Joshua 14:4

Bible in Basic English (1941)

Because the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim; and they gave the Levites no part in the land, only towns for their living-places, with the grass-lands for their cattle and for their property.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

כִּֽי־הָי֧וּ בְנֵֽי־יוֹסֵ֛ף שְׁנֵ֥י מַטּ֖וֹת מְנַשֶּׁ֣ה וְאֶפְרָ֑יִם וְלֹֽא־נָתְנוּ֩ חֵ֨לֶק לַלְוִיִּ֜ם בָּאָ֗רֶץ כִּ֤י אִם־עָרִים֙ לָשֶׁ֔בֶת וּמִ֨גְרְשֵׁיהֶ֔ם לְמִקְנֵיהֶ֖ם וּלְקִנְיָנָֽם׃

Transliteration

For hāyû bᵊnê-yôsēp̄ šᵊnê maṭṭôt mᵊnaššeh and ʾep̄rāyim and not nātᵊnû ḥēleq to halᵊwiyyim in hāʾāreṣ except ʿārîm for lāšebet and their migrᵊšêhem for their miqnêhem and for their qinyānām.

Grammar Details

• *kî*: conjunction - for/because
• *hāyû*: verb, qal perfect, 3rd plural - they were
• *bᵊnê*: noun, masculine plural construct - sons of
• *yôsēp̄*: proper noun - Joseph
• *šᵊnê*: number, masculine construct - two of
• *maṭṭôt*: noun, masculine plural - tribes
• *mᵊnaššeh*: proper noun - Manasseh
• *wᵊ*: conjunction - and
• *ʾep̄rāyim*: proper noun - Ephraim
• *lōʾ*: negative particle - not
• *nātᵊnû*: verb, qal perfect, 3rd plural - they gave
• *ḥēleq*: noun, masculine singular - portion
• *la*: preposition - to
• *halᵊwiyyim*: definite article + proper noun, plural - the Levites
• *bā*: preposition + definite article - in the
• *ʾāreṣ*: noun, feminine singular - land
• *kî ʾim*: conjunction + particle - except/but only
• *ʿārîm*: noun, feminine plural - cities
• *lā*: preposition - for
• *šebet*: verb, qal infinitive construct - to dwell
• *migrᵊšêhem*: noun, masculine plural + 3rd masculine plural suffix - their pasture lands/open spaces
• *lᵊ*: preposition - for
• *miqnêhem*: noun, masculine plural + 3rd masculine plural suffix - their livestock
• *qinyānām*: noun, masculine singular + 3rd masculine plural suffix - their possessions

Word Meanings

• *hāyû*: were/became/existed as
• *ḥēleq*: portion/share/allotment
• *ʿārîm*: cities/towns
• *šebet*: dwelling/residing/living
• *migrᵊšêhem*: their pastures/their open lands/their suburban areas
• *miqnêhem*: their cattle/their livestock/their domestic animals
• *qinyānām*: their possessions/their property/their substance

