Joshua 21--Cities and Pasturelands Allotted to Levi

Joshua 21
English Standard Version

Cities and Pasturelands Allotted to Levi
21 Then the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel. 2 And they said to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, “The LORD commanded through Moses that we be given cities to dwell in, along with their pasturelands for our livestock.” 3 So by command of the LORD the people of Israel gave to the Levites the following cities and pasturelands out of their inheritance.

4 The lot came out for the clans of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, thirteen cities.

5 And the rest of the Kohathites received by lot from the clans of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.

6 The Gershonites received by lot from the clans of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.

7 The Merarites according to their clans received from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.

8 These cities and their pasturelands the people of Israel gave by lot to the Levites, as the LORD had commanded through Moses.

9 Out of the tribe of the people of Judah and the tribe of the people of Simeon they gave the following cities mentioned by name, 10 which went to the descendants of Aaron, one of the clans of the Kohathites who belonged to the people of Levi; since the lot fell to them first. 11 They gave them Kiriath-arba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasturelands around it. 12 But the fields of the city and its villages had been given to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.

13 And to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands, Libnah with its pasturelands, 14 Jattir with its pasturelands, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands, 15 Holon with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands, 16 Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands—nine cities out of these two tribes; 17 then out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its pasturelands, 18 Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its pasturelands—four cities. 19 The cities of the descendants of Aaron, the priests, were in all thirteen cities with their pasturelands.

20 As to the rest of the Kohathites belonging to the Kohathite clans of the Levites, the cities allotted to them were out of the tribe of Ephraim. 21 To them were given Shechem, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands, 22 Kibzaim with its pasturelands, Beth-horon with its pasturelands—four cities; 23 and out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasturelands, Gibbethon with its pasturelands, 24 Aijalon with its pasturelands, Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—four cities; 25 and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—two cities. 26 The cities of the clans of the rest of the Kohathites were ten in all with their pasturelands.

27 And to the Gershonites, one of the clans of the Levites, were given out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Beeshterah with its pasturelands—two cities; 28 and out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands, 29 Jarmuth with its pasturelands, En-gannim with its pasturelands—four cities; 30 and out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands, 31 Helkath with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands—four cities; 32 and out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Hammoth-dor with its pasturelands, and Kartan with its pasturelands—three cities. 33 The cities of the several clans of the Gershonites were in all thirteen cities with their pasturelands.

34 And to the rest of the Levites, the Merarite clans, were given out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasturelands, Kartah with its pasturelands, 35 Dimnah with its pasturelands, Nahalal with its pasturelands—four cities; 36 and out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its pasturelands, Jahaz with its pasturelands, 37 Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands—four cities; 38 and out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Mahanaim with its pasturelands, 39 Heshbon with its pasturelands, Jazer with its pasturelands—four cities in all. 40 As for the cities of the several Merarite clans, that is, the remainder of the clans of the Levites, those allotted to them were in all twelve cities.

41 The cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the people of Israel were in all forty-eight cities with their pasturelands. 42 These cities each had its pasturelands around it. So it was with all these cities.

​43 Thus the LORD gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. 44 And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands. 45 Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

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I linked to the passage the Eleazer, the High Priest, and the Levites reference here in yesterday's journal article.  The LORD promised them not only the six cities of refuge, but also 42 other cities for a total of 48 cities, along with the surrounding pasture land for them to dwell in.  The cities were to come from all twelve tribes, but those with more land and more cities were to give more to the Levites than those that had less.  The names of all the cities are given here in this passage, but I will give a summary of the number of cities that each tribe gave according to the commandment of the LORD.

Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin:  13 cities for the Kohathites (these were the sons of Aaron).

Ephraim, Dan, and West Manasseh:  10 cities for the rest of the Kohathites (also sons of Aaron)

Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and East Manasseh:  13 cities for the Gershonites

Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun:  12 cities for the Merarites

These make the 48 cities promised to the Levites by the LORD.  Six of these cities were designated as Cities of Refuge in chapter 20 (what we talked about yesterday).  The Levites received all these cities and all their surrounding pasture land so that they and their families would have a place to live, but these cities also became places that the poor knew they could go to for food as there were offerings that were to be given to the Levites and stored in these cities so that when the Sabbath year came every seven years, and it was time to let the Land rest, there would be storehouses of food for the people, and during the years between the Sabbath years, there would always be enough to take care of the poor so that the people of God would never need to go hungry or have any need to beg.  The people gave generously not only to take care of the Levites and their families who were in full-time service to the LORD, but they also gave so that all their fellow Israelites would have everything they needed and that the Name of the LORD would never be blasphemed by the nations for letting His people, who are called by His name, go without the food they needed (only during times of judgment did He do this when they were being disobedient and He needed to get their attention somehow, so He had to remove the blessings He had given to them so they did not think that His blessing validated the evil they were doing).

For some context on each of these families and clans, here's a geneology of the families of the Levites from Exodus 6:16-25:

Exodus 6:16-25
English Standard Version
16 These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the years of the life of Levi being 137 years. 17 The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their clans. 18 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, the years of the life of Kohath being 133 years. 19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their generations. 20 Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father's sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being 137 years. 21 The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23 Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24 The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the clans of the Korahites. 25 Eleazar, Aaron's son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites by their clans.
Each of these families had a specific role with specific gifts of service and specific duties to perform for the people and in the LORD's service.  For more information on their duties they performed (some of this might help explain why they got certain cities for it was very important for some to live near the Tabernacle/Temple), please see Numbers 3 and 4 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers+3-4&version=ESV).

So then, everything that the LORD promised about the inheritance of the Land had been fulfilled and everyone received their allotments, including the Levites who were given their 48 cities from among the Land allotted to the Twelve Tribes.  Everyone had everything that they were promised so that the vow that the Eastern Tribes made to Moses and to Joshua had now been fulfilled, and we will see them cross back over the Jordan River next time and return home to their portion they had chosen for themselves in the Trans-Jordan.  God has been faithful to keep His Word even though the people have not yet done everything He commanded of them, but He wants Joshua to see the fulfillment of this covenant before Joshua dies, and Joshua is about to give his last sermon to the people very soon.​