְר֥וֹן (Ekron), followed by a noun phrase specifying its towns and villages. The sentence structure is typical for Hebrew, where the subject is presented first, followed by descriptive elements.
The noun phrases 'with its towns' and 'and villages' elaborate on the subject, indicating the extent of the city’s influence and its surrounding settlements.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
In the Septuagint, עֶקְר֥וֹן is rendered as ακκαρων, which maintains the identification of the city. This translation shows a consistent understanding of Ekron's significance in the biblical narrative.
The choice of translation reflects the Greek translators' intent to convey the same geographical and cultural importance attributed to Ekron in the Hebrew text.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Joshua 15:45 identifies Ekron as a major Philistine city, along with its towns and villages. This verse is part of the description of the land given to the tribe of Judah, highlighting the importance of Ekron in the biblical landscape.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Ekron is one of the five major cities of the Philistines and plays a significant role in the biblical narrative, particularly in relation to the Ark of the Covenant.
The phrase refers to the settlements surrounding Ekron, indicating its prominence and the area it controlled.
This verse is part of the allocation of land to the tribe of Judah, showing the cities and settlements that were included in their territory.
Yes, Ekron is mentioned in several other passages, including 1 Samuel 5:10 and Amos 1:8, highlighting its historical importance.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What can we learn from the historical significance of cities like Ekron in the biblical narrative?
- How do the settlements surrounding major cities contribute to our understanding of ancient societies?
- In what ways does the allocation of land reflect the cultural and political dynamics of the tribes of Israel?
- How can we apply the lessons from Ekron's history to our understanding of community and belonging today?
Commentators on this verse — 6 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Joshua 15:45 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleEkron, with her towns and her villages. One of the five principalities of the Philistines, which with two more next mentioned, though they fell to the lot of the tribe of Judah, were never possessed
Read John Gill on Joshua 15 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryEkron, with her towns and her villages: No JFB commentary on this verse.
Read Robert Jamieson on Joshua 15 →Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy BibleHere and in the following verses are contained all the cities of the Philistines, among which are Gath and Askelon, which peradventure are here omitted, because they were not at this time places of such power and eminency as afterwards they were, but were the daughters of some of these following cities, though afterwards the daughter might overtop the mother, as is usual. Her towns, Heb. her daughters, i.e. lesser cities, or great towns, subject to Ekton’ s jurisdiction. Her villages, i.e. lesser towns or hamlets.
Read Matthew Poole on Joshua 15 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(45) Ekron was afterwards given to Dan (Joshua 19:43).
Read Charles John Ellicott on Joshua 15 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges45. Ekron. Group IV. includes the Philistine line of coast, and includes three chief cities:—
Read Cambridge on Joshua 15 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible45. The fourth group lay on the Philistine coast, and were then in the possession of the Philistines. Ekron — See chap. 13, note.
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
Ekron, with its towns and villages;
Ekron, with its towns and its villages;
Ekron, with its towns and villages;
Ekron and its surrounding towns and settlements;
Tyndale line
Ekron, with her towns and her villages:
Ekron, with its towns and its villages;
Ekron, with her towns and her villages:
Ekron, with her towns and her villages:
Ekron with her townes and her villages,
Strictly literal
Ekron and its dependent villages and its hamlets.
Ekron and its towns and its villages,
Ekron and its towns and its villages,
'Ekron, with its towns and its villages:
Ekron, with its surrounding towns and villages;
From the Latin
Accaron with the towns and villages thereof.
Simplified
Ekron and its towns and villages,
Ekron, with her daughter-towns and her unwalled places;
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 words matched. This consistency indicates a shared understanding of Ekron's significance as a city and its associated settlements.
עֶקְר֥וֹן וּבְנֹתֶ֖יהָ וַחֲצֵרֶֽיהָ׃
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 15:45
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.
עֶקְרוֹן (Eqrown) refers to a Philistine city in ancient Palestine, known as one of the five principal cities of the Philistines. The name may mean 'emigration' or 'torn up by the roots.' It is located in the lowlands of Judah and was later assigned to the tribe of Dan.
עֶקְרוֹן 22 n.pr.loc. Eḳrôn;—Philistine city, one of the famous five
base
H6138 עֶקְרוֹן
6138 `Eqrown ek-rone'
from 6131; eradication; Ekron, a place in Palestine:--Ekron.
see HEBREW for 06131
עֶקְרוֹן (eq.ron) — Ekron.
