Bible Word Study
עֶצֶם
ʻEtsem · Etsem, a place in Palestine
עֶצֶם
Etsem, a place in Palestine
Definition
Etsem (עֶצֶם) is a proper noun referring to a town in the territory of Judah and later assigned to the tribe of Simeon. It is listed among the southernmost cities of Judah in Joshua 15:29 and appears again as a Simeonite city in Joshua 19:3 and 1 Chronicles 4:29. The name itself is identical to the common Hebrew noun for 'bone' (H6106), but in this context, it functions solely as a geographic location. There are no distinct meanings or senses for this word beyond its identification as a specific place in the Negev region of ancient Palestine.
Biblical Usage
The word is used exclusively as a place name in three Old Testament verses, all within historical and geographical lists. It appears in the context of territorial allotments: first to Judah (Joshua 15:29), then to Simeon from within Judah's inheritance (Joshua 19:3), and finally in a genealogical record of Simeonite towns (1 Chronicles 4:29). Its usage is consistent and purely locative, with no narrative or poetic occurrences.
Etymology
The name Etsem is derived directly from the Hebrew noun עֶצֶם (ʿetsem, H6106), meaning 'bone,' 'essence,' or 'substance.' As a place name, it likely originated from a geographic feature or was used metaphorically to denote strength or a foundational settlement, though the specific reason for its application is not explained in the biblical text. It shares its root with the common noun, demonstrating how ordinary words were often used for geographic locations.
Semantic Range
As a town in the tribal allotments of Judah and Simeon, Etsem was part of the promised land distribution, reflecting the fulfillment of God's covenant with Abraham. Its location in the Negev (south) places it in a semi-arid region, indicating it was a frontier settlement. The reassignment from Judah to Simeon (Joshua 19:1-9) illustrates the practical integration of the smaller Simeonite tribe within the territory of the larger tribe of Judah, a common cultural and political arrangement in ancient Israel. No direct synonyms as a proper noun. For the root meaning: עֶצֶם (ʿEtsem, H6106) — the common noun meaning 'bone' or 'essence,' from which the place name is derived.
Word Details
How this works
Definitions are from the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (BDB, 1906, public domain). Concordance and morphology data are from the OSHB (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible).
Full methodology & sources →References
- Abbott-Smith, G. (1921) A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Brown, F., Driver, S.R. and Briggs, C.A. (1906) A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Tyndale Brief lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (TBESG). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Formatted full LSJ (TFLSJ). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Thayer, J.H. (1889) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. [Public Domain]
- Gesenius, W. (1846) Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament. [Public Domain]
- Dodson, J. (2010) Greek Lexicon. Biblical Humanities. [CC0]