This chapter contains the address of the Levites to the court, to have the cities and suburbs given them according to the command of God by Moses, Josh. 21:1, Josh. 21:2; the grant of them by lot out of the several tribes, Josh.

Then came near the heads of the fathers of the Levites When the land was divided to the several tribes, and everyone knew the cities that belonged to them, and what they could and should part with to the Levites, and when the six cities of refuge were fixed; the Levites came to put in their claim…

And they spake unto them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan Where the tabernacle was fixed, at or near which the above persons met to cast lots for the division of the land to the seven tribes that had not received their inheritance: saying, the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to…

And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance Knowing full well there was such a command, made no objection to their motion, but freely gave them cities out of the portion of inheritance allotted to them; this they did at the commandment of the Lord, and in obedience to…

And the lot came out for the family of the Kohathites The first lot that was drawn out of the pot or urn was for the descendants of Kohath, a son of Levi: and the children of Aaron the priest, which were of the Levites; who descended from Amram, the eldest son of Kohath, and these were not only…

And the rest of the children of Kohath Which did not descend from him in the line of Amram and Aaron, but of Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, who were not priests, but Levites: 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, ten…

And the children of Gershon had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar These were Levites who descended from Gershon, the eldest son of Levi, and had their cities by lot assigned them in tribes at a greater distance, not only out of Issachar, but out of the tribe of Asher, and out of…

The children of Merari by their families The descendants of Merari, the third son of Levi: had out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad; which were both on the other side Jordan: and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities; in all forty eight, as the Lord commanded, .

And the children of Israel gave by lot unto the Levites these cities with their suburbs Reaching two thousand cubits from the cities all around: these cities did not lie all together, and so could not be described by their coasts; but in the several tribes, and intermixed with their cities; which…

And they gave out of the tribe of the children of Judah Here follows a particular account of the several cities which were given out of each tribe, and first out of this: and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon; which is joined with that of Judah, because the cities of it lay within it, ;…

Which the children of Aaron, being of the families of the Kohathites Who descending from Kohath, in the line of Aaron, were priests: who were of the children of Levi, had; they were Levites, as descending from Levi, but were priests also, as being of the stock of Aaron, and the cities hereafter…

And they gave them the city of Arba, the father of Anak Which from him was called Kirjatharba, ; and Anak, according to Kimchi, is not the name of a man, but a general name, comprehending the Anakims, a race of giants, among whom Arba was the chief and principal man, a prince and ruler over them,…

But the fields of the city, and the villages thereof Which lay beyond the two thousand cubits: gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh, for his possession; as Moses had promised, and Joshua had confirmed to him; and now the children of Israel gave them to him, and put him in the possession of,…

Thus they gave to the children of Aaron the priest The families of the Kohathites, that part of them which descended from him, and were priests: Hebron with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; that had slain a person unawares, and without design; see on (Josh. 20:3, Josh.

And Jattir with her suburbs (See Gill on Josh. 15:48); and Eshtemoa with her suburbs; (See Gill on Josh. 15:50).

And Holon with her suburbs (See Gill on Josh. 15:51); and Debir with her suburbs; (See Gill on Josh. 15:49).

And Ain with her suburbs (See Gill on Josh. 15:32); and Juttah with her suburbs; (See Gill on Josh. 15:55); and Bethshemesh with her suburbs; which is not mentioned among the cities of Judah, ; only as in the borders of it, ; and perhaps is the same Bethshemesh to which the ark was directed by the…

And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with her suburbs, &c.] (See Gill on Josh. 18:25); from which came the Gibeonites. Geba with her suburbs.] Of which (See Gill on Josh. 18:24).

Anathoth with her suburbs This is not mentioned among the cities of Benjamin, ; it was the native place of the Prophet Jeremiah, (See Gill on Jer. 1:1); it lay about two or three miles north of Jerusalem; three, says, Jerom [[9]].

All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests Those of the Kohathites that came from him: were thirteen cities with their suburbs; and just so many are mentioned by name in .

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…

For they gave them Shechem, with her suburbs, in Mount Ephraim Of which see ; 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, (Josh. 21:11, Josh.

And Kibzaim with her suburbs Which seems to, be the same with Jokneam, ; of it we read nowhere else; and Bethhoron with her suburbs; upper Bethhoron, for there were two, an upper and a nether: see (Josh. 16:3, Josh. 16:5) ; four cities; as mentioned by name.

And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with her suburbs (See Gill on Josh. 19:44); Gibbethon with her suburbs, (See Gill on Josh. 19:44).