Referenced Verses

• Gen 48:5 : 5 And now your two sons who came to birth in Egypt before I came to you here, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, in the same way as Reuben and Simeon are.
• 1 Chr 5:1-2 : 1 And the sons of Reuben, the oldest son of Israel, (for he was the oldest son, but, because he made his father's bride-bed unclean, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel; but he is not to be given the place of the oldest. 2 Though Judah became stronger than his brothers, and from him came the ruler, the birthright was Joseph's:)
• 1 Chr 6:54-81 : 54 Now these are their living-places, the limits inside which they were to put up their tents: to the sons of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites, because they had the first selection, 55 To them they gave Hebron and its outskirts in the land of Judah; 56 But the open country of the town, and the small places round it, they gave to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. 57 And to the sons of Aaron they gave Hebron, the town to which men might go in flight and be safe, and Libnah with its outskirts, and Jattir, and Eshtemoa with its outskirts, 58 And Hilen with its outskirts, Debir with its outskirts, 59 And Ashan with its outskirts, and Beth-shemesh with its outskirts; 60 And from the tribe of Benjamin: Geba with its outskirts, and Alemeth with its outskirts, and Anathoth with its outskirts. All their towns among their families were thirteen towns. 61 And to the rest of the sons of Kohath there were given by the Lord's decision ten towns out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim and out of the tribe of Dan and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh. 62 And to the sons of Gershom, by their families, out of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen towns. 63 And to the sons of Merari, by their families, twelve towns were given by the Lord's decision, out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun. 64 And the children of Israel gave to the Levites the towns with their outskirts. 65 And they gave by the Lord's decision out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, and out of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, these towns whose names are given. 66 And to the families of the sons of Kohath were given towns by the Lord's decision out of the tribe of Ephraim. 67 And they gave them the town to which men might go in flight and be safe, Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim with its outskirts, and Gezer with its outskirts, 68 And Jokmeam with its outskirts, and Beth-horon with its outskirts, 69 And Aijalon with its outskirts, and Gath-rimmon with its outskirts; 70 And out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Aner with its outskirts, and Bileam with its outskirts, for the rest of the family of the sons of Kohath. 71 To the sons of Gershom were given, out of the family of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its outskirts, and Ashtaroth with its outskirts; 72 And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kedesh with its outskirts, and Daberath with its outskirts, 73 And Ramoth with its outskirts, and Anem with its outskirts; 74 And out of the tribe of Asher, Mashal with its outskirts, and Abdon with its outskirts, 75 And Hukok with its outskirts, and Rehob with its outskirts; 76 And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its outskirts, and Hammon with its outskirts, and Kiriathaim with its outskirts. 77 To the rest of the Levites, the sons of Merari, were given, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Rimmono with its outskirts, Tabor with its outskirts; 78 And on the other side of Jordan, at Jericho, on the east side of Jordan, were given them, out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer in the waste land with its outskirts, and Jahzah with its outskirts, 79 And Kedemoth with its outskirts, and Mephaath with its outskirts; 80 And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its outskirts, and Mahanaim with its outskirts, 81 And Heshbon with its outskirts, and Jazer with its outskirts.
• Num 35:2-8 : 2 Give orders to the children of Israel to give to the Levites, from the heritage which is theirs, towns for themselves, with land on the outskirts of the towns. 3 These towns are to be their living-places, with land round them for their cattle and their food and all their beasts, 4 Stretching from the wall of the towns a distance of a thousand cubits all round. 5 The measure of this space of land is to be two thousand cubits outside the town on the east, and two thousand cubits on the south and on the west and on the north, the town being in the middle. This space will be the outskirts of their towns. 6 And the towns which you give the Levites are to be the six safe places to which the taker of life may go in flight; and in addition you are to give them forty-two towns. 7 Forty-eight towns are to be given to the Levites, all with land round them. 8 And these towns are to be given out of the heritage of the children of Israel, taking the greater number from those who have much, and a smaller number from those who have little: everyone, in the measure of his heritage, is to give of his property to the Levites.
• Josh 21:2-9 : 2 And said to them in Shiloh in the land of Canaan, The Lord gave orders by Moses that we were to have towns for living in, with their grass-lands for our cattle. 3 And the children of Israel out of their heritage gave to the Levites these towns with their grass-lands, by the order of the Lord. 4 And the heritage came out for the families of the Kohathites: the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, were given thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. 5 The rest of the children of Kohath by their families were given ten towns from the tribes of Ephraim and Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 6 The children of Gershon by their families were given thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar and Asher and Naphtali and the half-tribe of Manasseh which was in Bashan. 7 The children of Merari by their families were given twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben and Gad and Zebulun. 8 All these towns with their grass-lands the children of Israel gave by the decision of the Lord to the Levites, as the Lord had given orders by Moses. 9 From the tribes of the children of Judah and the children of Simeon they gave these towns, listed here by name: 10 These were for the children of Aaron among the families of the Kohathites, of the children of Levi: for they came first in the distribution. 11 They gave them Kiriath-arba, the town of Arba, the father of Anak, (which is Hebron) in the hill-country of Judah, with its grass-lands. 12 But the open country round the town, and its unwalled places, they gave to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, as his property. 13 And to the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Libnah with its grass-lands; 14 And Jattir with its grass-lands, and Eshtemoa with its grass-lands; 15 And Holon with its grass-lands, and Debir with its grass-lands; 16 And Ain, and Juttah, and Beth-shemesh, with their grass-lands; nine towns from those two tribes. 17 And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave Gibeon and Geba with their grass-lands; 18 Anathoth and Almon with their grass-lands, four towns. 19 Thirteen towns with their grass-lands were given to the children of Aaron, the priests. 20 The rest of the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, were given towns from the tribe of Ephraim. 21 And they gave them Shechem with its grass-lands in the hill-country of Ephraim, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Gezer with its grass-lands; 22 And Kibzaim and Beth-horon with their grass-lands, four towns. 23 And from the tribe of Dan, Elteke and Gibbethon with their grass-lands; 24 Aijalon and Gath-rimmon with their grass-lands, four towns. 25 And from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and Gath-rimmon with their grass-lands, two towns. 26 All the towns of the rest of the families of the children of Kohath were ten with their grass-lands. 27 And to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, they gave from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Ashtaroth with its grass-lands, two towns. 28 And from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion and Daberath with their grass-lands; 29 Jarmuth and En-gannim with their grass-lands, four towns. 30 And from the tribe of Asher, Mishal and Abdon, with their grass-lands: 31 Helkath and Rehob with their grass-lands, four towns. 32 And from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Hammoth-dor and Kartan with their grass-lands, three towns. 33 All the towns of the Gershonites with their families were thirteen with their grass-lands. 34 And to the rest of the Levites, that is, the families of the children of Merari, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and Kartah with their grass-lands; 35 Dimnah and Nahalal with their grass-lands, four towns. 36 And from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer and Jahaz with their grass-lands; 37 Kedemoth and Mephaath with their grass-lands, four towns. 38 And from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Mahanaim with their grass-lands; 39 Heshbon and Jazer with their grass-lands, four towns. 40 All these towns were given to the children of Merari by their families, that is, the rest of the families of the Levites; and their heritage was twelve towns. 41 All the towns of the Levites, among the heritage of the children of Israel, were forty-eight towns with their grass-lands. 42 Every one of these towns had grass-lands round it.