Bible Word Study
קִשְׁיוֹן
Qishyôwn · Kishjon, a place in Palestine
קִשְׁיוֹן
Kishjon, a place in Palestine
Definition
Kishjon (also spelled Kishion or Keshon) is a proper noun referring to a town in the territory of the tribe of Issachar, located in the Jezreel Valley of ancient Palestine. It is listed among the cities allotted to Issachar in the tribal division of the land (Joshua 19:20). Later, it is designated as one of the Levitical cities given to the Gershonite Levites from the territory of Issachar (Joshua 21:28). The name signifies a place of 'hard ground,' likely describing its physical terrain.
Biblical Usage
The word קִשְׁיוֹן is used exclusively as a geographical place name in two verses within the book of Joshua. It appears in the context of land allotments, first to the tribe of Issachar (Joshua 19:20) and then as a city given to the Levites (Joshua 21:28). There is no variation in its meaning or usage across these occurrences.
Etymology
The name קִשְׁיוֹן (Qishyôn) derives from the Hebrew root קְשִׁי (qĕshî, H7190), meaning 'hardness' or 'stubbornness.' It is a nominal form indicating 'a hard place' or 'hard ground,' likely describing the town's location on firm or difficult soil. This etymology is purely descriptive of the physical landscape.
Semantic Range
As a Levitical city, Kishjon held cultural and religious significance. Levitical cities, as described in Joshua 21, were settlements distributed among the priestly tribe of Levi, who received no tribal territory. These cities provided homes and pasturelands for the Levites, who served religious and instructional functions for all Israel. Kishjon's designation as such a city placed it within a network of towns supporting Israel's worship system. No direct synonyms as a proper place name. Related conceptually to other Levitical cities like Shechem (H7927) or Hebron (H2275), which were also given to the Levites from different tribal territories.
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]