And the lot came forth for the families of the Kohathites. And the children of Aaron the priest, of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of the Simeonites, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities.
The division of Canaan is almost over, and now the one tribe with no land of its own comes for its portion. The first lot falls to Kohath's family, and within it to Aaron's descendants — which raises two questions: why does a tribe promised no land receive cities, and why these three tribes?
Levi's lack of land was no oversight. God willed it, and it set His workers on different ground from everyone else.
Notice how often, even in this chapter, we are reminded that the tribe of Levi had no such portion, and that this was God's will. The Levites were given no inheritance in the land. The offerings made by fire to Jehovah, the God of Israel — yes, Jehovah Himself — were their inheritance, as He told them. The Lord's workmen stood on different ground from the rest of His people. They were called to special confidence in His provision for them and in His word about them. If they failed in this, could they wonder that their words had little power?
The Levites asked for these cities on the strength of God's word to Moses. But where each family lived was not settled by them or by the tribes.
They based their request on the Word of God spoken to Moses... The people obeyed and gave them cities out of their own inheritances. But the cities were also given out by lot, so it was the Lord who gave them their homes. How it must have pleased Him to see His Word remembered, obeyed and acted upon! The Kohathites and the children of Aaron had thirteen cities in the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Simeon.
The three tribes named in this verse are not a random choice. Their land lies around the place that became Israel's royal city.
The lots for the families of Levi fell in such a way that the children of Aaron, the priest, received their cities out of Judah's portion, where Simeon also held land, and out of Benjamin's. So the hand of Jehovah arranged that the priestly families should settle in the districts around the royal city, Jerusalem. A design marks every detail of Israel's inheritance. Divine order and beauty mark the whole of the nation's portion.
Aaron came from Kohath's family, which is why the priests stand first in this verse. Their place at the front fits both their work and the meaning of the family name.
These thirteen cities kept the priests near to God's sanctuary, to do service there. The priests were a picture of the worshipers, so in the service of God they came first... Kohath means "obedient," and stands for the objective ministry of the Word of God that is itself fully subject to that Word.
A word of judgment once said this tribe would be divided and scattered. It is carried out here, and God turns it into something else.
The Levites as a tribe have no territory. Their portion comes to them in the forty-two cities scattered throughout Israel. This shows at once the unbending judgment of God — "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel" — and His grace, which rejoices over judgment and turns it into a means of blessing. For the Levites, scattered through the land and linked with God's centre at the tabernacle, would answer to the meaning of their name. As those "joined" to all the tribes, they would unite them into one whole.
Their presence in every corner of the land also had a purpose for the tribes around them.
God's purpose in scattering them over the land was, no doubt, that they might have a good influence in the things of God: to urge the tribes to worship Jehovah, to remind them of His goodness, and to hold them back from idolatry.
Settling the Levites is the last act in the division of Canaan. It puts the word of God at the centre of the nation's life.
Now that the whole land is divided among them, the crowning act is the spreading of the Levites through the nation. To them God entrusted the upholding of His word in Israel... Israel's prosperity from first to last depended on their obedience to that word. The responsible position of the Levites stands out, and so does that of God's ministers, whom He has appointed to teach His people.
- No portion — God left Levi without a tribal territory by His own will. His workers were to live on His provision and His word, not on land.
- His lot — the Levites claimed the cities from God's word, but the lot placed them. The Lord Himself chose where each family lived.
- Near — Aaron's sons drew thirteen cities in Judah, Simeon and Benjamin. That set the priests around the royal city, close to the sanctuary they served.
- Obedient — Kohath's name means "obedient." His family came first, fitting a ministry that is subject to the Word it carries.
- Scattered — an old word of judgment became God's way of joining every tribe to His centre. It kept His word alive across the whole land.
And the children of Kohath that remained 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 cities.
Levi was the one tribe with no land of its own in Canaan. Its families lived instead in cities scattered among the other tribes. Verse 5 lists ten of those cities, and it raises a question: why did God spread this tribe thin instead of settling it in one place?
The Levites owned no land as a tribe. They had to ask for their cities, and the way those cities came to them kept the choice in God's hands:
Moses gave no inheritance to the Levites. The Lord was their inheritance. After the tribes received their land, the leaders of the Levite families came to Joshua and Eleazar with a request. They based it on the word of God spoken to Moses: "Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities" (Numbers 35:2). The people were obedient and gave them cities out of their various inheritances. But the cities also came by lot, so the Lord Himself gave them their homes. How it must have pleased Him to see His word remembered, obeyed and acted on!
An old prophecy had sentenced Levi to be broken up and spread among the tribes. These city lists are where that word comes true — and it comes as blessing:
First, in these Levite cities scattered through the land, the prophetic word about Levi comes true: "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." Yet it comes true so differently from what we would have expected! Grace shows itself as completely sovereign over all the sin. What seemed to be only a penalty has become blessing. This is exactly God's way in grace: the one who was under the penalty becomes a blessing to others… God's government stands, and for Levi's own sake he must be scattered. Seed must not lie in a heap, or it does not do its work.
Verse 5 speaks of the rest of the Kohathites, because the priests came from that same family. In the wilderness the Kohathites carried the most precious cargo in Israel:
Gershon and Merari might need wagons and oxen to carry the boards, but not Kohath. His charge was too precious to trust to anyone or anything but himself. So it was his high and honoured place to carry it all on his shoulders. What a privilege to carry the ark, the table, or the golden lampstand!
That service shapes how one writer reads their ten cities:
Aaron was from that family, and his family, the priests, received thirteen cities by lot… The rest of the Kohathites received ten cities by lot in Ephraim, Dan and Manasseh. Kohath means "obedient," and stands for the ministry of the Word of God that is itself fully subject to that Word. Their service had to do with the things that speak directly of Christ: they cared for the furnishings of the tabernacle (Numbers 4:4-15)… We may be sure that every city given to them carried some spiritual meaning that matched their work.
The spread of these cities had a purpose for the people around them:
They were scattered through the whole land of Israel. God's purpose in scattering them was, no doubt, that they might have a good influence in the things of God: to urge the tribes to worship the Lord, to remind them of His goodness, and to hold them back from idolatry.
Their calling as teachers went with it:
The Levites carried a solemn responsibility and a high privilege: teaching Israel the law of the Lord. "They shall teach Jacob your rules and Israel your law" (Deuteronomy 33:10). The prophet speaks of a day of blessing still to come for Israel, and says of Levi, "They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments" (Ezekiel 44:23-24).
This settling of the Levites comes last in the division of the land, and the order matters:
Now the whole land is shared out among them, and the crowning act is the spreading of the Levites through the nation. God entrusted them with upholding His word in Israel… Israel's prosperity from first to last depended on their obedience to that word. The Levites held a place of great responsibility. So do the servants of God, whom He has appointed to teach His people.
- Scattered by sentence. The prophetic word over Levi was a judgment: divided and scattered among the tribes. These city lists are where it comes true.
- Scattered by grace. What began as penalty became privilege. God makes the one under the sentence a blessing to everyone else.
- Scattered by lot. The tribes gave the cities, but the lot meant God Himself chose where each family would live.
- Scattered on purpose. Seed spread out does its work. Levi in every tribe meant the law taught everywhere and idolatry held back.
- Scattered still. God finished settling the land by placing teachers across it. Israel's prosperity hung on obedience to the word they carried.
And 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, thirteen cities.
This verse gives the Gershonites their share: thirteen towns, spread over four tribes in the north and east. Two questions sit behind the bare list — why this branch of Levi had no land of its own, and why God placed its families so far apart.
The tribes handed over the towns. But they did not choose which town went to whom.
The people were obedient and gave them cities out of their several inheritances. But the cities were also assigned by lot, so that the Lord assigned them their habitations. How it must have pleased Him to see His Word remembered, obeyed and acted upon! They lived scattered throughout the whole land of Israel. God's purpose in scattering them over the land was, no doubt, that they might have a good influence in the things of God. They were to urge the tribes to worship the Lord, to remind them of His goodness, and to hold them back from idolatry.
The Gershonites needed cities from other tribes because Levi held no share in the land at all.
The Levites have their cities marked out, though they have no inheritance in the land like their brothers. The Lord is their inheritance.
God had said of Levi that his family would be divided and scattered through Israel. This chapter is where that word came true.
Once the inheritance has been described, the Levites receive their portion. As a tribe they have no territory, so they get forty-two cities scattered throughout Israel. This shows two things at once. It shows the unbending judgment of God — "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." It also shows His grace, which rejoices over judgment and turns it into a means of blessing. For the Levites were scattered through the land and linked with God's centre at the tabernacle. So they would answer to the meaning of their name, and, as those "joined" to all the tribes, they would unite them into one whole.
One writer reads the name Gershon and the family's tabernacle work together.
Gershom means "a stranger there." It speaks of service for God that does not settle down in the world, but serves Him without selfish, material motives. Gershom's service had to do with the curtains and coverings of the tabernacle, the hangings for the door and for the court. So the spiritual meaning of his service is this: it encourages a godly walk through a world where we are strangers. It is a walk that honours God, though the world does not understand.
One commentator links each tribe on the list with the lesson Gershon had to teach.
Gershon, the ministry that works inwardly, has thirteen cities in Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and half Manasseh. Practical walk, happiness, and overcoming all need the lesson of being a stranger, which he can teach them. He has only to confirm the other, eastern half of Manasseh in that same lesson.
Gershon's list opens the same way Kohath's did — with a city of refuge, and the name of that city is read as part of the lesson.
As with Kohath, so with Gershon, a city of refuge heads the list. Golan is "exultation," the fullness of joy in Christ Jesus that marks the true circumcision. Gershon, the "exile," is near akin in spirit to Manasseh, "forgetter," and for each, joy is a needed element of strength: the joy in One who is absent.
Living in every corner of the land put the Levites where their work lay.
The Levites carried a solemn responsibility and a high privilege: teaching Israel the law of the Lord. "They shall teach Jacob your rules and Israel your law." In the day of blessing still to come for Israel, the prophet says of Levi, "They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments." For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.
The same writer draws a line from Levi to anyone who teaches God's people today.
Israel's prosperity from first to last depended on their obedience to that word. The place of responsibility given to the Levites stands out. So does that of the ministers of God, whom He has appointed to be the teachers of His people.
