Joshua 21:39

_AND OUT OF THE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN, GIBEON WITH HER SUBURBS, GEBA WITH HER SUBURBS,_ No JFB commentary on these verses....

9-42 By mixing the Levites with the other tribes, they were made to see that the eyes of all Israel were upon them, and therefore it was their concern to walk so that their ministry might not be blamed. Every tribe had its share of Levites' cities. Thus did God graciously provide for keeping up religion among them, and that they might have the word in all parts of the land. Yet, blessed be God, we have the gospel more diffused amongst us....

Merarite cities. Some of these places are not found in the list of Zebulonite cities in Joshua 19:10. The text is considered corrupt....

EXPOSITION THE INHERITANCE OF THE LEVITES. JOSHUA 21:1 THEN CAME NEAR THE HEADS OF THE FATHERS OF THE LEVITES. We are not to suppose, with Calvin, that the Levites had been overlooked. Such a supposition is little in keeping with the devout spirit of him who now directed the affairs of the Israelites, who had been minister to Moses the Levite, and had but lately been concerned with Eleazar, the high priest, in making a public recognition of that God to whose service the Levites had been specially set apart. The delay in appointing to the Levites their cities arose from the nature of the arrangement which had to be made for the Levitical cities. The prophecy which threatened ...

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, Numbers 21:26; JAZER WITH HER SUBURBS; sometimes called Jaazer, another city in the same country, and near Heshbon; see Numbers 21:32; FOUR CITIES IN ALL: which were Ramothgilead, Mahanaim, Heshbon, and Jazer....

8. THE PORTION OF THE LEVITES CHAPTER 21 _ 1. The Levites, the children of Aaron, and their portions (Joshua 21:1)_ 2. Kohath (Joshua 21:9) 3. Gershon (Joshua 21:27) 4. Merari (Joshua 21:34) 5. The Lord's faithfulness (Joshua 21:41) In Chapter s 13:14, 33 and 14:3, 4 the statement is made that Moses gave no inheritance to the Levites. The Lord was their inheritance. After the tribes had received their allotments the heads of the fathers of the Levites came to Joshua and Eleazar with a petition. They b

THE LEVITICAL CITIES. The cities promised by Moses to the Levites are here assigned to them. The sons of Aaron have 13 in Judah, the Levites 10 in Ephraim and Manasseh, 13 in Galilee, and 12 in the E. Jordan territory. Both promises and performance are unhistorical. The simple fact that the descendants of Aaron could at this time have numbered only a few families shows the assignment of 13 cities to them to be purely imaginary. For the true history of the priesthood, reference must be made to the Introduction to the Pentateuch. JOSHUA 21:11 is an interesting piece of harmonising. The conquest and possession of the city of Hebron by Caleb was so prominent in the old tradition that the assignment of it to the Priests had to be explained. The fields and villages are therefore said to have been assigned to Caleb, while the city and the suburbs go to the Priests....

The Cities of the Merarites 34. _And unto the families of the children of Merari_ were assigned twelve cities, viz., (_a_) Four in _Zebulun_, (_b_) Four in _Reuben_, (_c_) Four in _Gad_. _Jokneam_ See Joshua 19:11; _Kartah_and _Dimnah_unknown....

_Cities Given to the Family of Merari Joshua 21:34-40_ 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, 35 Dimnah with her suburbs, Nahalal with her suburbs; four cities, 36 And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with her suburbs, and Jahazah with her suburbs, 37 Kedemoth with her suburbs, and Mephaath with her suburbs; four cities. 38 And 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, 39 Heshbon with her suburbs, Jezer with her suburbs; four cities in all. 40 So 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. _11._ What important cities were given to the fa

THE ASSIGNMENT OF FORTY-EIGHT CITIES TO THE LEVITES 2. The injunction to Moses was given in the plains of Moab, and is recorded in Numbers 35:2. 3-8. Number and localities of the cities distributed to each of the families of Levi. 9-42. Detailed specification of the cities:—Cities of the Aaronites (Priests) in Judah and Benjamin (9-19); of the Kohathites in Ephraim, Dan, and W. Manasseh (20-26); of the Gershonites in E. Manasseh, Issachar, Asher, and Naphtali (27-33); of the Merarites in Zebulun, Reuben and Gad (34-42). 43-45. Conclusion of the 'Domesday Book'; fulfilment of God's promises of possession and rest. This section is somewhat difficult to reconcile with the situation revealed at the beginning of the book of Judges; but it must be remembered that this passage is from the later Priestly source, while the previous section is from an earli