Nehemiah 11:28 — Word Study
WLCוּבְצִֽקְלַ֥ג וּבִמְכֹנָ֖ה וּבִבְנֹתֶֽיהָ׃
BSAin ZiklagTsiqlag [a town in southern Judah] in MeconahMᵉkônâh△ [foundation, a town in Palestine] and its villagesbath [settlements, daughter-towns]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וּבְצִֽקְלַ֥ג | and in Ziklag | Conjunction, preposition, noun proper |
| וּבִמְכֹנָ֖ה | and in Meconah | Conjunction, preposition, noun proper |
| וּבִבְנֹתֶֽיהָ׃ | and in daughters its | Conjunction, preposition, noun common feminine plural construct |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | in Ziklag; in Meconah and its villages; |
| KJV | And at Ziklag, and at Mekonah, and in the villages thereof, |
| ASV | and in Ziklag, and in Meconah and in the towns thereof, |
| YLT | and in Ziklag, and in Mekonah and in its small towns, |
| WEB | in Ziklag, in Meconah and in its towns, |
| BBE | And in Ziklag, and in Meconah and its daughter-towns, |
Where they part company is in the details of the descriptions of the towns, but the core message remains consistent across translations.
The verse is a straightforward list of locations, emphasizing the places of settlement.
4 commentators on this verse
Jamieson, AdamClarke, Cambridge, Whedon & 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 — Nehemiah 11:28
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 — Settlements in Judahgenerated
Nehemiah 11:28 lists towns and villages where the returning exiles settled. This verse emphasizes the rebuilding of communities in Judah after the Babylonian exile, highlighting the importance of these locations in the restoration of Israelite society.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joshua 15:31 | Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, |
| 2 | 1 Samuel 27:6 | That day Achish gave him Ziklag, and to this day it still belongs to the kings of Judah. |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 2 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — צִקְלַג, u.ve.tzik.Laggenerated
The word צִקְלַג (tziklag) refers to a specific town in southern Judah. It was given to David by King Achish of Gath and played a significant role in his life, particularly during his time of refuge from Saul. The name is thought to mean "winding," reflecting the town's geographical features.
Ziklag is mentioned multiple times in the context of David's narrative, indicating its importance as a military and administrative center during his reign. The town served as a base for David and his men, where they received support and resources.
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 this verse is straightforward, listing locations with a series of prepositional phrases. The finite verb is absent, as the focus is on the places where the people settled.
Each location is introduced with a conjunction and a preposition, indicating the towns and their associated villages, which emphasizes the collective nature of the settlements.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
Nehemiah 11:28 mentions Ziklag and Meconah as towns where people settled after returning from exile. These locations were important for rebuilding their communities and signify the restoration of the Israelites in Judah.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Ziklag was a town given to David, serving as a refuge and base for him and his warriors during a critical time in his life.
Meconah means 'foundation' and indicates a place that was reinhabited after the exile, symbolizing stability and rebuilding.
The villages represent the settlements that supported the main towns, indicating a broader community structure during the resettlement.
This verse highlights the efforts of the returning exiles to rebuild their homes and communities, a central theme in Nehemiah's account.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What can we learn from the importance of community in the rebuilding efforts of the Israelites?
- How does understanding the significance of these towns enhance our view of the biblical narrative?
- In what ways can we apply the concept of rebuilding and restoration in our own lives?
- What role do physical locations play in the stories of our faith?
Commentators on this verse — 4 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on Nehemiah 11:28 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryAnd at Hazar-shual, and at Beersheba, and in the villages thereof, No JFB commentary on these verses.
Read Robert Jamieson on Nehemiah 11 →AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the BibleVerse 28. Mekonah] This city is also unknown.
Read AdamClarke on Nehemiah 11 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges28. Ziklag] Cf. Joshua 15:31; 1 Samuel 30:1.
Read Cambridge on Nehemiah 11 →Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible26-35. On Moladah, see Joshua 15:26. Beer-sheba — Joshua 15:28.Ziklag — 1 Samuel 27:6. Jarmuth — Joshua 15:35. Lachish — Joshua 10:3. Valley of Hinnom — Joshua 15:8. Geba — Joshua 18:24. Michmash — 1 Samuel 13:2.
Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Nehemiah 11 →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
in Ziklag; in Meconah and its villages;
in Ziklag, in Meconah and in its towns,
in Ziklag; in Meconah and its villages;
in Ziklag, in Meconah and its villages,
Tyndale line
And at Ziklag, and at Mekonah, and in the villages thereof,
and in Ziklag, and in Meconah and in the towns thereof,
and in Ziklag, and in Meconah and in the towns thereof;
And at Ziklag, and at Mekonah, and in its villages,
And in Ziklag, and in Mechonah, and in the villages thereof,
Strictly literal
and in Ziklag, and in Meconah and its dependent villages;
and in Ziklag, and in Mekonah and in its small towns,
and in Ziklag, and in Mekonah and in its small towns,
And at Ziklag, and at Mechonah and in its villages,
Some of the people of Judah lived in Ziklag, Mekonah and its villages,
From the Latin
And at Siceleg, and at Mochona, and in the villages thereof,
Simplified
in Ziklag, in Mekonah and its settlements,
And in Ziklag, and in Meconah and its daughter-towns,
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 presents the verse as it stands, with no variations noted in other witnesses, confirming the text's consistency.