- Scattered by sentence. God's word over Levi was to divide and scatter him through Israel. That is why Gershon's thirteen towns sit in four separate tribes.
- Scattered by grace. God's grace turned that judgment into blessing. Levi, "joined" to every tribe, bound the nation into one whole.
- Scattered by lot. Israel gave the towns, but the lot chose which ones, so every Gershonite home came from God.
- Scattered as strangers. Gershon means "a stranger there." His family cared for the tabernacle's curtains, and his towns teach a walk through the world that never settles down in it.
- Scattered to teach. All this spreading had one end: teaching. Levi lived within reach of every tribe, and Israel's welfare hung on obeying God's word.
The children of Merari according to their families had by lot out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And the children of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities and their suburbs, as Jehovah commanded through Moses.
Levi was the one tribe with no block of land of its own. So the last act in dividing Canaan was to settle the Levites in cities taken out of every other tribe's land. This verse packs the whole arrangement into one line. Three things in it carry weight: Israel gave, the lot decided, and God had commanded it all through Moses long before.
The cities did not come from spare ground. Each tribe handed over towns from the inheritance it had just received. One writer calls that a privilege.
The Lord's servants were completely cast upon Him for their portion. They had no inheritance or possession except Himself. What a blessed inheritance! What a precious portion! In the judgement of faith there is none like it. God took care of His dependent servants. He also let the whole congregation of Israel taste a holy privilege — and that is certainly what it was. They became co-workers with Him, providing for those who had willingly devoted themselves to His work and given up everything else.
The Levites did not pick their towns. The lot put the choice in God's hands.
No one could choose what property he might have. For Proverbs 16:33 tells us, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD." The Lord decided this, and all were to be content with His decision.
Another writer notes what the lot settled and what it left open.
The lot seems to have decided only the position of these possessions, not their size. That left room to revise boundary lines later, as individual tribes grew or shrank through their faithfulness or unfaithfulness.
The Levites came asking for their cities. Their claim rested on one thing: what God had told Moses years earlier.
They based their petition on the Word of God spoken to Moses. "Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities" (Numbers 35:2). The people were obedient and gave them cities out of their several inheritances. But the cities were also assigned by lot, so that the Lord assigned them their homes. How it must have pleased Him to see His Word remembered, obeyed and acted on!
Levi ended up spread out among all the tribes. One writer finds an old prophecy fulfilled in that — and fulfilled in a surprising way.
In these Levite cities, scattered through the land, we have the fulfilment of the prophetic word about Levi: "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." Yet how different this fulfilment is from what we would have expected! Grace shows itself as completely sovereign over all the sin. What looked like nothing but penalty has become blessing. And this is fully in line with God's way in grace: the one who was under it becomes a blessing to others. … God's government stands, and for Levi's own sake God must scatter him. Seed must not lie in a heap, or it does not do its work.
The count of these cities also carries meaning. One writer reads it as a sign that God had the whole land in order.
The number of cities that fell to the Levites "in the midst of the possession of the people of Israel" — "forty-eight cities," or twelve counted four times — also has a divine purpose in it. The number twelve recurs often in God's ways with Israel, and stands for administration in His kingdom. The number four runs all through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation as a mark of completeness. So these cities, given to the Levites and spread over Israel's inheritance, show that everything in the land was rightly ordered. God had provided for the complete administration of His word in the possession He had made Israel's. … The Levites carried the solemn responsibility and high privilege of teaching Israel the law of the Lord: "They shall teach Jacob your rules and Israel your law." (Deuteronomy 33:10.)
- Command — The whole arrangement began as a word to Moses. This verse records the tribes obeying it years later, and God was pleased to see His word remembered and acted on.
- Gift — Every tribe gave cities out of the land it had just received. Each shared with God the privilege of providing for servants whose only portion was Himself.
- Lot — Where the cities stood was God's decision, not man's preference. All were to be content with His choice.
- Reach — Scattering was Levi's discipline, yet grace made it blessing. Seed must not lie in a heap, so Levi taught God's law in every tribe.
- Result — Levites lived throughout the inheritance. So God's word could order every part of the land He had given.
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 were mentioned by name,
Here a promise turns into a list. Judah and Simeon hand over named towns to Aaron's descendants, who own no land at all. Two questions sit under the verse. Why did one tribe get no land? And why did these neighbours supply it?
Levi is the exception in every allotment list in the book. The other tribes received whole regions. Levi received only towns inside the regions of others.
Notice how often, even in this chapter, the text points to the tribe of Levi as having no such portion, by the will of God. The Levites received no inheritance in the land. The sacrifices made by fire to the Lord God of Israel — yes, the Lord Himself — were their inheritance, as He said to them. The Lord's workmen stood in a different position from the rest of His people. He called them to special confidence in His provision for them and in His word about them. If they failed in this, could they wonder that their words had little power?
The handover did not start with Judah and Simeon. The heads of the Levite families came first, and they had an old command to point to.
They based their petition on the Word of God spoken to Moses. There He said: "Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in" (Numbers 35:2). The people were obedient and gave them cities out of their several inheritances. But the cities were also assigned by lot, so that the Lord assigned them their homes. How it must have pleased Him to see His Word remembered, obeyed and acted upon!
These cities go to Aaron's family, the priests. Where they lived mattered.
Aaron was from that family, and his family, the priests, received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin. This was fitting. Jerusalem, God's centre, sat on the border of Judah and Benjamin, and Simeon lay inside Judah. So the priests would be near to God's sanctuary, to do service there. The priests pictured the worshippers, so in the service of God they came first.
Some writers read the tribal names as pictures. They note that this verse groups Judah with Simeon and counts Benjamin's cities apart.
First, the children of Aaron; and here the cities out of Judah and Simeon are distinguished from those out of Benjamin, for a reason that is not hard to find. Judah stands for worship, and it leads Simeon, which stands for communion. The two must not be separated.
Levi's landlessness has a backstory. An old family judgment stands behind it.
Jacob cried out about Simeon and Levi: "Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel" (Genesis 49:7). Levi was scattered in Israel as a punishment for that terrible sin, committed centuries before at Shechem. But now, for our encouragement, see the grace of God. The very punishment, the scattering in Israel, becomes an unspeakable blessing. God chose this tribe to approach Him. They are scattered through Israel, so that the knowledge of God and His Word through them may be spread just as widely.
The land is now fully divided. The last act is not a battle but the placing of the Levites across the nation.
At Ebal and Gerizim the Lord established Israel in the land, in obedience to the solemn words of His law. On that day Israel officially took possession of their inheritance. Now the whole land has been divided among them, and the crowning act is the spreading of the Levites through the nation. They were trusted with upholding the word of God in Israel. So the first and the last great acts of possessing the land both rest on the law. The Levites were trusted with teaching Israel the word of the Lord. Israel's prosperity from first to last depended upon their obedience to that word. The responsibility resting on the Levites stands out. The same responsibility rests on God's servants, whom He has appointed to teach His people.
- Scattered. Levi's scattering began as punishment for a cruel sin at Shechem. God turned that punishment into the means of spreading the knowledge of Himself.
- Landless. The Levites held no land, so they had to lean on God's provision. If that confidence failed, their words lost their power.
- Named. Judah and Simeon did not invent this gift. They obeyed an old command given through Moses, and the lot meant God Himself chose each address.
- Placed. Aaron's priests lived near God's centre, close to the sanctuary they served.
- Taught. Teachers now lived in every region. Israel's prosperity in the land rested on obeying the word they carried.
and which the children of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites, of the children of Levi had (for theirs was the first lot);
The land has been divided, the fighting is over, and one tribe still has nothing — Levi. Joshua 21 fixes that, and the very first lot goes to Aaron's family — so why do the priests come first, and why does this tribe get towns instead of land of its own?
The lot fell to Aaron's descendants first. One commentator traces that order to the Lord's free choice, and points to where those cities lay.
Here again, Kohath comes first instead of Gershom. It is a matter of the Lord's free choice: "theirs was the lot." Among them, the sons of Aaron received "Hebron in the land of Judah" as a city of refuge. So the priesthood, coming out of Kohath, is united here with the tribe of Judah and with the place where the kingship was established... These three names — Judah, Joseph, and Levi — speak to us, in a way still unclear, of the Messiah's features as king, as firstborn, and as high priest.
Look at where those priestly towns sat on the map.
The lots for the families of Levi fell like this: the children of Aaron, the priest, got their cities out of Judah's portion, where Simeon also had land, and out of Benjamin's. So the hand of the Lord settled the families of the priests in the districts around the royal city, Jerusalem. A design marks every detail of Israel's inheritance. Divine order and beauty mark the whole of the nation's portion.
Levi is the one tribe with no region of its own. That was God's will, and it asked something of them.
Notice how often, even in this chapter, the text points to the tribe of Levi as having no such portion, by the will of God. The Levites received no inheritance in the land. The sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel made by fire — yes, the Lord Himself — was their inheritance, as He said to them. The workmen of the Lord stood on a different footing from the rest of His people. He called them to a special trust in His provision for them and in His word about them. If they failed in this, could they wonder that their words had little power?
Who actually handed these towns over — the tribes, or God?
They based their petition on the word of God spoken to Moses... The people were obedient and gave them cities out of their several inheritances. But the cities were also assigned by lot, so that the Lord assigned them their homes. How it must have pleased Him to see His word remembered, obeyed and acted on!
These scattered towns carried out an old word of judgment on Levi. The outcome turns that word inside out.
First, in these Levite cities, scattered through the land, we have the fulfilment of the prophetic word about Levi: "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." Yet how differently from what we would have expected it is fulfilled here! Grace shows itself in absolute sovereignty over all the sin. What seemed to be only a penalty has become blessing. This fits God's way in grace exactly: the one who had been under it becomes a blessing to others... Seed must not lie in a heap, or it does not fulfil its purpose.
Why does the book save Levi's towns for the very end?
Now the whole land is divided among them. The crowning act is the spreading of the Levites throughout the nation. Their task was to uphold the word of God in Israel. So the first and last great acts in taking possession of the land both tie back to the law... Israel's prosperity from first to last depended on their obedience to that word. The responsible position of the Levites stands out. So does that of the ministers of God, whom He has appointed to teach His people.
- Sentence. Levi's scattering began as a judgment: "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel."
- Reversal. Grace ruled over the sin. The penalty became a gift: the scattered tribe now blesses others.
