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.
27 And to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, they gave from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Ashtaroth with its grass-lands, two towns.
28 And from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion and Daberath with their grass-lands;
29 Jarmuth and En-gannim with their grass-lands, four towns.
30 And from the tribe of Asher, Mishal and Abdon, with their grass-lands:
31 Helkath and Rehob with their grass-lands, four towns.
32 And from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Hammoth-dor and Kartan with their grass-lands, three towns.
33 All the towns of the Gershonites with their families were thirteen with their grass-lands.
34 And to the rest of the Levites, that is, the families of the children of Merari, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and Kartah with their grass-lands;
35 Dimnah and Nahalal with their grass-lands, four towns.
36 And from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer and Jahaz with their grass-lands;
37 Kedemoth and Mephaath with their grass-lands, four towns.
38 And from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Mahanaim with their grass-lands;
39 Heshbon and Jazer with their grass-lands, four towns.
40 All these towns were given to the children of Merari by their families, that is, the rest of the families of the Levites; and their heritage was twelve towns.
41 All the towns of the Levites, among the heritage of the children of Israel, were forty-eight towns with their grass-lands.
42 Every one of these towns had grass-lands round it.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Joshua 21
Commentary on Joshua 21 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 21
It had been often said that the tribe of Levi should have "no inheritance with their brethren,' no particular part of the country assigned them, as the other tribes had, no, not the country about Shiloh, which one might have expected to be appropriated to them as the lands of the church; but, though they were not thus cast into a country by themselves, it appears, by the provision made for them in this chapter, that they were no losers, but the rest of the tribes were very much gainers, by their being dispersed. We have here,
Jos 21:1-8
Here is,
Jos 21:9-42
We have here a particular account of the cities which were given to the children of Levi out of the several tribes, not only to be occupied and inhabited by them, as tenants to the several tribes in which they lay-no, their interest in them was not dependent and precarious, but to be owned and possessed by them as lords and proprietors, and as having the same title to them that the rest of the tribes had to their cities or lands, as appears by the law which preserved the house in the Levites' cities from being alienated any longer than till the year of jubilee, Lev. 25:32, 33. Yet it is probable that the Levites having only the cities and suburbs, while the land about pertained to the tribes in which they lay, those of that tribe, for the convenience of occupying that land, might commonly rent houses of the Levites, as they could spare them in their cities, and so live among them as their tenants. Several things may be observed in this account, besides what was observed in the law concerning it, Num. 35.
Upon the whole, it appears that effectual care was taken that the Levites should live both comfortably and usefully: and those, whether ministers or others, for whom Providence has done well, must look upon themselves as obliged thereby to do good, and, according as their capacity and opportunity are, to serve their generation.
Jos 21:43-45
We have here the conclusion of this whole matter, the foregoing history summed up, and, to make it appear the more bright, compared with the promise of which it was the full accomplishment. God's word and his works mutually illustrate each other. The performance makes the promise appear very true and the promise makes the performance appear very kind.