Joshua 21ASV
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Joshua21

American Standard Version · Public Domain

1Then came near the heads of fathers’ houses of the Levites unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua the son of Nun, and unto the heads of fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel;

2and they spake unto them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, Jehovah commanded by Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the suburbs thereof for our cattle.

3And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the commandment of Jehovah, these cities with their suburbs.

4And the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites: and the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of the Simeonites, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities.

5And the rest of the children of Kohath had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, and out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.

6And the children of Gershon had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.

7The children of Merari according to their families had out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.

8And the children of Israel gave by lot unto the Levites these cities with their suburbs, as Jehovah commanded by Moses.

9And they gave out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, these cities which are here mentioned by name:

10and they were for the children of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi; for theirs was the first lot.

11And they gave them Kiriath-arba, which Arba was the father of Anak (the same is Hebron), in the hill-country of Judah, with the suburbs thereof round about it.

12But the fields of the city, and the villages thereof, gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession.

13And unto the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Libnah with its suburbs,

14and Jattir with its suburbs, and Eshtemoa with its suburbs,

15and Holon with its suburbs, and Debir with its suburbs,

16and Ain with its suburbs, and Juttah with its suburbs, and Beth-shemesh with its suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes.

17And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its suburbs, Geba with its suburbs,

18Anathoth with its suburbs, and Almon with its suburbs; four cities.

19All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their suburbs.

20And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, even the rest of the children of Kohath, they had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim.

21And they gave them Shechem with its suburbs in the hill-country of Ephraim, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Gezer with its suburbs,

22and Kibzaim with its suburbs, and Beth-horon with its suburbs; four cities.

23And out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its suburbs, Gibbethon with its suburbs,

24Aijalon with its suburbs, Gath-rimmon with its suburbs; four cities.

25And out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its suburbs, and Gath-rimmon with its suburbs; two cities.

26All the cities of the families of the rest of the children of Kohath were ten with their suburbs.

27And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half-tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Be-eshterah with its suburbs; two cities.

28And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its suburbs, Daberath with its suburbs,

29Jarmuth with its suburbs, En-gannim with its suburbs; four cities.

30And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its suburbs, Abdon with its suburbs,

31Helkath with its suburbs, and Rehob with its suburbs; four cities.

32And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Hammoth-dor with its suburbs, and Kartan with its suburbs; three cities.

33All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their suburbs.

34And unto the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its suburbs, and Kartah with its suburbs,

35Dimnah with its suburbs, Nahalal with its suburbs; four cities.

36And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its suburbs, and Jahaz with its suburbs,

37Kedemoth with its suburbs, and Mephaath with its suburbs; four cities.

38And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Mahanaim with its suburbs,

39Heshbon with its suburbs, Jazer with its suburbs; four cities in all.

40All these were the cities of the children of Merari according to their families, even the rest of the families of the Levites; and their lot was twelve cities.

41All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the children of Israel were forty and eight cities with their suburbs.

42These cities were every one with their suburbs round about them: thus it was with all these cities.

43So Jehovah gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.

44And Jehovah gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; Jehovah delivered all their enemies into their hand.

45There failed not aught of any good thing which Jehovah had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

Study Guide

Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Joshua 21.

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Chapter Summary

In this chapter: Cities for the Levites. (1–8). The cities allotted to the Levites. (9–42). God gave the land and rest to the Israelites, according to his promise. (43–45).

vv1-8

The Levites waited till the other tribes were provided for, before they preferred their claim to Joshua. They build their claim upon a very good foundation; not their own merits or services, but the Divine precept. The maintenance of ministers is not a thing left merely to the will of the people, that they may let them starve if they please; they which preach the gospel should live by the gospel, and should live comfortably. (Jos 21:9-42)

vv9-42

By mixing the Levites with the other tribes, they were made to see that the eyes of all Israel were upon them, and therefore it was their concern to walk so that their ministry might not be blamed. Every tribe had its share of Levites' cities. Thus did God graciously provide for keeping up religion among them, and that they might have the word in all parts of the land. Yet, blessed be God, we have the gospel more diffused amongst us. (Jos 21:43-45)

vv43-45

God promised to give to the seed of Abraham the land of Canaan for a possession, and now they possessed it, and dwelt therein. And the promise of the heavenly Canaan is as sure to all God's spiritual Israel; for it is the promise of Him that cannot lie. There stood not a man before them. The after-prevalence of the Canaanites was the effect of Israel's slothfulness, and the punishment of their sinful inclination to the idolatries and abominations of the heathen whom they harboured and indulged. There failed not aught of any good thing, which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. In due season all his promises will be accomplished; then will his people acknowledge that the Lord has exceeded their largest expectations, and made them more than conquerors, and brought them to their desired rest.

Cross References

Joshua 21
v2Numbers 35:2-8fulfillment

Direct fulfillment of the Mosaic command to give the Levites cities and suburbs from tribal inheritances.

Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB

v1Genesis 49:7fulfillment

Fulfills Jacob's prophecy that Levi would be scattered and dispersed throughout the tribes of Israel.

Supported by Matthew Poole

Dispersing Levites enabled them to teach God's law and judgments locally throughout all Israel.

Supported by Matthew Poole

The parallel Chronicler account detailing the exact allotment of cities to the families of Aaron.

Supported by JFB

Establishes the permanent Levitical ownership and Jubilee redemption laws for these allocated cities.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v11Joshua 14:13thematic

Resolves Caleb's inheritance of Hebron with the Levites receiving the city and suburbs.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v451 Kings 8:56thematic

Solomon echoes Joshua's declaration that not one word of God's good promise has failed.

Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, John Calvin, JFB

v4Numbers 3:27thematic

Identifies the Kohathites, who drew the first lot, as a primary division of Levi.

Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB

v13Joshua 20:7-9thematic

Highlights that several assigned Levitical cities also served as designated cities of refuge.

Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin

v18Jeremiah 1:1thematic

Anathoth, assigned here as a priestly city, is later the home of Jeremiah the priest.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v45Joshua 23:14thematic

Joshua's personal farewell testimony reiterating that all God's promises were completely fulfilled.

Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB

Contrast: Levi has no territorial inheritance, but instead receives specific cities to dwell in.

Supported by Matthew Poole

Shows the historical impact when northern Levites left their suburbs to return to Judah.

Supported by JFB

v41Malachi 2:7thematic

The spiritual purpose for scattering priests: to preserve knowledge and provide instruction in the law.

Supported by Matthew Poole