- Portion. Levi was left with no land. That is what made the Lord Himself their inheritance, and it called them to trust His provision.
- Placement. The first lot was no accident. The priests settled in the districts around the royal city, Jerusalem.
- Purpose. Seed must not lie in a heap. Teachers spread through the tribes upheld the word of God across the land, and Israel's prosperity hung on obeying it.
and they gave them Kirjath-Arba, [which Arba was] the father of Anak, that is, Hebron, in the mountain of Judah, with its suburbs round about it.
The priests' first city was the old stronghold of Arba, father of the Anakim giants — now called Hebron and handed to Aaron's descendants with its pasture land. Why does the list of priestly cities open with a giant's name, and why did this town go to the men who served at God's altar?
The verse keeps the old Canaanite name beside the new one. One writer explains who Arba was, and what God does with human greatness.
The Anakim are the "long-necked," giants in stature, and children of pride, of whom the boastful claim is made, "Who can stand before the children of Anak?" (Deut. 9:2.)… the name Arba is common Hebrew for the numeral four, which more easily carries the sense of "square, four-square," suited to the father of a giant race. The number four also stands for the creature, and for weakness. That does not work against this meaning; it is God's comment from the other side. God puts the mark of nothingness on what is loftiest in nature, and brings it low.
The new name carries a very different sense. One writer reads Hebron as fellowship, and ties the right to hold it to faith.
Hebron means "communion" and only those who are of faith have any right to possess the place of true communion or fellowship. Satan spends every effort to keep us from this, but faith in the Son of God overcomes.
The list of priestly cities begins here, and one writer sees that order as deliberate. The same town does two jobs: it shelters the accidental killer, and it houses the men who draw near to God.
A city of refuge heads the whole series. The repetition seems to give it special emphasis — first as the city of Arba, the father of Anak, and then as the refuge for the manslayer… A divine Man has taken the place of the one who shows the pride and independence of man's fallen heart; and in Him the whole counsel of God is found. Hebron expresses the communion of the whole Godhead, so it fittingly fills the first place in the series. How blessed and wonderful a portion for the priests of God!
Aaron's family did not get land at random. One writer explains which tribes gave up the priests' cities, and why.
The Levites then received these cities by lot, beginning with the families of the Kohathites. Aaron was from that family, and his family (the priests) received thirteen cities by lot, from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin. This was fitting. Jerusalem (God's centre) stood on the borders of Judah and Benjamin, and Judah included Simeon. So the priests would be near to God's sanctuary, to do service there. The priests were (typically) the worshippers, so in the service of God they came first.
The city already carried a long history before the priests moved in. One writer traces it from Abraham's altar, through the graves of the patriarchs, to this verse and beyond.
There, when Lot preferred the cities of the plain, Abraham, the father of the people, chose his home (Gen. 13:18); there he built an altar to Jehovah and received the promise of God (Gen. 18:1); but more than anything, Hebron is the place of death… It was there that Sarah died (Gen. 23:2), there that she was buried, and Abraham too (Gen. 25:10); also Isaac (Gen. 35:27-29); and then Jacob and the patriarchs… Later (Joshua 21) it becomes a city of refuge and the property of the Levites. More than that, it is the starting point of David's kingdom (2 Sam. 2:1-4).
The Levites' portion looked strange — a town and its grazing land, not a tribal territory. One writer describes how they came to claim it.
The Levites had no lands nor lot in Canaan as the other tribes had. Once the Lord provided the cities of refuge, they came to the high priest, Eleazar, and to Joshua at Shiloh. There they laid claim to the cities and the pasture lands, which Moses had commanded the tribes to give them out of their inheritance.
- Pride — Arba fathered the giant race, and the verse keeps his name only to write Hebron over it. God marks what is loftiest in nature as nothing.
- Fellowship — the new name, Hebron, means communion, and only faith has any right to hold that ground.
- Gift — that ground heads the thirteen cities of the priests, the men who serve nearest to God.
- Refuge — the same city shelters the manslayer. The place of fellowship is also the place of safety for the guilty who flee there.
- Kingdom — Hebron holds the graves of the patriarchs, and later becomes the starting point of David's kingdom.
But the fields of the city and the hamlets thereof gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession.
Joshua 21 gives the priests cities to live in. The first one named is Hebron — the city Caleb had won by faith. Verse 12 records the settlement. The city itself passes to Aaron's family. The fields and villages stay with Caleb.
The fields called "his possession" belonged to a man who had waited most of his life for that one spot. Commentators trace his claim back to the day he first walked there:
In Numbers 13 the twelve men Moses sent reached Hebron. From there they went on to Eshcol, to carry back the magnificent fruits that would prove the beauty of the country. But it was not Eshcol, as one might have thought, which caught Caleb's eye and captured his heart. His faith reached on to something better. Hebron, where his feet had walked, is given to him. From that moment its name stayed engraved on his heart for forty-five years. At last he stood before Joshua to claim "this hill country of which the Lord spoke" as his everlasting possession.
Caleb keeps the fields, but the city goes to the priests. One writer notes how Caleb won Hebron, and how soon it changed hands:
Caleb received Hebron as his inheritance, because he wholly followed the Lord, the God of Israel, and he drove the giants out of it. Yet very soon afterwards this same city is taken from him and given to the priests. What a privilege for Caleb!
Hebron stands at the head of the priests' list. Another writer finds that placement deliberate:
A city of refuge heads the whole series. The repetition seems to stress it: Hebron is named first as the city of Arba, the father of Anak, and then as the refuge for the manslayer. A divine Man has taken the place of the one who shows the pride and independence of man's fallen heart. In Him the whole counsel of God is found. Because Hebron expresses the communion of the whole Godhead, it takes the first place in the series. How blessed and wonderful a portion for the priests of God!
Hebron already had a long history. One writer traces its roles one after another as a single picture:
Hebron was above all the place of death, for the tombs of Sarah, Abraham, Jacob and the patriarchs were there. From this same place Joseph, a picture of Christ in rejection, went out to look for his brothers. Hebron then became a city of refuge from the avenger of blood, prefiguring the cross which shelters a guilty people. Last of all, it was the main home of the priests, the sons of Aaron. They picture that priesthood which now makes Christ's death the focus of its praises. So this place speaks in a striking way of the cross as the foundation of royal glory and as the basis of all our blessings. Caleb chose it as his home. Caleb's career reached its high point at Hebron. David's began there, for it was at Hebron that the tribes first acknowledged him as king.
Chapter 21 answers a request from the Levites, and one writer shows what that request rested on:
Moses gave no inheritance to the Levites. The Lord was their inheritance. After the tribes had received their allotments, the heads of the Levite families came to Joshua and Eleazar with a petition. They based it on the Word of God spoken to Moses. The people were obedient and gave them cities out of their own inheritances. But the cities were also assigned by lot, so it was the Lord who gave them their homes. How it must have pleased Him to see His Word remembered, obeyed and acted on! God's purpose in scattering them over the land was, no doubt, that they might be a good influence in divine things: urging the tribes to worship the Lord, reminding them of His goodness and holding them back from idolatry.
Another writer sees God's care for His servants running through the whole arrangement:
God took care of His dependent servants. He let the whole congregation of Israel share the holy privilege of being co-workers with Him — and it truly was a privilege. They provided for those who had willingly given themselves to His work and left everything else behind.
- Won. Hebron was not a windfall. Caleb carried its name in his heart for forty-five years and then claimed it, giants and all.
- Yielded. The city he had fought for passes to the priests. One writer calls that a privilege, not a loss.
- Kept. The fields and villages remain his, so the man of faith and the servants of God share one place between them.
- Filled. Hebron heads the priests' list. It is the city of communion and the refuge of the manslayer — a portion that points to Christ.
- Provided. The Levites had no land, so every tribe gave from its own. Supporting those devoted to God's work was a privilege God shared with His whole people.
And they gave to the children of Aaron the priest the city of refuge for the slayer, Hebron and its suburbs; and Libnah and its suburbs,
Joshua 21 hands out the towns where the Levites were to live. The first name on the list is Hebron — the city already set apart as a shelter for anyone who had killed another person by accident. The verse ties three things together: a priestly family, a city of refuge, and names that commentators read as pictures of Christ.
The priests' towns came by lot, carved out of other tribes' land. Which tribes supplied them was no accident.
Aaron was from the family of Kohath, and his family (the priests) received thirteen cities by lot, from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin. This was appropriate, for Jerusalem (God's centre) was on the borders of Judah and Benjamin, and Simeon was included in Judah. So the priests would be near to God's sanctuary, to do service there. In picture, the priests were the worshippers, so in the service of God they came first.
Commentators also see the Messiah in this arrangement. It plants the priestly line inside Judah, where the kingship was later established.
So the priesthood, which came from Kohath's family, is closely united here with the tribe of Judah and the place where the kingship was established... So we see Judah and Joseph, who had the birthright, united through the Levitical priesthood living among them. These three names — Judah, Joseph, and Levi — speak to us, though still dimly, of the Messiah's features as king, as firstborn, and as high priest.
Hebron appears twice over in this verse — once by name, once as the refuge. The city had also carried the name of Arba, the father of Anak, and commentators take the contrast as deliberate.
A city of refuge heads the whole list. The repetition seems to give it special emphasis: first as the city of Arba, the father of Anak, and then as the refuge for the manslayer... A divine Man has taken the place of the one who shows the pride and independence of man's fallen heart, and in Him the whole counsel of God is found. Hebron expresses the communion of the whole Godhead, so it fittingly fills the first place in the list. How blessed and wonderful a portion for the priests of God!
Safety is not all that the name offers.
Hebron (communion) gives the added sweetness of fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3).
The chapter holds two different provisions, each with its own purpose. One city carried both: the priests' town of Hebron was also the open refuge.
The cities of refuge express the grace of God to Israel themselves, as we have seen, while applying to us also. The Levitical cities were there to keep ministry going. That ministry would have been Israel's salvation as a nation, if they had listened to it, and if the ministry itself had not betrayed its trust.
For the man who ran to Hebron, the shelter was complete the moment he was inside.
Once the slayer found himself within the boundaries of the city of refuge, he might breathe freely and enjoy calm and sweet rest. No avenging sword could reach him there; not a hair of his head could be touched there.
The list does not stop at Hebron. Commentators read the next town, Libnah, along the same lines.
