Bible Word Study
כִּתְלִישׁ
Kithlîysh · Kithlish, a place in Palestine
כִּתְלִישׁ
Kithlish, a place in Palestine
Definition
Kithlish is a proper noun referring to a town in the territory of Judah, mentioned only once in the Bible in Joshua 15:40. It was one of the cities allotted to the tribe of Judah as part of their inheritance in the Promised Land, located in the lowland (Shephelah) region. The name itself is a compound word meaning 'wall of a man,' though the specific significance of this name for the town's history or geography is not detailed in scripture. As a place name, its primary significance is geographical, identifying a specific location within the tribal allotment.
Biblical Usage
The word כִּתְלִישׁ (Kithlîysh) is used only once in the Old Testament, in Joshua 15:40, within a list of cities given to the tribe of Judah. Its usage is purely geographical, serving as a proper name for a specific town. There are no patterns of usage or different contextual meanings, as it appears solely in this administrative list detailing the tribal inheritance.
Etymology
The name Kithlish is derived from the Hebrew root words כֹּתֶל (kōthel, H3796), meaning 'wall,' and אִישׁ (ʼîysh, H376), meaning 'man.' It is a compound noun literally translating to 'wall of a man.' This could potentially refer to a prominent or fortified wall associated with an individual, perhaps the town's founder or a notable defender, but the exact historical reason for the name is not provided in biblical texts.
Semantic Range
As a place name in an ancient inheritance list, Kithlish represents the tangible fulfillment of God's promise to give the land of Canaan to the descendants of Abraham. Its inclusion in Joshua 15 underscores the meticulous allocation of territory to the tribes, reflecting the organization of Israelite society and their settlement in the land. For the original audience, this name identified a real, inhabited location within their national geography. Other Judahite cities in the same list (Joshua 15:40) serve as geographical parallels, such as Lachish (Lāḵîsh, H3923) and Eglon (‛Eglôn, H5700), but these are distinct place names, not linguistic synonyms.
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]