When they had made an end of dividing the land for inheritance by their coasts, the children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun among them:

JOSHUA 19:49KJV
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Joshua 19:49 (KJV)

What does Joshua 19:49 mean?

Joshua 19:49 describes the point at which Joshua, Israel’s leader, received a share of the land for himself. The people gave him a place among their own holdings after the land had been divided for inheritance.

The verse is part of the narrator’s account, not a speech by Joshua. The phrase “among them” places Joshua’s holding within the land shared by the Israelites, rather than apart from the people he led.

The Hebrew behind Joshua 19:49

  • “coasts” — גְּבוּל (gevul): This word refers to a boundary or the territory within boundaries. In the KJV, “coasts” here means the borders of the allotted areas, not seashores.
  • “inheritance” — אֲחֻזָּה (aḥuzzah): This word can mean a possession or holding. It describes Joshua’s share as land he would hold, rather than as a payment in goods.

Why Joshua 19:49 matters

  • Joshua’s share came at the end of the division. The verse places the gift after the people “had made an end of dividing the land.”
  • Joshua’s holding was a particular place, not a separate tribal territory. Verse 50 names it as Timnath-serah, a town in the hill country of Ephraim.
  • The gift is presented as the people’s action, while the next verse connects it with the Lord’s command. Together, verses 49–50 describe both the giving of the land and the authority behind it.

Where else these words appear

“coasts” Hebrew H1367 · used in 10 verses

  • Numbers 32:33 And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about.
  • Deuteronomy 32:8 When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
  • Psalms 74:17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.

“Nun” Hebrew H5126 · used in 30 verses

  • Exodus 33:11 And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.
  • Numbers 32:12 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD.
  • Joshua 6:6 And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the LORD.

“inheritance” Hebrew H5157 · used in 59 verses

  • Exodus 23:30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
  • Deuteronomy 19:3 Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the coasts of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither.
  • Proverbs 3:35 The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.