Joshua 16:7
in Joshua 16From Janoah it went down to Ataroth and Naarah, and then reached Jericho and came out at the Jordan.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and it went down from Janoah to Ataroth, and to Naarah, and reached unto Jericho, and went out at the Jordan.
KJV
And it went down from Janohah to Ataroth, and to Naarath, and came to Jericho, and went out at Jordan.
⋯
This verse in Joshua 16
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
the territory of the descendants of Ephraim by their clans
on Joshua 16:5-9
Ephraim's line runs over ground the book has fought on, since Lower and Upper Beth-horon sit where the hailstones fell at Joshua 10:10-11. Verse 9 gives Ephraim cities inside Manasseh's inheritance, and 17:9 records the same. The text gives no reason, and Barnes says the reason can only be conjectured.
This site's exposition
reached Jericho and came out at the Jordan
From Janoah the line drops into the Jordan valley and reaches Jericho, where the description of Joseph's lot began in verse 1. Jericho itself is listed among Benjamin's cities at 18:22, so the line touches the town without giving it to Ephraim. The circuit closes where it opened.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And it went down from Johanan to Ataroth,....
Though Joseph was one of the younger sons of Jacob, yet he was his eldest by his most just and best beloved wife Rachel, was himself his best beloved son, and had been the greatest ornament and support of his family, kept it from perishing in a time of famine, and had been the shepherd and stone of Israel, and therefore his posterity were very much favoured by the lot.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the border of their inheritance . . . was Ataroth-addar--Ataroth-addar (now Atara), four miles south of Jetta [ROBINSON], is fixed on as a center, through which a line is drawn from Upper Beth-horon to Michmethah, showing the western limit of their actual possessions.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
The boundary then went out westward. Its length was westward to Michmesos; the boundary line continued north of Michmesos.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְיָרַ֥ד | veyarad | and it goes down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| מִיָּנ֖וֹחָה | miyanochah | from Janoah | H3239 → | |
| עֲטָר֣וֹת | atarot | Ataroth | H5852 → | |
| וְנַעֲרָ֑תָה | venaaratah | and Naarah towards | H5292 → | |
| וּפָגַע֙ | ufaga' | and it touches | H6293 → | 46 times |
| בִּֽירִיח֔וֹ | biricho | <on> Jericho | H3405 → | 57 times |
| וְיָצָ֖א | veyatza' | and it goes out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| הַיַּרְדֵּֽן׃ | haiyarden | the Jordan | H3383 → | 182 times |
וְיָרַ֥דand it goes down
veyaradH3381 →381 times
מִיָּנ֖וֹחָהfrom Janoah
miyanochahH3239 →
עֲטָר֣וֹתAtaroth
atarotH5852 →
וְנַעֲרָ֑תָהand Naarah towards
venaaratahH5292 →
וּפָגַע֙and it touches
ufaga'H6293 →46 times
בִּֽירִיח֔וֹ<on> Jericho
birichoH3405 →57 times
וְיָצָ֖אand it goes out
veyatza'H3318 →1067 times
הַיַּרְדֵּֽן׃the Jordan
haiyardenH3383 →182 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Joshua 6:26At that time Joshua invoked this solemn oath: “Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho; at the cost of his firstborn he will lay its foundations;…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 16:34
In Ahab’s days, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest he set up its gates, according to…
- Acts 19:13
Now there were some itinerant Jewish exorcists who tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those with evil spirits. They would say, “I bind you by Jesus, whom Paul proclaims.”
- 1 Kings 16:34
Through
Joshua 6:1Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
it leads to
- Joshua 2:9–14
and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who dwell in the land are melting…
- Joshua 2:24
“The LORD has surely delivered the entire land into our hands,” they said to Joshua. “Indeed, all who dwell in the land are melting in fear of us.”
- Psalms 127:1
Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.
- Joshua 2:9–14
Through
Joshua 3:16the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was…
it leads to
- Joshua 3:13
When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—touch down in the waters of the Jordan, its flowing waters will be cut off and will…
- 1 Kings 7:46
The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan.
- Joshua 3:13
Through
Numbers 33:48They set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.
it leads to
- Numbers 22:1
Then the Israelites traveled on and camped in the plains of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho.
- Numbers 22:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Joshua
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and The Berean Standard Bible, Joshua 16, with the verses cited in the note.