CHAPTER XXI _The Levites apply to Eleazar, Joshua, and the elders, for the_ _cities to dwell in which Moses had promised_, 1, 2. _Their request is granted_, 3. _The priests receive thirteen cities out of the tribes of Judah,_ _Simeon, and Benjamin_, 4. _The Levites receive ten cities out of th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 21:3. _AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL GAVE UNTO THE LEVITES_] They cheerfully obeyed the Divine command, and cities for habitations were appointed to them out of the different tribes by _lot_, that it might as fully appear that God designed them their _habitations_, as he designed the other... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 21:4. _OUT OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH - SIMEON, AND - BENJAMIN,_ _THIRTEEN CITIES._] These tribes furnished more habitations to the Levites in proportion than any of the other tribes, because they possessed a more extensive inheritance; and Moses had commanded, Numbers 35:8, _From_ them that... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 21:5. _AND THE REST OF THE CHILDREN OF KOHATH_] That is, the remaining part of that family that were not _priests_, for those who were priests had their lot in the preceding tribes. Those, therefore, of the family of Kohath, who were simply _Levites_, and not of the priests or Aaron's f... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 21:11. _THE CITY OF ARBA_] Joshua 14:15.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 21:12. _THE FIELDS OF THE CITY - GAVE THEY TO CALEB_] This was an exclusive privilege to _him_ and his _family_, with which the grant to the Levites did not interfere. Joshua 14:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 21:18. _ANATHOTH._] Celebrated as the birthplace of Jeremiah, about three miles northward of Jerusalem, according to St. Jerome.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 21:19. _THIRTEEN CITIES WITH THEIR SUBURBS._] At the time mentioned here certainly thirteen cities were too large a proportion for the _priests_, as they and their families amounted to a very small number: but this ample provision was made in reference to their great increase in after t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 21:22. _BETH-HORON_] There were two cities of this name, the _upper_ and the _nether_; but which is intended here, cannot be ascertained.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 21:24. _AIJALON_] Joshua 10:12.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 21:27. _GOLAN IN BASHAN_] On this and the other cities of refuge mentioned here, Joshua 20:7.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 21:35. _DIMNAH WITH HER SUBURBS, C._] It is well known to every Hebrew scholar that the two following verses are wholly omitted by the Masora and are left out in some of the most correct and authentic Hebrew Bibles. Between critics there is no small controversy relative to the authenti... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 21:36. _JAHAZAH_] Joshua 13:18.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 21:41. _FORTY AND EIGHT CITIES_] At the last census of the Hebrew people, related Numbers 26, we find from Numbers 26:62 that the tribe of Levi amounted only to 23,000; and it is supposed that _forty-eight cities_ were too great a proportion for this tribe, the other tribes having so ve... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Joshua 21:43. _AND THE LORD GAVE - ALL THE LAND WHICH HE SWARE_] All was now divided by lot unto them, and their enemies were so completely discomfited that there was not a single army of the Canaanites remaining to make head against them; and those which were left in the land served under tr... [ Continue Reading ]