יִדְאֲלָה
Jidalah, a place in Palestine
Definition
Yidʼălâh (Jidalah) is a proper noun referring to a town or location within the territory allotted to the tribe of Zebulun during the division of the Promised Land. It is listed among the cities given to Zebulun in Joshua 19:15. As a geographical name, its sole meaning in the biblical text is as a specific place marker. The exact location and nature of this settlement remain uncertain, as it is not mentioned elsewhere in the Bible or in extensive extra-biblical sources from the period.
Biblical Usage
This word is used only once in the entire Old Testament, in Joshua 19:15. Its usage is strictly geographical, appearing in a list of towns that formed the inheritance of the tribe of Zebulun after the Israelite conquest of Canaan. There are no patterns of usage or different contexts, as it is a single-occurrence place name.
Etymology
The etymology of יִדְאֲלָה (Yidʼălâh) is uncertain. Scholars have not reached a consensus on its derivation from a known Hebrew root. It may be a pre-Israelite Canaanite place name that was adopted into Hebrew, which is common for many geographical locations in the biblical text. Its meaning in the original language is lost.
Semantic Range
As a place name in an ancient conquest and settlement narrative, Yidʼălâh represents the tangible fulfillment of God's promise to give the land of Canaan to the tribes of Israel. Its inclusion in a detailed town list (Joshua 19:15) underscores the historical specificity of the allotment. For the original audience, such lists authenticated their tribal heritage and land claims. The modern uncertainty of its location highlights the historical distance between the biblical world and our own.
No direct synonyms as a proper place name. It is part of a set of Zebulunite towns listed in Joshua 19:10-16, such as: Bethlehem (Bêyth Lechem, H1035) — a different town in Zebulun, not the Judean city of David.
Word Details
How this works
Hebrew definitions are from Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906) and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890), both public domain. BDB was groundbreaking for its era but reflects 19th-century assumptions about Semitic etymology. Modern scholarship (HALOT, DCH) has revised many entries. Use these definitions as a starting point for exploration, not as the final word on a term's meaning in context.
Full methodology & sources →