וּבְצִֽקְלַ֥ג וּבִמְכֹנָ֖ה וּבִבְנֹתֶֽיהָ׃
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 Nehemiah 11:28
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.
צִקְלַג (tsiq.lag) refers to Ziklag, a town in southern Judah, later assigned to Simeon. It is noted in the context of David's life, particularly as a city given to him by King Achish of Gath, where he resided with his warriors. The name is thought to mean "winding."
צִקְלַג and (צִיק׳) n.pr.loc. assigned to Judah, to Simeon; Philistine city given to David
base
H6860 צִקְלַג
6860 Tsiqlag tsik-lag'
or Tsiyqlag (1 Chronicles 12:1,20) {tsee-kel-ag'}; of
uncertain derivation: Tsiklag or Tsikelag, a place in
Palestine:--Ziklag.
see HEBREW for 020
צִקְלַג (tsiq.lag) — Ziklag.
§ Ziklag = "winding"
a town in the south of Judah, later allotted to Simeon; noted for its having been the city of David given to him by king Achish of Gath and his residence when he was joined by many of his mighty warriors and when he received word of the death of Saul
Conj | Prep | N-proper — Conjunction · preposition · noun properHC/R/Npl
zik'-lag (tsiqelagh, tsiqelagh (2Sa 1:1), tsiqelagh (1Ch 12:1,20); usually in the Septuagint Sekelak, or Sikelag): A town assigned (Jos 19:5; 1Ch 4:30) to Simeon, but in Jos 15:31 named, between Hornah and Madmannah, as one of the cities of the Negeb of Judah, "toward the border of Edom." It is said (1Sa 27:6) to have remained a royal city. In Ne 11:28 it is in the list of towns reinhabited by the returning children of Judah. Its chief associations are with David. Achish the Philistine king of Gath gave it to David…
Ziklag
A town in the Negeb, or south country of Judah (Josh. 15:31), in the possession of the Philistines when David fled to Gath from Ziph with all his followers. Achish, the king, assigned him Ziklag as his place of residence. There he dwelt for over a year and four months. From this time it pertained to the kings of Judah (1 Sam. 27:6). During his absence with his army to join the Philistine expedition against the Israelites (29:11), it was destroyed by the Amalekites (30:1, 2), whom David, however, pursued and utterly routed, returning all the captives (1 Sam. 30:26-31). Two days after his return from this expedition, David received tidings of the disastrous battle of Gilboa and of the death of Saul (
(winding), a place which possesses a special interest from its having been the residence and the private property of David. It is first mentioned in the catalogue of the towns of Judah in (Joshua 15:31) and occurs, in the same connection among the places which were allotted out of the territory of Judah to Simeon. (Joshua 19:5) We next encounter it in the possession of the Philistines (1 Samuel 27:6) when it was, at David’s request, bestowed upon him by Achish king of Gath. He resided there for a year and four months. (1 Samuel 27:6,7; 30:14,26; 1 Chronicles 12:1,20) It was there he received the news of Saul’s death. (
A city of Judah and Simeon, on the borders of the Philistines, Jos 15:31; 19:5, who held it until the time of Saul, when Achish king of Gath gave it to David. Hither many other refugees from Judah resorted, and David was thus enabled to aid Achish, and to chastise the Amalekites who had sacked Ziklag during his absence, 1Sa 27:1- 6; 30:1-31; Ne 11:28.
מְכֹנָה (mekonah) refers to a location in Judah, specifically a town mentioned in Nehemiah 11:28. The name is associated with the meaning 'foundation' and indicates a place that was reinhabited after the exile. It is derived from a similar term, מָכוֹן (makhon), which also relates to a base or foundation.
מְכֹנָה n.pr.loc. in Judah Ne 11:28.
ref
H4368 מְכֹנָה
4368 Mkonah mek-o-naw'
the same as 4350; a base; Mekonah, a place in
Palestine:--Mekonah.
see HEBREW for 04350
מְכֹנָה (me.kho.nah) — Meconah.
§ Mekonah = "foundation"
one of the towns which were reinhabited after the return from exile
Conj | Prep | N-proper — Conjunction · preposition · noun properHC/R/Npl
me-ko'-na (mekhonah; Machna): A town apparently in the neighborhood of Ziklag, named only in Ne 11:28, as reoccupied by the men of Judah after the Captivity. It is not identified.
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 | Prep | N-fp | Suff — Conjunction · preposition · noun common feminine plural construct · suffixHC/R/Ncfpc/Sp3fs