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Joshua 21

Joshua21

New King James Version

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

2 And they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “The Lord commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their common-lands for our livestock.”

3 So the children of Israel gave to the Levites from their inheritance, at the commandment of the Lord, these cities and their common-lands:

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

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

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

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

8 And the children of Israel gave these cities with their common-lands by lot to the Levites, as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses.

9 So they gave from the tribe of the children of Judah and from the tribe of the children of Simeon these cities which are designated by name,

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

11 And they gave them Kirjath Arba (Arba was the father of Anak), which is Hebron, in the mountains of Judah, with the common-land surrounding it.

12 But the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.

13 Thus to the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), Libnah with its common-land,

14 Jattir with its common-land, Eshtemoa with its common-land,

15 Holon with its common-land, Debir with its common-land,

16 Ain with its common-land, Juttah with its common-land, and Beth Shemesh with its common-land: nine cities from those two tribes;

17 and from the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its common-land, Geba with its common-land,

18 Anathoth with its common-land, and Almon with its common-land: four cities.

19 All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their common-lands.

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

21 For they gave them Shechem with its common-land in the mountains of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the slayer), Gezer with its common-land,

22 Kibzaim with its common-land, and Beth Horon with its common-land: four cities;

23 and from the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with its common-land, Gibbethon with its common-land,

24 Aijalon with its common-land, and Gath Rimmon with its common-land: four cities;

25 and from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with its common-land and Gath Rimmon with its common-land: two cities.

26 All the ten cities with their common-lands were for the rest of the families of the children of Kohath.

27 Also to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, from the other half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave Golan in Bashan with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), and Be Eshterah with its common-land: two cities;

28 and from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its common-land, Daberath with its common-land,

29 Jarmuth with its common-land, and En Gannim with its common-land: four cities;

30 and from the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its common-land, Abdon with its common-land,

31 Helkath with its common-land, and Rehob with its common-land: four cities;

32 and from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), Hammoth Dor with its common-land, and Kartan with its common-land: three cities.

33 All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their common-lands.

34 And to the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its common-land, Kartah with its common-land,

35 Dimnah with its common-land, and Nahalal with its common-land: four cities;

36 and from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its common-land, Jahaz with its common-land,

37 Kedemoth with its common-land, and Mephaath with its common-land: four cities;

38 and from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), Mahanaim with its common-land,

39 Heshbon with its common-land, and Jazer with its common-land: four cities in all.

40 So all the cities for the children of Merari according to their families, the rest of the families of the Levites, were by their lot twelve cities.

41 All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their common-lands.

42 Every one of these cities had its common-land surrounding it; thus were all these cities.

43 So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it.

44 The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand.

45 Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

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Joshua 21

Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Joshua 21. The full AI study guide (summary, themes, context) has its own page.

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