The second name, Libnah, means "whiteness." Like Hebron, we have met it several times already. It first comes before us as a city taken by Joshua, where it represents, as we have seen, separation from evil. We find it again among Judah's cities in the lowland. There it keeps the same meaning, but applies to Christ entering the sanctuary, clothed in the white linen garment of the priest. Here it speaks in the same way of the absolute purity of the Mediator, the Man, Christ Jesus.
Spreading Levites through every tribe served the nation, not just the tribe of Levi.
So, in the final ordering of the possessions in the promised land, the Lord provided for keeping the knowledge of His word alive among His people. Without this their prosperity was bound to cease. Without obedience to the word of God they would lose their privileges.
- Portion placed. The priests drew thirteen cities by lot in Judah, Simeon and Benjamin, close to God's sanctuary where they served.
- Portion first. Hebron, the city of communion, heads their list — a blessed and wonderful portion for the priests of God.
- Portion shared. The same city stood open to the man who had killed by accident. Inside it, no avenging sword could reach him.
- Portion pictured. Hebron sets a divine Man in place of Arba's pride, and Libnah adds the pure white of the Mediator.
- Portion spread. The Levites lived in towns across every tribe. They kept God's word alive among His people, and Israel's prosperity hung on obedience to that word.
and Jattir and its suburbs, and Eshtemoa and its suburbs,
The list moves slowly, town by town. Each one goes to the descendants of Aaron out of Judah's land, with open pasture around it. Why did the priests get scattered towns instead of a territory? And why does Scripture keep names like Jattir and Eshtemoa?
This chapter keeps returning to a fact the book states earlier. God left Levi out of the land division on purpose. Commentators read that as gain, not loss.
Notice too how often, even in this chapter, the text points to the tribe of Levi as having no such portion, by the will of God. The Levites received no inheritance in the land. The sacrifices of the LORD God of Israel made by fire — yes, the LORD Himself — was their inheritance, as He said to them. The workmen of the Lord stood on different ground from the rest of His people. He called them to special confidence in His provision for them and in His word about them. If they failed in this, could they wonder that their words had little power?
Nothing here was improvised. The priests' towns came by an old command and then by lot. The choice was God's.
After the tribes had received their allotments the heads of the fathers of the Levites came to Joshua and Eleazar with a petition. They based their petition on the Word of God spoken to Moses: "Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities" (Numbers 35:2). The people obeyed and gave them cities out of their own inheritances. But the cities were also assigned by lot, so that the Lord assigned them their homes. How it must have pleased Him to see His Word remembered, obeyed and acted upon!
These towns lie inside Judah's portion. One writer sees that placing as no accident.
The lots for the families of Levi fell so that the children of Aaron, the priest, received their cities out of Judah's portion, where Simeon also had land, and out of Benjamin's. So the hand of the LORD arranged that the families of the priests should live in the districts around the royal city, Jerusalem. A design marks every detail of Israel's inheritance, and divine order and beauty mark the whole of the nation's portion.
Some commentators read the town names for their meanings, and find Christ in them.
Jattir, "he far excels," a town in the hill country — note the contrast, since Libnah is in the lowland. Without this name, something would still be missing from the expression of the glory of Christ. He is revealed here as, in His own Person, the blessed portion of the priests of God.
The next name points to Christ as well:
First, Eshtemoa, "obedience," the Father's will the motive and governing principle of His life.
Commentators differ here. Others read the list only as the record of where the priests lived.
An old prophecy said Levi would be divided and scattered. These scattered towns carry out that sentence — and change what it means.
First, in these Levite cities, scattered through the land, we have the fulfilment of the prophetic word about Levi, "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." Yet how different this fulfilment is from what we would have expected! Grace shows itself in absolute sovereignty over all the sin. What seemed to be only penalty has become blessing. In line with God's way in grace, the one who was under it becomes a blessing to others. Seed must not lie in a heap, or it does not do its work. Levi must be God's witness in Israel. Levi must be the seal that the whole land is set apart to God — a people whose portion is God alone: "They shall teach Jacob your rules and Israel your law."
Spreading these teachers through the nation closes the settling of Israel. One writer sees a pattern in it.
Now that the whole land is shared out among them, the crowning act is the spreading of the Levites through the nation. They were entrusted with upholding the word of God in Israel. Israel's prosperity from first to last depended upon their obedience to that word. The responsible position of the Levites stands out clearly. So does that of the ministers of God, whom He has appointed to teach His people.
- No portion. Levi received no tribal land, and God willed it so — an exception set in the middle of the land lists.
- Better portion. In place of land, the LORD Himself was their inheritance. That called His workers to a trust others did not need.
- Given portion. Jattir and Eshtemoa came by an old command and by lot. God chose where His servants lived.
- Christ the portion. The names mean "he far excels" and "obedience" — read as Christ Himself, the priests' real wealth.
- Portion spread. Scattering was once a sentence on Levi. Grace made it the means of blessing, since seed must not lie in a heap.
and Holon and its suburbs, and Debir and its suburbs,
Joshua 21 lists the towns handed to the Levites. This verse names two of them inside Judah's land — Holon and Debir. The names look like filler, yet Debir was a captured Canaanite city whose new name means "oracle", and Holon's meaning is still argued over.
Levi received no block of land, so its families lived in towns scattered among the other tribes. Where the priests' towns lay was no accident.
The lots for the families of Levi fell in this way. The children of Aaron, the priest, received their cities out of Judah's portion, which also held Simeon's land, and out of Benjamin's portion. So the hand of Jehovah settled the families of the priests in the districts around the royal city, Jerusalem. A design marks every detail of Israel's inheritance. Divine order and beauty mark the whole of the nation's portion.
Debir was not empty ground. It had been an Amorite city with its own king, and Scripture tells of its capture twice.
City in the highlands of Judah near Hebron. It was one of the Amorite cities destroyed, with its king killed. Joshua, as the leader of Israel, is presented as taking it. But in Judges we find that Othniel took it. Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah in marriage for capturing it. Later it was given to the priests. Its former name was Kirjath-sepher or Kirjath-sannah.
That older name matters, and so does the one that replaced it.
Debir, like Hebron, had its Canaanite name: it was Kirjath-sepher, the "city of the book." How striking that in Caleb's hands the city of the book becomes the place of a divine oracle! A written word on its own gives way to a living Voice. It is the voice of Him who delights to draw near and speak to the heart of the worshipper, when the heart is right with Him. For the Christian, of course, the "oracle" is not cut off from the "book." It does not replace the book or overrule it.
Holon's name is harder to pin down. Commentators differ over it — some read it as "sandy," while others split the word in two.
Some render Holon as "sandy," from hol, "sand." But the last part of the word may well be a word of its own. The whole would then be a compound, hol-lon, with the middle letters joined into one. The meaning then would be "lodging for the night upon the sand."
The same writer reads the name as a portrait of Christ, then turns it on those who follow Him.
Debir, "oracle," a familiar word, gives us what He was in the world: the one perfect divine voice in it. We must not separate the two things joined here. There is His complete obedience to the will of God, and with it His personal knowledge of human circumstances and sorrows. Where these are found in those who follow Him, they too will be able, in their measure, to "speak as oracles of God."
Behind the list lies a simple arrangement. God's servants owned no land, and the rest of the nation supplied their towns.
The Lord's servants depended entirely on Him for their portion. They had no inheritance or possession except Himself. Blessed inheritance! Precious portion! None like it, in the judgement of faith. God took care of His dependent servants. He also let the whole congregation of Israel taste a holy privilege — and it truly was one. They became co-workers with Him, providing for those who had freely given themselves to His work and left all else behind.
The arrangement served more than the Levites. Israel's own future rested on it.
So, in the final ordering of the possessions in the promised land, Jehovah provided for keeping the knowledge of His word alive among His people. Without it their prosperity had to end. Without obedience to the word of God they would lose their privileges.
- No inheritance. The priests owned no land. The Lord Himself was their portion, and the nation supplied their towns.
- Placed on purpose. God's hand set Aaron's family in Judah's portion, in the districts ringing Jerusalem, the royal city.
- Debir taken. Othniel captured the Canaanite Kirjath-sepher, "city of the book," and it later passed to the priests.
- Book to Voice. The new name, "oracle," pictures the written word becoming a living voice. It never sets the book aside.
- Word spread. Towns like these carried the knowledge of God's word across the land. Israel's welfare hung on obeying it.
and Ain and its suburbs, and Juttah and its suburbs, [and] Beth-shemesh and its suburbs nine cities out of those two tribes;
This verse ends the list of nine towns given to Aaron's descendants out of Judah and Simeon. Why do the priests get scattered towns instead of a land of their own?
Levi got no share when Israel divided up the land. This verse gives the priests a list of addresses, not an estate.
The Levites have their cities marked out, though they have no inheritance in the land as their brothers do. Jehovah is their inheritance.
The towns did not fall to them by accident. Each tribe gave up some of its own ground, and the lot decided which towns the priests got.
The people obeyed and gave them cities out of their own inheritances. But the cities were also assigned by lot, so it was the Lord who gave them their homes. How it must have pleased Him to see His Word remembered, obeyed and acted on! They were scattered through the whole land of Israel. The Kohathites and the children of Aaron had thirteen cities in the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Simeon... God's purpose in scattering them over the land was, no doubt, that they might be a good influence in the things of God. They were to urge the tribes to worship Jehovah, to remind them of His goodness and to hold them back from idolatry.
These nine towns all lie in the south, in the country of Judah and Simeon. One writer sees a plan in where the priests' families ended up.
The lots for the families of Levi fell in such a way that the children of Aaron, the priest, received their cities out of Judah's portion, where Simeon also had a share, and out of Benjamin's. So the hand of Jehovah arranged that the priests' families should live in the districts around the royal city, Jerusalem. A design marks every detail of Israel's inheritance, and divine order and beauty mark the whole of the nation's portion.
The first town in this verse carries a different name in 1 Chronicles 6:59. Commentators differ over which name belongs here.
The first name here in Joshua is Ain, but 1 Chronicles 6:59 reads Ashan. Both are among Simeon's cities, but one of them seems to be a mistake. Most commentators prefer Ashan, and the context leads us that way too. Ain, as we took it earlier, does not seem to fit here. But Ashan means "smoke," and it seems to point to the smoke of incense, which fits perfectly.