Ekron = "emigration" or "torn up by the roots"
the most northerly of the 5 principal cities of the Philistines; located in the lowlands of Judah and later given to Dan
Also named: eq.ro.ni (עֶקְרוֹנִי "Ekron" H6139)
N-proper — Noun properHNpl
Ekron
Firm-rooted, the most northerly of the five towns belonging to the lords of the Philistines, about 11 miles north of Gath. It was assigned to Judah (Josh. 13:3), and afterwards to Dan (19:43), but came again into the full possession of the Philistines (1 Sam. 5:10). It was the last place to which the Philistines carried the ark before they sent it back to Israel (1 Sam. 5:10; 6:1-8). There was here a noted sanctuary of Baal-zebub (2 Kings 1: 2, 3, 6, 16). Now the small village Akir. It is mentioned on monuments in B.C. 702, when Sennacherib set free its king, imprisoned by Hezekiah in Jerusalem, according to the Assyrian record.
(torn up by the roots; emigration), one of the five towns belonging to the lords of the Philistines, and the most northerly of the five. (Joshua 13:3) Like the other Philistine cities its situation was in the lowlands. It fell to the lot of Judah. (Joshua 15:45,46; Judges 1:18) Afterwards we find it mentioned among the cities of Dan. (Joshua 19:43) Before the monarchy it was again in full possession of the Philistines. (1 Samuel 5:10) Akir , the modern representative of Ekron, lies about five miles southwest of Ramleh . In the Apocrypha it appears as ACCARON. 1Macc 10:89 only.
The most northern city of the Philistines, allotted to Judah by Jos 15:45, but afterwards given to Da 12:13, though it does not appear that the Jews ever peaceably possessed it. It is memorable for its connection with the captivity of the ark and its restoration to the Jews, 1Sa 5:10 6:1-18. The fly-god was worshipped here, 2Ki 1:2. Its ruin was foretold, Am 1:8 Zep 2:4 Zec 9:5,7. Robinson found its site at the Moslem village Akir, some ten miles northeast of Ashdod. There are no ruins.
barrenness; torn away
בַּת (bat) means 'daughter' and encompasses a range of meanings including female child, young women, and even personifications of cities or inhabitants. It can also refer to villages in certain contexts. The word is derived from a root meaning 'to build' and is used in various figurative senses, such as 'branch' or 'apple of the eye.'
בַּת 587 n.f. daughter
daughter, female child
young women, women
with name of city, land, or people, poet. personif. of that city or inhabitants
pl. = villages, after name of city
in phrases denoting character, quality, etc.
ostrich
fig.
of vine = branch
as n. relat.
base
H1323 בַּת daughter . daughter, female child
. young women, women
. with name of city, land, or people, poet. personif. of that city or inhabitants
. pl. = villages, after name of city
. in phrases denoting character, quality, etc.
. ostrich
. fig.
. of vine = branch
. as n. relat.
1323 bath bath
from 1129 (as feminine of 1121); a daughter (used in the same
wide sense as other terms of relationship, literally and
figuratively):--apple (of the eye), branch, company, daughter,
X first, X old, + owl, town, village.
see HEBREW for 01129
see HEBREW for 01121
בַּת (bat) — daughter.
: daughter
1) daughter
1a) daughter, girl, adopted daughter, daughter-in-law, sister, granddaughters, female child, cousin
1a1) as polite address
1a2) as designation of women of a particular place
2) young women, women
1a3) as personification
1a4) daughter-villages
1a5) description of character
Also means: bat (בַּת ": village" H1323H)
בַּת (bat) — daughter: village.
: village
1) daughter
1a) daughter, girl, adopted daughter, daughter-in-law, sister, granddaughters, female child, cousin
1a1) as polite address
1a2) as designation of women of a particular place
2) young women, women
1a3) as personification
1a4) daughter-villages
1a5) description of character
בַּת (bat) — Bath (Shua).
A woman living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.38.2;
daughter of: Shua (H7770); married to Judah (H3063);
mother of: Er (H6147), Onan (H0209) and Shelah (H7956)
Conj | N-fp | Suff — Conjunction · noun common feminine plural construct · suffixHC/Ncfpc/Sp3fs
חָצֵר (chatser) refers to an enclosure or court, and can also mean a settled abode, settlement, or village, typically appearing in the plural form חֲצֵרִים. The word is derived from a root meaning to enclose, indicating spaces that are surrounded by walls or fences.
חָצֵר 145 n.m. and (oftener) f. enclosure, court
base
[חָצֵר] 46 n.m. settled abode, settlement, village—always pl. abs. חֲצֵרִים
base
H2691a חָצֵר n. m. and (oftener) f. enclosure, court H2691b חָצֵר settled abode, settlement, village—always pl. abs. חֲצֵרִים
2691 chatser khaw-tsare'
(masculine and feminine); from 2690 in its original sense; a
yard (as inclosed by a fence); also a hamlet (as similarly
surrounded with walls):--court, tower, village.
see HEBREW for 02690
חָצֵר (cha.tser) — court.
1) court, enclosure
1a) enclosures
1b) court
חָצֵר (cha.tser) — village.
settled abode, settlement, village, town
Conj | N-cp | Suff — Conjunction · noun common masculine plural construct · suffixHC/Ncmpc/Sp3fs