Hebrew word · H794

אֲשֵׁדָה

uva'ashedot

slope

Slope, the foot or lower part of a mountain where it falls away (BDB, HALOT). Used for the slopes of Pisgah (Deut 3:17; 4:49; Josh 12:3; 13:20) and in Num 21:15.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

foundation, slope

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 10:40

Range of meaning

Slope, the foot or lower part of a mountain where it falls away (BDB, HALOT). Used for the slopes of Pisgah (Deut 3:17; 4:49; Josh 12:3; 13:20) and in Num 21:15.

Against the English

KJV has "the springs." This rests on an older interpretive tradition (compare KJV "Ashdoth-pisgah" / "springs of Pisgah"), and modern lexicons do not support it. Modern versions all say "slopes."

How it drifted

It is a rare word. Early translators guessed from context, or treated it as a place name, and "springs" entered English through that route.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint and Vulgate appear to treat it as a proper noun here (Asēdōth / Asedoth). Josh 12:8 repeats the same list of regions, including the slopes.

From the study of Joshua 12:8

Range of meaning

Slope, mountain-flank, the foot or descent of a ridge. The word is connected (per BDB and HALOT) with a root meaning 'to pour out' or 'to flow down'. The idea is probably terrain that water pours down, so: ravine-cut slopes. In the singular it occurs in Num 21:15 ('the slope of the wadis'). In the plural it occurs in Deut 3:17, 4:49 and Josh 12:3, 13:20 ('the slopes of Pisgah'), and in Josh 10:40 and here as one of the land's regions.

Against the English

KJV and YLT have 'springs'. Modern versions have 'slopes' (BSB, WEB, ESV, NASB) or 'mountain slopes' (NIV, NLT).

How it drifted

The 'pouring' root led some older interpreters to think of water gushing out, which gave 'springs'. Comparing the Pisgah passages, where the word plainly describes the flanks of a mountain, makes 'slopes' clear. The KJV's rendering was a reasonable guess for its time but is not supported.

Used elsewhere in the period

Within Hebrew it occurs only a handful of times, always in descriptions of landscape. The Septuagint often just transliterates it (Asēdōth) as if it were a place name, which shows the Greek translators were unsure of its meaning.

Where it appears

Joshua · 2

  1. Joshua 10:40 וְהָאֲשֵׁד֗וֹת and the slopes

    So Joshua conquered the whole region—the hill country, the Negev, the foothills, and the slopes, together with all their kings—leaving no survivors. He devoted to destruction everything that breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded.

    Here: "And the slopes," probably the steep ground falling away from the highlands, either eastward toward the Dead Sea or westward into the Shephelah. A rare word, which is why older versions guessed at it (KJV "springs").

  2. Joshua 12:8 וּבָ֣אֲשֵׁד֔וֹת and on the slopes

    the hill country, the foothills, the Arabah, the slopes, the wilderness, and the Negev—the lands of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites):

    Here: 'And on the slopes': the steep flanks where the highlands drop away, cut by ravines that carry runoff, probably chiefly the eastern descents toward the Dead Sea and Jordan, and possibly also the western ones toward the Shephelah. A zone between the regions, not 'springs'.

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