Joshua 17:4

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

They came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, Yahweh commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers: therefore according to the commandment of Yahweh he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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נ֗וּן

Nûwn

H5126

“Nun”

Noun, Proper

Appears 30× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Exodus 33:11

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H5125

TWOT: None

Nun = "fish" or " posterity" - father of Joshua the successor of Moses

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

29: words
20: distinct lemmas
Historical: section

Shared distinctive vocabulary

נ֗וּן Nun H5126 occurs in 30 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

5 verbs
20 nouns
3 prepositions
1 particle

Verb forms

וַתִּקְרַ֡בְנָה Qal · Sequential Imperfect
לֵאמֹ֔ר Qal · Infinitive Construct
צִוָּ֣ה Piel · Perfect
לָֽתֶת Qal · Infinitive Construct
וַיִּתֵּ֨ן Qal · Sequential Imperfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

לִפְנֵי֩ face H6440 ×3
יְהוָה֙ LORD H3068 ×2
לָֽתֶת to give H5414 ×2
נַחֲלָ֖ה inheritance H5159 ×2
בְּת֣וֹךְ midst H8432 ×2
אַחֵ֑ינוּ brother H251 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 48 words from the Hebrew and 55 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 29 Hebrew tokens and 41 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Joshua 17:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Joshua 14:1 These are the inheritances which the children of Israel took in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers' [houses] of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed to them,
Numbers 27:5–7 Moses brought their cause before Yahweh.
Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Numbers 34:17–29 These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Joshua 17:4 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַתִּקְרַ֡בְנָה לִפְנֵי֩ אֶלְעָזָ֨ר הַכֹּהֵ֜ן וְלִפְנֵ֣י יְהוֹשֻׁ֣עַ בִּן נ֗וּן וְלִפְנֵ֤י הַנְּשִׂיאִים֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר יְהוָה֙ צִוָּ֣ה אֶת מֹשֶׁ֔ה לָֽתֶת לָ֥נוּ נַחֲלָ֖ה בְּת֣וֹךְ אַחֵ֑ינוּ וַיִּתֵּ֨ן לָהֶ֜ם אֶל פִּ֤י יְהוָה֙ נַֽחֲלָ֔ה בְּת֖וֹךְ אֲחֵ֥י אֲבִיהֶֽן

They came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, Yahweh commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers: therefore according to the commandment of Yahweh he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Joshua 17:4 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ἵστημι ἐναντίον ελεαζαρ ὁ ἱερεύς καί ἐναντίον ἰησοῦς καί ἐναντίον ὁ ἄρχων λέγω ὁ θεός ἐντέλλομαι διά χείρ μωυσῆς δίδωμι ἐγώ κληρονομία ἐν μέσος ὁ ἀδελφός ἐγώ καί δίδωμι αὐτός διά πρόσταγμα κύριος κλῆρος ἐν ὁ ἀδελφός ὁ πατήρ αὐτός

And they stood before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua, and before the rulers, saying, God gave a charge by the hand of Moses, to give us an inheritance in the midst of our brethren: so there was given to them by the command of the Lord an inheritance among the brethren of their father.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)

וְקָרִיבָא לָקֳדָם אֶלְעָזָר כַּהֲנָא וְלִקֳדָם יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בַּר נוּן וְלִקֳדָם רַבְרְבַיָא לְמֵימַר יְיָ פַּקֵיד יַת מֹשֶׁה לְמִתַּן לָנָא אַחֲסָנָא בְּגוֹ אַחָנָא וִיהַב לְהוֹן עַל מֵימְרָא דַייָ אַחֲסָנָא בְּגוֹ אֲחֵי אֲבוּהֶן:

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Joshua 17:4 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Jos 17:4 And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren. Therefore according to the commandment of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father.

Ver. 4. He gave them an inheritance.] But with this caution, that they should not marry out of their own tribe. {Num 36:6}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joseph Benson's Commentary

Jos 17:4-6. He gave them — That is, Eleazar or Joshua, with the consent of the princes appointed for that work. For after the lot had determined what land every tribe should have, these commissioners considered how many families were in the tribe, and how large they were, and accordingly divided it among them. This is implied, Num 26:54-56. Ten portions — Five for the sons and five for the daughters; for as for Hepher, both he and his son Zelophehad were dead, and that without sons, and therefore had no portion; but his daughters had several portions allotted to them. The daughters — Not less than the sons, so the sex was no bar to their inheritance.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Among them of our tribe.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

4. And they came] In place of sons, Zelophehad had five daughters, and they, anxious that their father’s name should not perish, present themselves before Eleazar and Joshua, with a request for an inheritance.

The Lord commanded Moses] They remind the high-priest, Joshua, and the princes, of the command of Moses in the wilderness in their favour. They had then reminded the great lawgiver (Num_27:1-4) that their father had no share in the sin of those who rose up against the Lord “in the company of Korah,” but died “in his own sin.” It was an injustice, therefore, that, because he had no son, “his name should be done away from among his family.” Moses brought their cause before the Lord (Num_27:5), and by the Divine command granted them an inheritance amongst their brothers.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes,.... The ten princes, who, with Eleazar and Joshua, were appointed to divide the land, Num 34:17; and were now met together for that purpose, Jos 14:1,

saying, the Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren; those of the same tribe with them; for upon their application to Moses he inquired of the Lord, who ordered him to grant their request, Num 27:1,

therefore according to the commandment of the Lord he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their fathers; that is, to the half tribe of Manasseh.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Father, adjoining to Ephraim. See Numbers xxvii., and xxxvi.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

He gave them, i.e. Eleazar, or Joshua, with the consent of the princes appointed for that work.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

4. Before Eleazar — As one of the commission to divide the land.

Jos_14:1.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

And they came near. In order to demand the fulfilment of the decree of Moses just referred to, to which they appeal in support of their claim. (see also Num_27:1-7)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

He - That is, Eleazar, or Joshua, with the consent of the princes appointed for that work.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Joshua, in the Historical, opens this verse with 29 words (20 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is Nûwn (“Nun”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

What does “Nun” (Nûwn) contribute to the verse as a whole?
Exodus 33:11 shares the word «Nun» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“face” occurs 3× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
The verb «וַתִּקְרַ֡בְנָה» is Qal Sequential Imperfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Joseph Benson's Commentary read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 29 Hebrew ↔ 41 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 13 words in this verse.
“face” occurs 3× in this single verse.
20 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 29 words in this verse.