toun : This word is used to represent a number of different Hob terms in the Old Testament. (1) When any explanatory word or attendant circumstances show that a "city" was unwalled, and sometimes in the contrary case ( 1 Samuel 23:7 ), the Hebrew ı̄r is translated "town" by the King James Version, and the Revised Version (British and American) generally agrees with it (Deuteronomy 3:5; 1 Samuel 27:5; Esther 9:19 ). (2) Both the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) translate ḥawwōth by "towns" (Numbers 32:41; Joshua 13:30; 1 Kings 4:13; 1 Chronicles 2:23 ), while ḥăcērı̄m and perāzōth both appear in the King James Version as "towns," but in the Revised Version (British and American) as "villages" (Genesis 25:16; Zechariah 2:4 ). See HAVVOTH-JAIR . (3) Bath , literally, "daughter," is sometimes found in the plural between the name of a city and ḥăcērı̄m , "villages," as in Joshua 15:45 margin, "Ekron, with its daughters and its villages." "Towns" is evidently the appropriate translation, and, even without ḥăcĕrı̄m , bath is rendered "town" (the Revised Version (British and American) Numbers 21:25 , etc.). The same use of "daughter" occurs also in the Greek of 1 Macc 5:65 (thugátēr ), the King James Version "town," the Revised Version (British and American) "village," margin "daughter." (4) the King James Version and the English Revised Version gloss ḳı̄r , "wall" in Joshua 2:15 by rendering it "town wall"; the American Standard Revised Version omits. (5) The Greek term kōmopóleis (Mark 1:38 ), being a combination of the words for "village" and "city," is a clear attempt to describe something between the two, and is well translated "town." (6) the King James Version uses "town" (Matthew 10:11 etc.) and "village" ( Matthew 9:35 , etc.) quite indifferently for kṓmē ; the Revised Version (British and American) has "village" throughout. For similar changes of the King James Version "town" compare 2 Macc 8:6 (chōra ); 11:5; 12:21 (chōrion , the Revised Version (British and American) "place"). See CITY; VILLAGE .
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) was edited by James Orr, John Nuelsen, Edgar Mullins, Morris Evans, and Melvin Grove Kyle and was published complete in 1939. This web site includes the complete text.
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