A dictionary entry traces the same town's shifting ownership rather than its spelling:
One of the Levitical cities in the south. It was originally given to Judah but afterwards allotted to Simeon.
One writer reads the last name in the verse as a picture.
Beth-shemesh, "the house of the sun," may well represent divine glory in the face of Jesus, as we now see it, by faith, in heaven.
That same town has a long and mixed later history:
One of the Levites' towns on the north border of Judah. God guided the ark here by a miracle when the Philistines sent it back from Ekron, and here the people were struck down for looking into it. Later Jehoash king of Israel defeated Amaziah king of Judah here. The Philistines occupied the town after that.
Levi's scattering among the tribes goes back to an old word spoken over him. It sounded like a sentence of judgment.
In these Levite cities, scattered through the land, we see the prophetic word about Levi fulfilled: "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." Yet it is fulfilled here in a very different way from what we would have expected! Grace shows itself as completely sovereign over all the sin. What seemed to be only a penalty has become blessing, and, fully in keeping with God's way in grace, the one who was under that penalty becomes a blessing to others. Seed must not lie in a heap, or it does not do its work. Levi must be God's witness in Israel, and the seal that the whole land is sanctified to God — a people whose portion is God alone: "They shall teach Jacob your rules and Israel your law."
This is why a list of towns matters at all to the nation's future:
So, in the final ordering of the possessions in the promised land, Jehovah made sure that the knowledge of His word would be kept up among His people. Without that, their prosperity had to come to an end, because without obedience to the word of God they would lose their privileges... The Levites held a very responsible position, and so do the ministers of God, whom He has appointed to instruct His people.
- Curse. The old word over Levi, "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel," stands behind every Levite town in this chapter.
- Grace. What looked like a penalty became blessing. Seed must not lie in a heap, or it does not do its work.
- Gift. The priests get no estate of their own. The Lord Himself is their inheritance, and these nine towns are only where they live.
- Reach. The lot settled the priests' families near the future royal city, to hold Israel back from idolatry and call the tribes to worship.
- Result. Israel's future hung on this arrangement, because these towns kept the knowledge of God's word alive in the land.
and out of the tribe of Benjamin Gibeon and its suburbs, Geba and its suburbs,
Two towns in Benjamin, Gibeon and Geba, pass to the sons of Aaron — the priests. Why did the priests live inside other tribes' land? And why does the name Gibeon carry such a hard history?
Aaron's family received towns from three tribes, not a land of their own. One writer explains why those three.
These cities were then given by lot to the Levites, beginning with the families of the Kohathites. Aaron came from that family, and his family, the priests, received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin. This was fitting. Jerusalem, God's centre, stood on the borders of Judah and Benjamin, and Simeon lay inside Judah. So the priests would live near God's sanctuary and serve there. In picture, the priests were the worshippers, so in the service of God they came first.
Levi's towns were spread across other tribes because of an old punishment. One writer sees the grace of God at work in it.
Levi's scattering in Israel was the punishment for that terrible sin, committed centuries before at Shechem. But now, for our encouragement, see the grace of God. The very punishment, the scattering in Israel, becomes an unspeakable blessing. God chooses this tribe to come near Him, and He scatters them through Israel. So the knowledge of God and His Word spreads just as widely in Israel through them.
The name Gibeon can be read two ways. One writer weighs both, then picks the one that matches what happened to its people.
But there is another option. It may be a compound word, and so mean "pit of iniquity." Or the last part of the word may stand, as it sometimes does, for "suffering for iniquity." I take the second meaning to be the true one, and it fits the history. The Gibeonites did suffer for the deceit they practised on Joshua and Israel: their trick brought them into slavery.
Geba means "hill." One writer turns that small detail into a lesson about how a believer stays safe.
Benjamin is full of hills, and people built cities on them because hills were safer. A hill lifts you above the common level, and it gives a wide view as well. In the spiritual sense, going to a hill is a confession of weakness. It admits that we need to be raised above ourselves, and that we are in an enemy's country. Simple as all this is, it is our real safeguard, and the only one. Pride and self-sufficiency are at the bottom of all going astray. They keep us from turning to Christ. What trap could defeat us, if we walked with God in humility, not trusting ourselves?
Put the two towns side by side, and one writer finds Christ in them — first the cross, then the glory.
The first of the two, Gibeon, "the pit of suffering for iniquity," represents the cross. The second, Geba, "hill," we have also seen as the "hill that is higher than I." That is where the believer turns in trial, and it is, of course, Christ exalted. These two things are characteristic of the Benjamite condition. Christ crucified crucifies us to the world; Christ glorified lifts us above it. This is power for the walk on earth.
Gibeon shows up again long after Joshua. In David's day one of Israel's two places of worship stood here.
People had all but left Shiloh from the time the priesthood fell into ruin (Psalm 78:60-61). No house of the Lord stood in Jerusalem yet, and worship, so to speak, ran in two places: the ark at Zion and the altar at Gibeon. The other vessels were still in the tabernacle. 1 Kings 8:4 mentions them. Gibeon was a city of the sons of Aaron (Joshua 21:17).
- Scattered — Levi's scattering began as punishment for an old crime. God used it to carry the knowledge of Himself to every tribe.
- Placed — Aaron's sons got towns in Judah, Simeon and Benjamin. Jerusalem sat on that border, so the priests lived near the sanctuary they served.
- Named — Gibeon's people suffered for deceiving Joshua. One writer reads the name as "suffering for iniquity" and sees the cross in it.
- Lifted — Geba, "hill," is Christ exalted. Going up admits weakness, and pride is what keeps us from going.
- Sustained — In David's day the altar stood at Gibeon. A plain list of towns shaped Israel's worship for generations.
Anathoth and its suburbs, and Almon and its suburbs; four cities.
Two short names close the list of towns given to Aaron's descendants out of Benjamin. Each town came with its pasturelands — older translations call these "suburbs" — and the count comes to four. Why were the priests' families placed in this one ring of ground, and why does the Bible name every village?
Levi received no block of land like the other tribes. Instead the tribes handed over towns out of their own inheritance. One writer sees in this scattering both God's judgment and His grace.
The inheritance has now been described. Next comes the portion of the Levites. As a tribe they have no territory, so their portion is given to them in the forty-two cities scattered throughout Israel. This shows two things at once. It shows the unbending judgment of God: "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." It also shows His grace, which rejoices over judgment and turns it into a means of blessing. For the Levites, scattered through the land and linked with God's centre at the tabernacle, would answer to the meaning of their name; and, as "joined" to all the tribes, they would unite them into one whole.
Anathoth and Almon lie in Benjamin, alongside the priests' towns taken from Judah and Simeon. That grouping was not accidental.
These cities were then given by lot to the Levites, beginning with the families of the Kohathites. Aaron was from that family, and his family (the priests) were given thirteen cities by lot, from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin. This was appropriate, for Jerusalem (God's centre) was on the borders of Judah and Benjamin, and Simeon was included in Judah. Thus the priests would be near to God's sanctuary, to do service there. The priests pictured the worshippers, so that in the service of God they came first.
Another writer reads the same arrangement as evidence of care in the smallest detail:
The lots for the families of Levi fell in such a way that the children of Aaron, the priest, obtained their cities out of Judah's portion, in which also Simeon possessed, and out of that of Benjamin. Thus the hand of Jehovah ordered that the families of the priests should be settled in the districts surrounding the royal city, Jerusalem. A design marks every detail of the possession of Israel's inheritance, and divine order and beauty are stamped upon the whole of the nation's portion.
The verse ends with a count of four, and the chapter builds to a larger total. One writer finds a purpose of God in the numbers themselves.
The number of cities that fell to the Levites "within the possession of the children of Israel" was "forty-eight cities" — twelve, four times over. That number also has a divine purpose in it. The number twelve comes up often in God's ways with Israel, and stands for administration in His kingdom. The number four runs all through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, as a mark of completeness. So these cities, given to the Levites and spread over Israel's inheritance, show that everything was rightly ordered in the land, and that God had provided for the complete administration of His word in the land He had made Israel's.
Priests and Levites living in scattered towns had work to do among their neighbours.
To the Levites fell the solemn responsibility and high privilege of teaching Israel the law of the Lord. "They shall teach Jacob your rules, and Israel your law." (Deut. 33:10.) In the day of blessing still to come for Israel, the prophet says of Levi, "They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments" (Ezek. 44:23-24). For God does not take back His gifts and His calling. He will carry out His great purpose of promise to the fathers, and will yet establish His word in the land of Canaan.
This village name returns again and again in Israel's story.
Although known as a prophet, Jeremiah belonged to the family of "the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin." As far as we know, he never acted as a priest. His village of Anathoth lay a little over three miles northeast of Jerusalem. It had been given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron, of the family of the Kohathites (Josh. 21:18; 1 Chron. 6:60). Abiathar the priest was from Anathoth (1 Kings 2:26). In Zerubbabel's time 128 of its people came back from captivity and settled it again, after the edict of Cyrus, king of Persia.
One writer reads meaning in the names themselves, pairing them with Gibeon and Geba from the verse before.
The next two are Anathoth and Almon, and each answers to one of the two before them. Anathoth, "afflictions," answers to Gibeon, the cross. We have to take up our cross — so unlike His, however — and follow Him. Almon, "concealment," answers to Geba, and speaks of a "life hidden with Christ in God," the effect of a heart occupied with a hidden Saviour.
Almon also appears elsewhere under a second name:
Benjamite city assigned to the priests. 1 Chr. 6:60. Called ALMON in Joshua 21:18.
- No portion. Levi received no territory of its own. The other tribes gave up towns out of their inheritance instead.
- Portion by grace. The scattering began as judgment: divided in Jacob, scattered in Israel. God turned it into blessing, and into a bond joining the tribes.
- Portion placed. The priests' towns, these two among them, ringed Jerusalem. Those who served at the sanctuary lived near it.
- Portion complete. The totals — four here, forty-eight in all — show that God provided fully for His word to be taught throughout the land.
- Portion tested. Anathoth later gave Israel Abiathar and Jeremiah. Its name, read as "afflictions," matches the cross that the follower of Christ takes up.
All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities and their suburbs.
This verse adds up the first share of towns given to the Levites — thirteen for Aaron's family, the priests, each with open land around it. Two questions sit behind it: why these three tribes, and why any cities at all for a tribe that received no inheritance?
The three tribes named in the verses before were not a random spread. They ringed God's center, so the priests lived within reach of their work.
