Hebrew word · H3494

יִתְלָה

veyitlah

Ithlah

A proper name that appears only here. Its meaning is uncertain. Lexicons connect it, with caution, to the root תלה (talah), 'to hang' or 'to suspend', and suggest something like 'lofty place' or 'height'. That would fit a town on a ridge, but the evidence is thin.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Jethlah = "he hangs"

one of the towns in southern Dan

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Joshua 19:42

Range of meaning

A proper name that appears only here. Its meaning is uncertain. Lexicons connect it, with caution, to the root תלה (talah), 'to hang' or 'to suspend', and suggest something like 'lofty place' or 'height'. That would fit a town on a ridge, but the evidence is thin.

Against the English

KJV and YLT have 'Jethlah'. BSB, WEB and most modern versions have 'Ithlah'. Both stand for the Hebrew Yitlah. 'Jethlah' follows the older habit of writing initial Y as J, and 'Ithlah' follows how the vowel was later pronounced. No difference in meaning.

Used elsewhere in the period

Not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. No identification is generally accepted. Scholars have offered several ruins in the Aijalon–Timnah area, but none is secure.

Where it appears

Joshua · 1

  1. Joshua 19:42 וְיִתְלָֽה׃ and Ithlah

    Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah,

    Here: A Danite town mentioned only here. Nobody knows for certain where it was. Its name may come from a root meaning 'to hang' or 'to be raised up', perhaps describing a town on a height, but that is a guess. The large pause mark under the last word ends the verse, and the list carries on in verse 43.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.