Joshua 21

48 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan, by their families; those cities and their towns. 49 And when they had made an end of dividing the land, assigning each their boundaries, the children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua himself the son of Nun, in the midst of them: 50 According to the word of Jehovah, they gave him the city which he asked, Thimnath-serah in mount Ephraim; and he built a city and dwelt in it. 51 Those are the inheritances, possession of which was delivered by Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chiefs of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel, by lot, in Silo, before Jehovah, at the door of the tabernacle of convention; and they made an end of dividing the land. 1 And Jehovah spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 Address the children of Israel in these words, Give cities of refuge of which I spoke to you by the hand of Moses; 3 That the homicide, who has taken away a life through mistake, not knowingly, may flee thither: and they will be to you for a refuge from the kinsman of blood. 4 And he shall fly to one of those cities, and shall stand at the door of the gate of the city, and speak his words in the ears of the elders of the city itself, and they will receive him into the city, and give him a place, and he shall dwell with them.

35. Dr. Clayton's Chronology of the Hebrew Bible, p. 382, 383. {g} Antiqu. l. 12. c. 8. sect. 4. . A land wherein thou shall eat bread without scarceness,.... That is, should have plenty of all sorts of provisions, which bread is often put for: thou shall not lack anything in it; for necessity and convenience, and for delight and pleasure: a land whose stones are iron; in which were iron mines: and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass; both which are taken out of the earth and the stones of it, Job 28:2 and were to be found in the land of Canaan, and particularly in the tribe of Asher, as seems from Deuteronomy 33:25 and more particularly at Sidon and Sarepta, which were in that tribe; the latter of which seems to have its name from the melting of metals there, and the former is said in Homer {t} to abound with brass. {t} ek men sidwnov polucalkou. Homer. Odyss. 15. l. 424. . And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites,.... Who were not priests: which remained of the children of Kohath; these are the children of Moses, as Jarchi says, and those that descended from Kohath in the lines of Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, even they had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim; and were as follow. Joshua 21:21 Ver. 21. For they gave them Shechem, with her suburbs, in Mount Ephraim,.... Of which see Joshua 20:7; [to be] a city of refuge for the slayer; which being on a mountain, was the more conspicuous, and the fitter for this purpose, as was Hebron in the hill country of Judea, Joshua 21:11; this is the second; city of refuge mentioned: and Gezer with her suburbs: a place from whence the Canaanites were not expelled; See Gill on "Joshua 16:10". Joshua 21:22 Ver. 22. And Kibzaim with her suburbs,.... Which seems to, be the same with Jokneam, 1 Chronicles 6:68; of it we read nowhere else; and Bethhoron with her suburbs; upper Bethhoron, for there were two, an upper and a nether: see Joshua 16:3; four cities; as mentioned by name. Joshua 21:23 Ver. 23. And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with her suburbs,.... See Gill on "Joshua 19:44"; Gibbethon with her suburbs, See Gill on "Joshua 19:44".

While the people, knowing the important duties they were to perform, are described (Joshua 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 (Joshua 21:5); thirteen to the Gershonites (Joshua 21:6), and twelve to the Merarites (Joshua 21:7). Joshua 21:9-42. T HE C ITIES OF THE P RIESTS. 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 1 Chronicles 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" [Joshua 21:42]; whereas the other cities in Israel possessed a group of independent villages (see Joshua 17:1-19:51). Joshua 21:43-45. G OD G AVE T HEM R EST. 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 (Joshua 1:5), had been, or were in the course of being fulfilled; and the recorded experience of the Israelites (Joshua 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. ## CHAPTER 22 Joshua 22:1-9. J OSHUA D ISMISSES THE T WO T RIBES AND A H ALF , WITH A B LESSING. 1.

[Bible] This [is] the inheritance of the sons of Zebulun, for their families, these cities and their villages. For Issachar hath the fourth lot gone out, for the sons of Issachar, for their families; and their border is [at] Jezreel, and Chesulloth, and Shunem, and Haphraim, and Shihon, and Anaharath, and Rabbith, and Kishion, and Abez, and Remeth, and En-Gannim, and En-Haddah, and Beth-Pazzez; and the border hath touched against Tabor, and Shahazimah, and Beth-Shemesh, and the outgoings of their border have been [at] the Jordan; sixteen cities and their villages. This [is] the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Issachar, for their families, the cities and their villages. And the fifth lot goeth out for the tribe of the sons of Asher, for their families; and their border is Helkath, and Hali, and Beten, and Achshaph, and Alammelech, and Amad, and Misheal; and it toucheth against Carmel westward, and against Shihor-Libnath; and hath turned back, at the sun-rising, [to] Beth-Dagon, and come against Zebulun, and against the valley of Jiphthah-El toward the north of Beth-Emek, and Neiel, and hath gone out unto Cabul on the left, and Hebron, and Rehob, and Hammon, and Kanah, unto great Zidon; and the border hath turned back to Ramah, and unto the fenced city Tyre; and the border hath turned back to Hosah, and its outgoings are at the sea, from the coast to Achzib, and Ummah, and Aphek, and Rehob; twenty and two cities and their villages. This [is] the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Asher, for their families, these cities and their villages. For the sons of Naphtali hath the sixth lot gone out, for the sons of Naphtali, for their families; and their border is from Heleph, from Allon in Zaanannim, and Adami, Nekeb, and Jabneel, unto Lakkum, and its outgoings are [at] the Jordan;

[Reformed Biblical] For the stranger; not only proselytes, but others also; because this was a matter of common right, that a distinction might be made between casual man-slayers and wilful murderers. ## JOSHUA CHAPTER 21 Cities given out of the other tribes by lot to the Levites, #Joshua 21:1-8 . Particularly to the priests, the children of Aaron, #Joshua 21:9-19 ; to the Levites, the Kohathites, #Joshua 21:20-26 , the Gershonites, #Joshua 21:27-33 , and Merarites, #Joshua 21:34-40 ; in all forty-eight cities, with their suburbs, #Joshua 21:41,42 . The Israelites quietly enjoy the Promised Land, #Joshua 21:43-45 . ## Ver. 1. Then, i.e. when the whole land was distributed unto the several tribes, but not actually possessed by them; which was the proper season for them to put in their claim. ## The fathers of the Levites were Kohath, Gershom, and Merari, and the heads of these were the chief persons now alive of these several families. Ver. 2. No text from Poole on this verse. ## Ver. 3. It seems most probable that they gave to the Levites promiscuously such cities as God commanded, and that the lot appropriated them to their several houses or families. Out of their inheritance, i.e.