The cities were given by lot to the Levites, beginning with the families of Kohath. Aaron was from that family, and the lot gave his family, the priests, thirteen cities from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin. This was fitting. Jerusalem, God's center, lay on the borders of Judah and Benjamin, and Simeon's portion lay inside Judah. So the priests would live near God's sanctuary, to serve there. The priests pictured the worshipers, so in the service of God they came first.
Commentators read this arrangement as deliberate design rather than convenience.
So the hand of Jehovah arranged for the families of the priests to settle in the districts around the royal city, Jerusalem. A design marks every detail of how Israel received its inheritance. Divine order and beauty are stamped on the whole of the nation's portion.
These cities were not an inheritance like the other tribes had. The nation supported Levi out of its own portion.
Levi is dedicated to the service of God, and separated from common Israelites. No inheritance is given to them as to the other tribes. They are Jehovah's pensioners. He provides for them out of Israel's abundance. Each tribe gave a portion to the Levites, few cities from them that had less, many from those that had more.
The people handed over the cities, but they did not choose which city went to whom.
The people were obedient and gave them cities out of their own inheritances. But the cities were also assigned by lot, so it was the Lord who gave them their homes. How it must have pleased Him to see His Word remembered, obeyed and acted upon!
The open land around each city fed the priests, and it had a measured size.
They were also to have land around each of these cities, reaching out 2,000 cubits — that is at least 1,000 yards, and likely a little more. This land was for their cattle and for their goods; we suppose they lived off it by farming. The land attached to each city may look small and not enough to us. But we must remember that these cities were very small by our standards.
One writer splits the thirteen into nine cities from Judah and Simeon and four from Benjamin, and finds meaning in that split.
Judah, which shows worship, leads Simeon, which means communion, and the two must not be separated. Benjamin holds fast to Judah as well, yet reaches out toward Ephraim. So Judah and Simeon supply nine cities to the priests — the usual 3 x 3, the divine number emphasized. Benjamin's cities number four, the number of the creature.
The list opens with Hebron, and the same writer reads that first name as the key to the whole portion.
The whole series is headed by a city of refuge, and it seems to be marked out by being named twice: first as the city of Arba, the father of Anak, and then as the refuge for anyone who had killed a person. A divine Man has taken the place of Arba, who shows the pride and independence of man's fallen heart, and in Him the whole counsel of God is found. Hebron expresses the communion of the whole Godhead, so it fills the first place in the series. How blessed and wonderful a portion for the priests of God!
Living among the tribes was part of the work itself.
To the Levites fell the solemn responsibility and high privilege of teaching Israel the law of the Lord. "They shall teach Jacob Your rules and Israel Your law." (Deuteronomy 33:10.) In the day of blessing to Israel which is still to come, the prophet says of Levi, "They shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean." (Ezekiel 44:23.) God never takes back His gifts and calling. He will carry out His great purpose promised to the fathers, and will yet establish His word in the land of Canaan.
- No portion — Levi received no tribal territory. They were "Jehovah's pensioners," provided for out of Israel's abundance.
- A better portion — the thirteen cities, headed by Hebron, are read as a portrait of Christ: "How blessed and wonderful a portion for the priests of God!"
- A placed portion — the lot set the priests in Judah, Simeon and Benjamin, close to God's center where they would serve. Each town had pasture for their cattle.
- A shared portion — every tribe gave: many cities from the large tribes, few from the small. The whole nation carried the cost.
- A portion that returned — living among the tribes, the Levites taught Israel God's law, and they will teach it again in the day of blessing still to come.
And to the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites that remained of the children of Kohath, [they gave cities]. And the cities of their lot were out of the tribe of Ephraim,
Joshua 21 ends the division of Canaan with the one tribe that received no land of its own. Why would God leave a whole tribe landless, and why were Kohath's remaining families placed inside Ephraim?
Kohath's descendants fall into two groups. Aaron came from Kohath, and his line, the priests, received their cities first. The families in this verse are the rest.
These cities were then given by lot to the Levites, beginning with the families of the Kohathites. Aaron was from that family, and his family, the priests, received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin... The rest of the Kohathites received ten cities by lot in Ephraim, Dan and Manasseh. Kohath means "obedient," and stands for a ministry that sets out the Word of God and is itself fully subject to that Word.
Their charge shows why that name fits. Levi had three families, and God trusted this one with the most precious things in the tabernacle.
Gershon and Merari have their needed place. But Kohath has the ark and the mercy seat, the altars, the table of the bread of the Presence, the lamp of the sanctuary, and even the veil — things whose meaning and value we know in some measure. They speak of Christ Himself, in His person and His work, and everything else must depend on this.
The Levites held no land of their own. They asked for what Moses had commanded. The tribes handed the cities over. But God settled which family went where.
Moses gave no inheritance to the Levites. The Lord was their inheritance... The people were obedient and gave them cities out of their own inheritances. But the cities were also assigned by lot, so that the Lord assigned them their habitations. How it must have pleased Him to see His Word remembered, obeyed and acted upon! They were scattered throughout the entire domain of Israel.
God had once said that Levi would be broken up and scattered. That same scattering put Levites inside Ephraim and every other tribe.
The inheritance has now been described. The Levites as a tribe have no territory, so their portion is given to them in the forty-two cities scattered throughout Israel. This shows two things at once. It shows the unbending judgment of God: "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." It also shows His grace, which rejoices over judgment and turns it into a means of blessing. The Levites, scattered through the land and linked with God's centre at the tabernacle, would answer to the meaning of their name. As those "joined" to all the tribes, they would unite them into one whole.
The first city in Ephraim's list was already a place of safety. Its name points beyond itself.
The first name in Ephraim's portion is again a city of refuge: Shechem, which means "shoulder," the part that bears the burden. As such it stands for Christ as the Servant of God's will, for us the Burden-bearer — or rather, the One who bears us, as the Shepherd bears the lost sheep in His own parable. Here indeed is power, a power outside ourselves equal to every emergency, to every possible demand on it.
The next name in the same list moves past shelter to something more final.
Next we have Gezer, which means "cutting off, isolation." The word reminds us of the "land cut off" where the scapegoat carries away the sins of Israel on the day of atonement. This goes beyond a city of refuge, which is a place of shelter and no more. Here the sins themselves are gone, never to be found again. Justification is full and entire. Peace is made, never to be broken again.
Spreading these families across the tribes had a purpose. Israel's whole future rested on what the Levites carried into every district.
At Ebal and Gerizim the Lord established Israel in the land, in obedience to the solemn words of His law... Now the whole land has been divided among them, and the crowning act is the spreading of the Levites through the nation. God entrusted to them the upholding of the word of God in Israel... Israel's prosperity from first to last depended on their obedience to that word. The responsible position of the Levites stands out clearly, and so does that of the ministers of God, whom He has appointed to be the instructors of His people.
- Scattered — Levi's dispersion began as judgment on the tribe. God turned it into the tie that joined every tribe to His centre.
- Assigned — the cities came by lot. Ephraim's cities fell to these Kohathites by God's choice, not man's.
- Obedient — Kohath means "obedient." This family carried the ark, altars, table, lamp and veil — the things that speak of Christ Himself.
- Refuge — Shechem means "shoulder," the burden-bearer, and heads Ephraim's list. Gezer means "cutting off": the sins are gone and the peace holds.
- Taught — the last act in dividing the land put teachers in every part of it. Israel's prosperity hung on obeying the word they carried.
and they gave them the city of refuge for the slayer, Shechem and its suburbs in mount Ephraim; and Gezer and its suburbs,
Two towns in the hill country of Ephraim pass to the Levites here. One is Gezer. The other is Shechem, already a refuge for anyone who had killed someone by accident. Why did one tribe give up towns from its own share, and why these two?
The Levites owned no territory of their own. Their towns had to be surrendered by the tribes that did own land, on the strength of an earlier command.
The Levites had no lands and no share in Canaan as the other tribes had. Once the Lord had provided the cities of refuge, they came to the high priest, Eleazar, and to Joshua at Shiloh. There they claimed the cities and their pasturelands, which Moses had commanded the tribes to give them out of their own inheritance.
The family receiving these towns is Kohath, the branch of Levi that carried the most sacred objects of the tabernacle. Writers who trace meaning in these lists read the choice of tribes as deliberate.
The Kohathite cities give us the character of a ministry that sets its object before us, the very thing we have already seen this family stand for. The cities out of Ephraim present it as a ministry of power… With Kohath are the ark and mercy-seat, the altars, the table of showbread, the lamp of the sanctuary, and even the veil — things whose meaning and value we know in some measure. They speak of Christ Himself, in His person and His work, and everything else must depend on this.
One writer reads both the name of Shechem and its setting as pointing to Christ.
Shechem means "shoulder," the part that bears the burden, and it is an easy picture of "service." On each side of it stood Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, and from them came the curses and blessings of the law after Israel entered the land. So here the city of refuge speaks of Christ as the servant of God, doing His will and listening to the voice of the law — and even, though He was perfect Himself, to its curses for breaking it. He magnified the law and made it honorable by submitting to a penalty that others had brought on themselves.
Another writer takes the same shoulder in a different direction — the shepherd's.
Then Shechem ("shoulder") reminds us of the Lord Jesus carrying the lost sheep on His shoulders. The shoulder is the place of strength, of certainty, of security.
Shelter at Shechem was real but limited. The man was alive, yet cut off from his own land, and only the death of the high priest changed that.
When the slayer reached the shelter of the city of refuge, the judges were to hear his case at the gate, the recognised place for giving judgment. If it was shown that he had not struck his neighbour on purpose, and had not hated him beforehand, he found shelter inside the walls. But although his life was safe, he lost his inheritance for as long as he lived in the city of refuge. He was only a refugee under protection. The death of the high priest of that time changed his position completely. When another high priest took his place, the slayer received full forgiveness for the blood he had shed, complete freedom, and his inheritance back.
Commentators take Gezer in opposite directions. One traces the name to the removal of sin, and sees in it something fuller than mere shelter.
Next comes Gezer, "cutting off, isolation." The word reminds us of the "land cut off" where the scapegoat carries the sins of Israel away on the day of atonement. This goes beyond the city of refuge, which is a place of shelter and nothing more. Here the sins themselves are gone, never to be found again. Justification is full and complete. Peace is made, and it will never be broken again.
