20 And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites which remained of the children of Kohath, even they had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim.
21 For they gave them Shechem with her suburbs in mount Ephraim, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Gezer with her suburbs,
22 And Kibzaim with her suburbs, and Bethhoron with her suburbs; four cities.
23 And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with her suburbs, Gibbethon with her suburbs,
24 Aijalon with her suburbs, Gathrimmon with her suburbs; four cities.
25 And out of the half tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with her suburbs, and Gathrimmon with her suburbs; two cities.
26 All the cities were ten with their suburbs for the families of the children of Kohath that remained.
20 And the families H4940 of the children H1121 of Kohath, H6955 the Levites H3881 which remained H3498 of the children H1121 of Kohath, H6955 even they had the cities H5892 of their lot H1486 out of the tribe H4294 of Ephraim. H669
21 For they gave H5414 them Shechem H7927 with her suburbs H4054 in mount H2022 Ephraim, H669 to be a city H5892 of refuge H4733 for the slayer; H7523 and Gezer H1507 with her suburbs, H4054
22 And Kibzaim H6911 with her suburbs, H4054 and Bethhoron H1032 with her suburbs; H4054 four H702 cities. H5892
23 And out of the tribe H4294 of Dan, H1835 Eltekeh H514 with her suburbs, H4054 Gibbethon H1405 with her suburbs, H4054
24 Aijalon H357 with her suburbs, H4054 Gathrimmon H1667 with her suburbs; H4054 four H702 cities. H5892
25 And out of the half H4276 tribe H4294 of Manasseh, H4519 Tanach H8590 with her suburbs, H4054 and Gathrimmon H1667 with her suburbs; H4054 two H8147 cities. H5892
26 All the cities H5892 were ten H6235 with their suburbs H4054 for the families H4940 of the children H1121 of Kohath H6955 that remained. H3498
20 And 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.
21 And 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,
22 and Kibzaim with its suburbs, and Beth-horon with its suburbs; four cities.
23 And out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its suburbs, Gibbethon with its suburbs,
24 Aijalon with its suburbs, Gath-rimmon with its suburbs; four cities.
25 And out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its suburbs, and Gath-rimmon with its suburbs; two cities.
26 All the cities of the families of the rest of the children of Kohath were ten with their suburbs.
20 And for the families of the sons of Kohath, the Levites, who are left of the sons of Kohath, even the cities of their lot are of the tribe of Ephraim;
21 and they give to them the city of refuge `for' the man-slayer, Shechem and its suburbs, in the hill-country of Ephraim, and Gezer and its suburbs,
22 and Kibzaim and its suburbs, and Beth-Horon and its suburbs -- four cities.
23 And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh and its suburbs, Gibbethon and its suburbs,
24 Aijalon and its suburbs, Gath-Rimmon and its suburbs -- four cities.
25 And out of the half of the tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and its suburbs, and Gath-Rimmon and its suburbs -- two cities;
26 all the cities `are' ten and their suburbs, for the families of the sons of Kohath who are left.
20 And to the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites that remained of the children of Kohath, [they gave cities]. And the cities of their lot were out of the tribe of Ephraim,
21 and they gave them the city of refuge for the slayer, Shechem and its suburbs in mount Ephraim; and Gezer and its suburbs,
22 and Kibzaim and its suburbs, and Beth-horon and its suburbs: four cities;
23 and out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh and its suburbs, Gibbethon and its suburbs,
24 Ajalon and its suburbs, Gath-Rimmon and its suburbs: four cities;
25 and out of half the tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and its suburbs and Gath-Rimmon and its suburbs: two cities.
26 All the cities were ten and their suburbs, for the families of the children of Kohath that remained.
20 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.
21 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,
22 and Kibzaim with its suburbs, and Beth Horon with its suburbs; four cities.
23 Out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its suburbs, Gibbethon with its suburbs,
24 Aijalon with its suburbs, Gath-rimmon with its suburbs; four cities.
25 Out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its suburbs, and Gath-rimmon with its suburbs; two cities.
26 All the cities of the families of the rest of the children of Kohath were ten with their suburbs.
20 The rest of the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, were given towns from the tribe of Ephraim.
21 And they gave them Shechem with its grass-lands in the hill-country of Ephraim, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Gezer with its grass-lands;
22 And Kibzaim and Beth-horon with their grass-lands, four towns.
23 And from the tribe of Dan, Elteke and Gibbethon with their grass-lands;
24 Aijalon and Gath-rimmon with their grass-lands, four towns.
25 And from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and Gath-rimmon with their grass-lands, two towns.
26 All the towns of the rest of the families of the children of Kohath were ten with their grass-lands.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Joshua 21
Commentary on Joshua 21 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 21
Jos 21:1-8. Eight and Forty Cities Given by Lot Out of the Other Tribes unto the Levites.
1-3. Then came near the heads of the fathers of the Levites—The most venerable and distinguished members of the three Levitical families, on behalf of their tribe, applied for the special provision that had been promised them to be now awarded (see on Nu 35:2). Their inheritance lay within the territory of every tribe. It was assigned in the same place and manner, and by the same commissioners as the other allotments. While the people, knowing the important duties they were to perform, are described (Jos 21:3) as readily conceding this "peculiar" to them, it had most probably been specified and reserved for their use while the distribution of the land was in progress.
4-8. the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites—The Levites were divided into Kohathites, Gershonites, and Merarites. Among the former the family of Aaron were exclusively appointed to the priesthood, and all the rest were ranked in the common order of Levites. The first lot was drawn by the Kohathites; and the first of theirs again by the priests, to whom thirteen cities were granted, and ten to the rest of the Kohathites (Jos 21:5); thirteen to the Gershonites (Jos 21:6), and twelve to the Merarites (Jos 21:7).
Jos 21:9-42. The Cities of the Priests.
9-40. they gave … these cities which are here mentioned by name—It was overruled by the unerring providence of the Divine Lawgiver that the cities of the priests lay within the territories of Judah and Benjamin. This was a provision, the admirable wisdom and propriety of which were fully manifested on the schism that took place in the reign of Rehoboam.
41. All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty and eight cities with their suburbs—This may appear too great a proportion compared with those of the other tribes. But it must be borne in mind that the list given here contains the names of every Levitical city (see on 1Ch 6:39-66); whereas only those cities of the other tribes are mentioned which lay on the frontier or along the boundary line. Besides, the Levites were not the exclusive inhabitants of those forty-eight cities; for there must have been also a considerable number of people kept there to cultivate the glebe lands and tend the cattle. Still further, the Levitical cities had nothing but "their suburbs round about them" [Jos 21:42]; whereas the other cities in Israel possessed a group of independent villages (see Jos 17:1-19:51).
Jos 21:43-45. God Gave Them Rest.
43-45. the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers—This is a general winding up of the history from the thirteenth chapter, which narrates the occupation of the land by the Israelites. All the promises made, whether to the people or to Joshua (Jos 1:5), had been, or were in the course of being fulfilled; and the recorded experience of the Israelites (Jos 21:45), is a ground of hope and confidence to the people of God in every age, that all other promises made to the Church will, in due time, be accomplished.