Aijalon with her suburbs (See Gill on Josh. 19:42); Gathrimmon with her suburbs, four cities; (See Gill on Josh. 19:45).

And out of the half tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with her suburbs Of which see ; and Gathrimmon with her suburbs, there was a city of this name in Dan, as in ; nor was it unusual for cities to be called by the same name in different tribes: two cities; these are called Aner and Bilean in ; in process…

All the cities were ten, with their suburbs Four out of Ephraim, four out of Dan, and two out of the half tribe of Manasseh: which were for the families of the children of Kohath that remained: who were of the other branch of the Kohathites, and who did not descend from Aaron, and were only…

And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites The descendants of the second son of Levi: out of the other half tribe of Manasseh; that which was settled beyond Jordan: they gave Golan in Bashan, with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; see ; this is the third city…

And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishon with her suburbs, &c.] From whence the river Kishon probably had its name, or the city from that; it is the same with Kishion, ; and called Kedesh, . Dabareh with her suburbs; the same with Daberath on the border of Zebulun, (See Gill on Josh. 19:12).

Jarmuth with her suburbs Called Ramoth, ; very probably the same with Remeth, ; Engannim with her suburbs; called Anem, ; four cities; so many are mentioned by name.

And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with her suburbs The same with Misheal, ; called Mashal, ; Abdon with her suburbs; not mentioned among the cities of Asher, unless the same with Hebron, .

Helkath with her suburbs (See Gill on Josh. 19:25); the same with Hukok in ; and Rehob with her suburbs, four cities; (See Gill on Josh. 19:28).

And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with her suburbs Of which see ; to be a city of refuge for the slayer; this is the fourth city of refuge mentioned: and Hammothdor with her suburbs; the same with Hammon, ; and with Hammath, ; and is thought by some to be Tiberias, so called from…

All the cities of the Gershonites, according to their families Which were divided among them, according to the number of their families: were thirteen cities with their suburbs; two out of the half tribe of Manasseh beyond Jordan, four out of Issachar, four out of Asher, and three out of Naphtali.

And unto the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites The descendants of the youngest son of Levi, who were all that remained of the Levites unprovided of cities: out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with her suburbs; which lay near Carmel, and was a royal city; (See Gill on…

Dimnah with her suburbs Nowhere mentioned, unless the same with Rimmon, ; Nahalal with her suburbs; see ; four cities; only two are mentioned, ; and they by different names; the one is Rimmon, before observed, and the other Tabor; perhaps the same with Chislothtabor, .

And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with her suburbs Which was a city of refuge, and the fifth of them in this account, though not observed as such here, but is in the Greek version; see ; and Jahazah with her suburbs; called Jahaz, (See Gill on Num. 21:23).

Kedemoth with her suburbs Near to which was a wilderness of that name; see ; and Mephaath with her suburbs; of which (See Gill on Josh. 13:18); where the two preceding cities are mentioned along with it: four cities, (Josh. 21:35, Josh.

And out of the tribe of Gad Which also, as that of Reuben, lay on the other side Jordan: Ramoth in Gilead with her suburbs; of which see ; to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and is the sixth and last city of refuge in this account: and Mahanaim with her suburbs; here it was the angels met…

Heshbon with her suburbs Which was formerly the royal city of Sihon king of the Amorites, and was first given to and rebuilt by the Reubenites, but was upon the border of the tribe of Gad; and appears from hence to have been one of their cities, (Josh. 13:17, Josh. 13:21, Josh.

So all the cities for the children of Merari by their families Which were distributed by lot to them, according to the number of their families, and were sufficient for them: which were remaining of the families of the Levites; the last division of them, besides those of the Kohathites, Levites,…

All the cities of the Levites, within the possession of the children of Israel As comprised in one sum total: were forty and eight cities with their suburbs; which is just the number that Moses from the mouth of God ordered to be given unto them, before they entered into the land, and before they…

These cities were everyone with their suburbs round about them Which reached to the space of two thousand cubits on every side; and such a space was assigned to everyone of the above cities for their cattle, to keep them in and lay up provision for them: thus were all their cities; six of them…

And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers It was all given them by lot, whether subdued or not subdued, and the far greater part was actually put into their hands, and they had as much as they could for the present occupy and cultivate; and such as were in…

And the Lord gave them rest round about Not only from their travels, with which they had been fatigued forty years in the wilderness, but from wars with the Canaanites they had been engaged in for some years past: according to all that he sware unto their fathers; not only to give them the land,…

There failed not ought of any good thing Not only every good thing in general, but every part and particular of that good thing; that, with all that was included in it, or were appendages to it, or circumstances of it: which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel; as of their deliverance out of…