A second writer looks at Ephraim itself. The tribe that handed this town over had not driven out all its Canaanites.
The men of Judah could not drive them all out; the men of Ephraim did not. And Ephraim turned this slackness into a source of gain.
Placing Levites inside every tribe's borders was how God kept His word within reach of the whole nation.
So, in the final ordering of the possessions in the promised land, the Lord provided for keeping the knowledge of His word among His people. Without this their prosperity was bound to end, because without obedience to the word of God they would lose their privileges.
- Given — the Levites held no land. Ephraim handed over Shechem and Gezer out of its own share, so God's people supported God's servants.
- Shoulder — Shechem means "shoulder," the place that carries. It points to Christ the Servant, who bore the law's curse, and to the Shepherd who carries the lost sheep home.
- Refuge — the accidental killer was safe inside the walls, but shut out of his inheritance. Only the high priest's death set him free and gave his land back.
- Cut off — Gezer means "cutting off." One writer reads it as sin carried away for good, which is more than shelter. Another points to Ephraim, who left Canaanites in the land and turned that slackness into profit.
- Scattered — Levites in every tribe's land kept God's word within reach of all Israel. Obeying it was the condition of their prosperity.
and Kibzaim and its suburbs, and Beth-horon and its suburbs four cities;
This verse ends a short list: four towns in Ephraim's land given to one family of Levites, with Kibzaim and Beth-horon last. Why does the tribe with no land of its own hold towns inside everyone else's inheritance?
Levi received no block of territory. Instead every tribe had to give up towns, and the size of the gift matched the size of the giver.
Levi is dedicated to the service of God, and separated from ordinary Israelites. No inheritance is given to them as to the other tribes. They are the Lord's pensioners. He provides for them out of Israel's abundance. Each tribe gave a portion to the Levites, few cities from those that had less, many from those that had more.
The pastureland attached to each town was their living.
They were to receive forty-eight cities, scattered through the portions given to the other tribes. They were also to have land around each of these cities, reaching out 2,000 cubits — at least 1,000 yards, and probably a little more. This land was for their cattle and their goods; that is, we suppose, for their support by cultivation.
Levi's scattering began as a penalty. A list of towns like this one is where that penalty lands — and it lands as blessing.
First, in these Levite cities, scattered through the land, the prophetic word about Levi comes true: "I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel." But how different this is from what we would have expected! Grace shows itself in absolute sovereignty over all the sin. What seemed to be only a penalty has become blessing... The government of God is maintained, and for Levi's own sake he must be scattered. Seed must not lie in a heap, or it does not do its work.
Living among the other tribes gave Levi a job to do.
The Levites carried the solemn responsibility and high privilege of teaching Israel the law of the Lord. "They shall teach Jacob your rules, and Israel your law" (Deut. 33:10)... For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable, and He will carry out His great purpose of promise to the fathers.
The tribes handed over the towns. But no one chose which family lived where.
The people were obedient and gave them cities out of their several inheritances. But the cities were also assigned by lot, so that the Lord assigned them their homes. How it must have pleased Him to see His Word remembered, obeyed and acted upon!... God's purpose in scattering them over the land was, no doubt, a good influence in divine things. They were to urge the tribes to worship the Lord, to remind them of His goodness and to hold them back from idolatry.
Some commentators read the town names themselves as pictures. Kibzaim carries the thought of gathering.
Kibzaim shows us a "double gathering," as the Day of Atonement does. "He died for the nation (Israel), and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad" (John 11:51-52). It is the Church that comes now, at the present time, on the ground of sins put away. And here power is realised by us, for the knowledge of grace is the attainment of power.
Beth-horon was two towns, one upper and one lower. Commentators read the two differently.
Yet God deals with sin also, in the saint as well as in the sinner. This is what Beth-horon, "the house of wrath," assures us of. Beth-horon is double — there is an upper and a lower city... The lower Beth-horon is judgment as it falls on the impenitent and the unbeliever. The upper is judgment (and so wrath) against sin, though for the believer it takes the form of chastening mercy. "But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world" (1 Cor. 11:31-32).
- Scattered. Levi's penalty was to be divided and scattered. Grace turned that penalty into blessing: seed spread out does its work, seed in a heap does not.
- Supported. Levi held no tribal land. Each tribe gave towns and pastureland instead — fewer from the smaller tribes, more from the larger.
- Assigned. The people obeyed and gave. The lot then decided each home, so the Lord Himself placed them.
- Sent. Spread through every tribe, the Levites taught God's law and held Israel back from idolatry.
- Named. The last two names balance each other. Kibzaim speaks of gathering on the ground of sins put away. Beth-horon, "the house of wrath," speaks of judgment: condemnation below, discipline above.
and out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh and its suburbs, Gibbethon and its suburbs,
Joshua 21 closes the division of the land by giving Levi forty-eight towns out of the other tribes' inheritance. Verse 23 names two of them — Elteke and Gibbethon — from the small tribe of Dan, and raises two questions: why towns instead of land, and why spread them out?
Both towns lay inside Dan's own allotment. Both went to the Kohathites, one of the Levite families. Gibbethon did not stay in Levite hands:
City of Dan, allotted to the Kohathites, but which was afterwards held by the Philistines. It was besieged by Nadab and by Omri, kings of Israel.
The Levites never received a tribal territory. They got towns to live in, with pastureland around them. Their claim rested on a word God had already spoken through Moses:
Moses gave no inheritance to the Levites. The Lord was their inheritance... They based their request on the Word of God spoken to Moses... The people obeyed and gave them cities out of their own inheritances. But the cities were also given out by lot, so that the Lord Himself chose where they would live. How it must have pleased Him to see His Word remembered, obeyed and acted upon!
So Dan did not pick which towns to give up. The lot did, and Dan obeyed.
Long before this, God had passed sentence on Levi: this tribe would be divided and scattered through Israel. The forty-eight towns carry out that sentence — and grace turns it into something else as it does so:
The land has now been divided. The Levites, who as a tribe have no territory, receive their portion in cities scattered throughout Israel. This shows two things at once. It shows the unbending judgment of God: "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." It also shows His grace, which rejoices over judgment and turns it into a means of blessing. The Levites, scattered through the land and linked with God's centre at the tabernacle, would live up to the meaning of their own name: as those "joined" to all the tribes, they would unite them into one whole.
Another writer adds why the scattering had to happen:
Grace shows itself in complete sovereignty over all the sin. What seemed to be only punishment has become blessing, and exactly in line with God's way in grace, the one who was under that punishment becomes a blessing to others... God's government stands, and for Levi's own sake he must be scattered. Seed must not lie in a heap, or it does not do its work. Levi must be God's witness in Israel, and the seal that the whole land is set apart to God — a people whose portion is God alone: "They shall teach Jacob Your rules and Israel Your law."
The Levites lived among every tribe, but their work centred elsewhere:
The Levites were set apart from the rest of Israel for the service of the sanctuary and for meditating on God's word. They took their turns going up to attend the worship of God, then came back to their cities from that sacred work. Their going and coming kept the whole of Israel in mind of the Lord, whose cloud covered the tabernacle at Shiloh.
Some commentators also find meaning in the names themselves:
Elteke, "God the object of fear," gives us the constant and only right attitude of the soul in His presence. Whatever weakens this condemns itself. Does grace weaken it? No, it only gives it its proper character as the fear of a son, not the fear of a slave: "But with You there is forgiveness, that You may be feared." God is not less on the throne, but more; for the rebellion of the will is defeated, and the heart bows along with the head. Elteke deserves its first place.
The same writer turns to the second name:
Next, Gibbethon, "height," has to do with our relation to God in Christ. Our place in Christ gives us at once the basis of our walk, and the power for it. To walk in Him is to walk as He walked, but it also means walking as dependent on Him and drawing from Him. It is the branch staying in the vine that makes it fruitful. Being taken up with Him is what frees us from the power of the world and of sin.
- Scattered — God's sentence on Levi was to divide him among the tribes. Verse 23 carries that sentence out, town by town.
- Given — Levi held no land, so the Lord Himself was their inheritance. Even the towns fell by lot, from His hand, not Dan's choice.
- Sown — seed left in a heap does nothing. Spread through every tribe, Levi became a blessing to the people he was scattered among.
- Reaching — Elteke and Gibbethon put God's servants inside Dan's own borders. Ordinary life in every tribe stayed within reach of the sanctuary.
- Fragile — the Philistines later took Gibbethon, and Israel's kings fought over it. A gift from God still has to be held.
Ajalon and its suburbs, Gath-Rimmon and its suburbs four cities;
This verse closes the list of towns Dan handed over to the Levites — two more names, four cities in all with their pasturelands. Behind these bare place-names sits the question the whole chapter answers: how does God provide for a tribe He left without land of its own?
The chapter keeps returning to one point: Levi received no share like the other tribes. One writer draws out what that meant for those who served God:
Notice how often, even in this chapter, Scripture points to the tribe of Levi as having no such portion, by the will of God. The Levites received no inheritance in the land. The sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel made by fire, yes, the Lord Himself, was their inheritance, as He said to them. Those who worked for the Lord stood on different ground from the rest of His people. God called them to special trust in His provision for them and in His word about them. If they failed in this, could they wonder that their words had little power?
Every city in the list comes with open land attached. That land had a set size, and the Levites lived on it:
They were to receive forty-eight cities, spread through the portions given to the other tribes. They were also to hold land around each city, reaching out 2,000 cubits — that is at least 1,000 yards, and probably a little more. This land was for their cattle and for their goods; that is, we suppose, to support them by farming. The land attached to each city may look small and not enough to us. But we must remember that these cities were very small by our standards.
Aijalon and Gath-rimmon sat inside Dan's territory, not in some Levite region. The spread was on purpose, and it began with the people doing what God had said:
The people were obedient and gave them cities out of their several inheritances. But the cities were also assigned by lot, so that the Lord assigned them their homes. How it must have pleased Him to see His Word remembered, obeyed and acted upon! They were scattered throughout the whole land of Israel… God's purpose in scattering them was, no doubt, that they might be a good influence in divine things. They were to urge the tribes to worship the Lord, to remind them of His goodness and to hold them back from idolatry.
