Bible Word Study
יַתִּיר
Yattîyr · Jattir, a place in Palestine
יַתִּיר
Jattir, a place in Palestine
Definition
Jattir was a town in the hill country of Judah, located in the southern part of the tribal territory. It was designated as one of the cities given to the Levites from the tribe of Judah (Joshua 21:14). Later, it appears as a place to which David sent spoils after his victory over the Amalekites (1 Samuel 30:27), indicating it was a loyal Judahite settlement. The name itself means 'redundant' or 'abundant,' possibly referring to the town's prosperity or its plentiful resources.
Biblical Usage
The word is used exclusively as a proper noun for a specific location. It appears in four verses across historical books: in the allotment lists for Judah (Joshua 15:48) and the Levites (Joshua 21:14), in the narrative of David's distribution of spoils (1 Samuel 30:27), and again in the Chronicler's parallel list of Levitical cities (1 Chronicles 6:57). Its usage is consistently geographical, identifying a town within Judah's inheritance.
Etymology
Derived from the Hebrew root יָתַר (yāṯar, H3498), meaning 'to remain over, to be left over, to excel, or to abound.' The proper noun יַתִּיר (Yattîyr) is a form meaning 'abundant' or 'redundant,' suggesting the place was known for its plentiful or surplus resources, likely in an agricultural context.
Semantic Range
As a geographical name, Jattir itself does not carry direct theological weight. However, its inclusion in the Levitical city lists (Joshua 21:14, 1 Chronicles 6:57) underscores God's provision for the priestly tribe, who received no land inheritance but were given cities scattered among the other tribes. Its mention in 1 Samuel 30:27 also highlights David's practice of sharing blessings with communities that supported him, a principle of covenant loyalty and generosity. In the ancient Near East, place names often described a location's physical characteristic, a historical event, or expressed a hope for prosperity. Jattir, meaning 'abundant,' likely reflected the town's agricultural fertility or economic importance. As a Levitical city, it was a center for religious instruction and administration of the Mosaic law within its region. No direct synonyms as a proper place name. Related conceptually to other Levitical city names, which are also proper nouns.
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]