1Forty eight cities out of the other tribes are given unto the Levites. 9The cities of the priests; 20of the rest of the Kohathites; 27of the Gershonites; 34and of the Merarites. 43God's promise fulfilled in giving the land and rest to Israel.
1THEN camea near the 1heads of the fathers of the Levites unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua the son of Nun, and unto the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel;
a 1 Chron. 6:54, etc.
1 That is, the rulers over the families of the Levites, of which there were three, namely, the Kohathites, Gershonites, and Merarites.
2And they spake unto them 2at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, The LORD commanded 3by the hand of Moses tob give us cities to dwell in, with the suburbs thereof for our cattle.
2 Where the ark of the covenant, and the tent of the congregation were set up.
3 Or, by the ministry of Moses. Hebr. by the hand of Moses. Also verse 8.
b Num. 35:2, etc.
3And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, at the commandment of the LORD, these cities and their suburbs.
4And the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites: and the children of Aaron the priest, which were of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, 4thirteen cities.
4 Of which see further in verse 11, etc.
5And the rest of the children of Kohath had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, and out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh, 5ten cities.
5 Whereof see further in verse 20.
6And the children of Gershon had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, 6thirteen cities.
6 Whereof see further in verse 27, etc.
7The children of Merari by their families had out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, 7twelve cities.
7 Of these twelve cities, see in verse 34, etc.
8And the children of Israel gave by lot unto the Levites these cities with their suburbs, as the LORD commanded 8by the hand of Moses.
8 Or, by the ministry of Moses. Hebr. by the hand of Moses, as in verse 2.
9¶And they gave out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, these cities which are here mentioned by name,
10Which the children of Aaron, being of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi, had: for theirs was the first lot.
11And they gave them the city of Arba the father of 9Anak, which city is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with the 10suburbs thereof round about it.
9 Or, Enak. Other, Onak, Joshua 15:13.
10 That is, fields and meadows which were situated round about the cities.
12But 11the fields of the city, and the villages thereof, 12gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession.
11 Namely, two thousand ells or cubits distant from the city. See Num. 35:5.
12 See Joshua 14:14.
13 ¶ 13Thus they gave to the children of Aaron the priest Hebron with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and 14Libnah with her suburbs,
13 In the register or roll of names of these cities here below mentioned, and in the register or roll thereof, 1 Chron. 6:57, we find sometimes some difference in some names of cities. This comes to pass from thence, that some names of the cities by length of time are changed; or that some cities have had more than one name.
14 See Joshua 10:29.
14And Jattir with her suburbs, and Eshtemoa with her suburbs,
15And Holon with her suburbs, and Debir with her suburbs,
16And Ain with her suburbs, and Juttah with her suburbs, and 15Beth-shemesh with her suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes.
15 See of this city 2 Kings 14 on verse 11.
17And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with her suburbs, Geba with her suburbs,
1816Anathoth with her suburbs, and 17Almon with her suburbs; four cities.
16 Where the prophet Jeremiah was born, Jer. 1:1.
17 This city is also called Alemeth, 1 Chron. 6:60, both signifying youth. It is also called Bahurim, 2 Sam. 3:16, which signifies the same.
19All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their suburbs.
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.
21For they gave them Shechem with her suburbs in mount Ephraim, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and 18Gezer with her suburbs,
18 See Judges 1:29.
22And Kibzaim with her suburbs, and Beth-horon with her suburbs; four cities.
23And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with her suburbs, Gibbethon with her suburbs,
24Aijalon with her suburbs, Gath-rimmon with her suburbs; four cities.
25And out of the half tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with her suburbs, and Gath-rimmon with her suburbs; two cities.
26All the cities were ten with their suburbs for the families of the children of Kohath that remained.
27¶And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the other half tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Beesh-terah with her suburbs; two cities.
28And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishon with her suburbs, Dabareh with her suburbs,
29Jarmuth with her suburbs, En-gannim with her suburbs; four cities.
30And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with her suburbs, Abdon with her suburbs,
31Helkath with her suburbs, and Rehob with her suburbs; four cities.
32And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Hammoth-dor with her suburbs, and Kartan with her suburbs; three cities.
33All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their suburbs.
34¶And unto the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with her suburbs, and Kartah with her suburbs,
35Dimnah with her suburbs, Nahalal with her suburbs; four cities.
36And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with her suburbs, and Jahazah with her suburbs,
37Kedemoth with her suburbs, and Mephaath with her suburbs; four cities.
38And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Mahanaim with her suburbs,
39Heshbon with her suburbs, Jazer with her suburbs; four cities in all.
40So all the cities for the children of Merari by their families, which were remaining of the families of the Levites, were by their lot twelve cities.
41All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel 19were forty and eight cities with their suburbs.
19 The tribe of Levi was the least among all the tribes of the Israelites, for in the same were numbered only 23,000 men, Num. 26:62. How comes it than to pass, that other tribes, which were as numerous again and more, had but 12, or 16, or 19, or 20 cities, and the tribe of Levi had 48? The answer is, that all the cities of the other tribes are not named; but all the cities of the Levites are named; secondly, the Levites might dwell nowhere but in cities, but the other tribes do, and therefore the Levites had need of more cities than the other tribes.
42These cities were 20every one with their suburbs round about them: thus were all these cities.
20 Hebr. city city.
43¶And the LORD gave unto 21Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.
21 That is, unto the children of Israel.
44And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and 22there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.
22 That is, no man was able to withstand or harm the children of Israel.
45There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.