These four cities went to the Kohathites who were not priests — the family whose ten cities fell in Ephraim, Dan and Manasseh. One writer reads that placement as fitting the character of each tribe:
The other Kohathites, picturing objective ministry, receive ten cities out of Ephraim, Dan, and half Manasseh, the reason for which as to the first and the last is evident; while Dan, too, subjective as the two others, requires the Kohathite ministry to maintain ability for self-judgment.
One writer takes the names themselves as instruction. Aijalon points to sure footing on high ground:
Aijalon, "the place of deer," suggests the quick yet firm tread of this animal. With this animal in mind it is said, "He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights" (Psalm 18:33). The "high places" belong to the weakest believer. But we need to become able to occupy them — the firm, sure tread of the deer upon the mountains.
Gath-rimmon, closing the list, points to what keeps a settled soul fresh:
Then Gath-rimmon, the "winepress of the pomegranate," speaks to us once more of the reviving power of the word of God. That word can only do its proper work when the soul is settled in this way. Then it enriches and lifts all its powers.
Aijalon was not a new name to Israel. It already carried the memory of one of the great days of the conquest, and it later slipped from Israel's grasp:
A Levite city of the Kohathites. It was in the lot of Dan (Joshua 21:24). But it was a border city, so it is also linked with Benjamin, or with Ephraim, or with Judah and Benjamin, when Rehoboam fortified the city. The Philistines took it in the reign of Ahaz. The Valley of Aijalon is the place where Joshua, while chasing the Amorites, told the sun and the moon to stand still (Joshua 10:12).
- No portion. By God's own decision Levi received no tribal land. The Lord Himself was their inheritance, and that called them to unusual trust in His provision.
- A real portion. What they did receive was solid — cities with measured open land for their livestock and crops, enough for small towns to live on.
- Placed on purpose. The tribes handed the cities over, but the lot assigned them. So God Himself set His servants across the whole land — to keep Israel worshipping Him and to hold them back from idols.
- Named on purpose. Aijalon, "the place of deer," pictures a sure tread on the heights that belong to every believer. Gath-rimmon, "the winepress of the pomegranate," pictures God's word reviving a soul already settled.
- Kept or lost. Aijalon was a border city with a great memory — the day the sun and moon stood still — yet the Philistines took it in the reign of Ahaz.
and out of half the tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and its suburbs and Gath-Rimmon and its suburbs two cities.
Joshua 21:25 ends the list of towns given to the rest of the Kohathite Levites, and the share here is small: two towns from the half-tribe of Manasseh west of the Jordan. Three questions sit behind the short entry — why Levi held no land, what the two names mean, and why 1 Chronicles names a different town.
The two towns are part of a wider share, and the family's name sets the tone for their work.
The rest of the Kohathites were given ten cities by lot in Ephraim, Dan and Manasseh. Kohath means "obedient," and stands for the ministry that holds out the Word of God and is itself fully subject to that Word. Their service had to do with the things that speak directly of Christ. They cared for the furnishings of the tabernacle (Num. 4:4-15). So Kohath's ministry would take in the blessedness of the place that all believers have "in Christ." We may be sure that every city given to them carried some spiritual meaning that fitted the character of their work.
Levi's scattering began as a sentence on sin. These town lists are where the sentence lands — and where it changes character.
First, in these Levite cities, scattered through the land, we have the fulfilment of the prophetic word about Levi, "I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel." Yet it is fulfilled here in a very different way from what we would have expected! Grace shows itself in absolute sovereignty over all the sin. What seemed to be only a penalty has become a blessing. In full keeping with God's way in grace, the one who had been under that penalty becomes a blessing to others… God keeps up His government, and for Levi's own sake he must be scattered. Seed must not lie in a heap, or it never does its work.
The two names pull in opposite directions, and one writer takes that contrast as the point.
Taanach and Gath-rimmon may therefore give us contrasting thoughts, as "sandy soil" and the pomegranate suggest… the sand of the desert is spiritually fruitful, and meant to be so. God meant the wilderness to teach Israel the great lesson of faith. For us He means the world to wean us off depending on anything but Himself, and to make us look on to our rest. So Taanach's sandy soil may be truly fruitful, and no less a picture for us because of that. Gath-rimmon may show us where faith finds refreshment and fresh strength for the road that leads to God.
The same name appears just before this in Dan's list, and one writer explains what it means:
Then Gath-rimmon, the "winepress of the pomegranate," speaks to us once more of the reviving power of the word of God. That word can only do its proper work, and enrich and lift up all the soul's powers, when the soul is settled in this way.
1 Chronicles 6 repeats this list, but names a different town here.
Levitical city in Manasseh, west of the Jordan. Joshua 21:25. In 1 Chronicles 6:69 there is also a Gath-rimmon given to the Levites, this one in the tribe of Ephraim; but it does not agree with Joshua… Then in verse 70 comes the name Bileam, and this is thought to be the same place as Gath-rimmon in Joshua 21:25.
The two names raise a question of reading. One writer argues that the meaning of the names settles it:
Bileam and Ibleam have much the same meaning, and it is the same as the meaning of the unfaithful prophet's name. Bileam is simply Balaam; and if you put that name in place of Gath-rimmon, I can see no proper sense in it.
One of the two towns was never fully taken.
An ancient Canaanite city. Joshua killed its king, but its people were not driven out.
That loss reaches beyond one town:
Taanach's lesson, like that of the wilderness, is being weaned off every dependence except God alone — again something of first importance for a man of Manasseh. But Taanach must be kept, or Bethshean cannot be kept: dependence and rest are tied together and cannot be separated.
Spreading the Levites through the tribes was the final act of settling the land.
Now that the whole land has been divided among them, the crowning act is spreading the Levites through the nation. They were the ones trusted to uphold the word of God in Israel… Israel's prosperity from first to last depended on their obedience to that word. The responsible position of the Levites stands out, and the same is true of the ministers of God, whom He has appointed to teach His people.
- Sentence. Levi's scattering began as judgment on sin — "I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel."
- Reversal. Grace turned the penalty into blessing: the one under it becomes a blessing to others.
- Sowing. Scattering was also needed for Levi's own sake — seed must not lie in a heap, or it never does its work.
- Errand. Kohath's name means "obedient," and the Levites were spread through every tribe to uphold God's word; Israel's prosperity from first to last hung on obedience to it.
- Two towns. Taanach, "sandy soil," teaches dependence on God — yet its Canaanites were never driven out; Gath-rimmon, "winepress of the pomegranate," is where faith finds refreshment in God's word.
All the cities were ten and their suburbs, for the families of the children of Kohath that remained.
This verse closes the count for one branch of Levi. The Kohathite families who were not priests received ten towns in Ephraim, Dan and Manasseh. Why did one tribe of Israel own no land of its own? And why were its families placed among all the others?
Levi was left without land on purpose. The towns they did receive came to them twice over: the tribes handed them out, and the lot placed them.
Chapters 13:14, 33 and 14:3, 4 tell us that Moses gave no inheritance to the Levites. The Lord was their inheritance. After the tribes had received their shares, the family heads of the Levites came to Joshua and Eleazar with a request. They based their request on the Word of God spoken to Moses… The people obeyed and gave them cities out of their own inheritances. But the cities were also assigned by lot, so the Lord Himself chose where they would live. How it must have pleased Him to see His Word remembered, obeyed and acted upon!
The verse counts pasturelands along with the towns.
So the tribes had to give cities to the Levites, with land around the cities where they could care for their livestock.
Kohath's family splits into two groups here. This verse counts the second group, "the rest of the Kohathites."
Aaron came from Kohath's family, and the lot gave his family, the priests, thirteen cities from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin. This was fitting, for Jerusalem, God's centre, was on the borders of Judah and Benjamin, and Simeon's land lay inside Judah. So the priests would be near God's sanctuary, to do service there. The lot then gave the rest of the Kohathites ten cities in Ephraim, Dan and Manasseh. Kohath means "obedient," and stands for the objective ministry of the Word of God that is itself fully subject to that Word. Their service touched the things that speak of Christ. They cared for the furnishings of the tabernacle (Num. 4:4-15), so that Kohath's ministry would involve the blessedness of the position that all believers have "in Christ." We may be sure that all the cities allotted to them had some spiritual significance consistent with the character of their work.
Two things meet in these scattered towns. The words that divided Levi were first a sentence of judgment, and here they become the shape of Levi's usefulness.
The inheritance has now been described. The Levites, as a tribe, have no territory of their own, so their portion is forty-two cities scattered throughout Israel. This shows two things at once. It shows the unbending judgment of God: "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." It also shows His grace, which rejoices over judgment and turns it into a means of blessing. Scattered through the land and linked with God's centre at the tabernacle, the Levites would answer to the meaning of their name. And as those "joined" to all the tribes, they would unite them into one whole.
Levi received no land, but a task. The towns put teachers within reach of ordinary households, and that task reaches past Joshua's day.
The Levites carried the solemn responsibility and high privilege of teaching Israel the law of the Lord. "They shall teach Jacob Your rules and Israel Your law." (Deut. 33:10.) In the day of blessing for Israel that is still to come, the prophet says of Levi, "They shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the common, and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean" (Ezek. 44:23).
The scattering also worked as a guard. Their presence everywhere was meant "to urge the tribes to worship Jehovah, to remind them of His goodness and to restrain them from idolatry" (Gaebelein).
The plan was good. The men in it often were not.
The Levites were present in all the tribes, and this ought to have kept Israel united. Yet their presence did not keep the tribes from dividing in the time of Rehoboam (1 Kings 12:1-23). Sad to say, the Levites themselves seemed to have little sense of the great dignity God gave them when He chose them for their work. Instead of being drawn together in unity, they show an independent spirit in the book of Judges, where Levites sought only their own will (Judges 17:7-13; 19:1-2).
The same weight rests on teachers today: "The responsible position of the Levites stands out clearly, and so does that of the ministers of God, whom He has appointed to be the instructors of His people" (H Forbes Witherby).
- Scattered by sentence — Levi's scattering began as God's judgment: "I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel."
- Scattered by gift — the same scattering became God's grace, spreading a tribe "joined" to the Lord through every part of Israel.
- Scattered by lot — the towns came from the tribes' own land, yet the lot meant the Lord Himself chose where each family lived.
- Scattered to teach — no acres for Levi, only a task: teach Jacob His rules and keep Israel from idols.
- Scattered but unaware — in Judges and in Rehoboam's day, Levites missed the dignity God gave them. The same warning stands over anyone who teaches God's people.