The Cities of the Levites
21
📚Then the heads of the Levite fathers’ families approached Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the tribes of the fathers of the children of Israel, 2 📚and spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “The LORD gave orders through Moses to give us cities 📖 to live in, with their pasture lands for our cattle”.3 📚And in accordance with the command of the LORD, the children of Israel gave these cities and their pasture lands to the Levites, from their inheritance 📖:
4 📚And 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 and from the tribe of Simeon and from the tribe of Benjamin. 5 📚And the rest of the children of Kohath had ten cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Ephraim and 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 and from the tribe of Asher and from the tribe of Naphtali and from the half tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.
7 📚The children of Merari by their families had twelve cities from the tribe of Reuben and from the tribe of Gad and from the tribe of Zebulun.
8 📚And the children of Israel gave these cities with their pasture lands to the Levites by lot, just as the LORD commanded through Moses.
9 📚And from the tribe of the children of Judah and from the tribe of the children of Simeon they gave these cities which are here mentioned by name, 10 📚which the children of Aaron, being of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi, possessed; for theirs was the first lot.
Cities for the Levites
11 📚And they gave them the city of Arba the father of Anak, which is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with its surrounding pasture lands. 12 📚But the fields of the city and its villages, they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.
13 📚So they gave Hebron with its pasture lands to the children of Aaron the priest to be a city of refuge for anyone who killed another person; and Libnah with its pasture lands 14 📚and Jattir with its pasture lands and Eshtemoa with its pasture lands 15 📚and Holon with its pasture lands and Debir with its pasture lands 16 📚and Ain with its pasture lands and Juttah with its pasture lands and Beth-Shemesh with its pasture lands; nine cities from those two tribes; 17 📚and from the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands, 18 📚Anathoth with its pasture lands, and Almon with its pasture lands; four cities.
19 The cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities in all, with their pasture lands.
20 📚And as for the families of the children of Kohath, the rest of the Levites of the children of Kohath, by their lot they had the cities from the tribe of Ephraim.
21 📚For they gave them Shechem with its pasture lands in the hill country of Ephraim to be a city of refuge for anyone who killed another person; and Gezer with its pasture lands 22 📚and Kibzaim with its pasture lands and Beth-Horon with its pasture lands; four cities; 23 📚and from the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands, 24 📚Aijalon with its pasture lands, Gath-Rimmon with its pasture lands; four cities; 25 📚and from the half tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with its pasture lands and Gath Rimmon with its pasture lands; two cities.
26 All the cities with their pasture lands for the families of the children of Kohath who were left were ten.
27 📚And they gave to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, from the other half tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its pasture lands, to be a city of refuge for anyone who killed another person, and Beeshterah with its pasture lands; two cities; 28 📚and from the tribe of Issachar, Kishon with its pasture lands, Dabareh with its pasture lands, 29 📚Jarmuth with its pasture lands, Engannim with its pasture lands; four cities; 30 📚and from the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands, 31 📚Helkath with its pasture lands, and Rehob with its pasture lands; four cities; 32 📚and from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands to be a city of refuge for anyone who killed another person, and Hammoth-Dor with its pasture lands and Kartan with its pasture lands; three cities.
33 All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities, with their suburbs.
34 📚And they gave to the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasture lands and Kartah with its pasture lands, 35 Dimnah with its pasture lands, Nahalal with its pasture lands; four cities; 36 📚and from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its pasture lands, and Jahazah with its pasture lands, 37 Kedemoth with its pasture lands, and Mephaath with its pasture lands; four cities; 38 📚and from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its pasture lands to be a city of refuge for anyone who killed another person, and Mahanaim with its pasture lands, 39 📚Heshbon with its pasture lands, Jazer with its pasture lands; four cities in all.
40 So all the cities by their lot for the children of Merari by their families, which were left of the families of the Levites, were twelve cities.
21:9-40 All the tribes, not just one or two, had the responsibility of providing for the servants of God.⚜
41 📚All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their suburbs.
21:41 The cities for the Levites were scattered throughout the nation. No tribe was left out. The Levites had to be in touch with the people as a whole and always in a position to serve them. This would have been a unifying factor in the social and religious life of Israel.⚜
42 Each of these cities was with its surrounding pasture lands; it was the same for all these cities.
43 📚And the LORD gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers; and they took possession of it, and lived in it. 44 📚And the LORD gave them rest 📖 on all sides, in accordance with all that he swore to their fathers; and not a man of all their enemies stood before them. The LORD delivered all their enemies into their hands. 45 📚No good thing that the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.
21:45 Josh 23:14. 1 Kings 8:56; Neh 9:8. God always fulfills His word – Num 11:23; 23:19; Ps 119:140; 145:13; Isa 45:19; Matt 5:18; Titus 1:2; Heb 6:18. Verses 43-45 do not deny the measure in which Israel failed to enter fully into their inheritance. God is faithful, but sometimes the unfaithfulness and disobedience of God’s people rob them of the full reception or enjoyment of what God has given.⚜