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Evening over an Israelite hill village after the harvest: terraced fields of golden stubble with stacked sheaves, a flock coming home along a stone-walled track, and thin cooking smoke rising from flat roofs.

The Book of

Joshua 21

Forty-eight towns for the Levites, and then the sentence the whole book has been waiting for.

45 verses≈ 6 min3 peopleBSB

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–5Crossing overInto the land
  2. 6–12Taking the landThe LORD fights for Israel
  3. 13–21Dividing the landAn inheritance for each tribeChapter 21
  4. 22–24Choose this dayServe the LORD

Forty-Eight Cities for the Levites

Morning at Shiloh before the linen court of the tent of meeting: a group of older Levite men, seen from behind, stand before old Joshua and Eleazar the priest, with tribal leaders gathered at the side.

Now the family heads of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the other tribes of Israel at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and said to them, “The LORD commanded through Moses that we be given cities in which to live, together with pasturelands for our livestock.”

So by the command of the LORD, the Israelites gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands out of their own inheritance:

0:25

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

The cities

Four lots for Levi

  1. Kohath

    The first lot: Kohath’s clans

    The first lot came out for the Kohathite clans.

  2. The priests

    Aaron’s line: thirteen cities

    The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

  3. Kohath

    The other Kohathites: ten cities

    The remaining descendants of Kohath received ten cities by lot from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

  4. Gershon

    Gershon: thirteen cities

    The descendants of Gershon received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

  5. Merari

    Merari: twelve cities

    And the descendants of Merari received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

  6. In all

    Given as the LORD commanded

    So the Israelites allotted to the Levites these cities, together with their pasturelands, as the LORD had commanded through Moses.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

From the tribes of Judah and Simeon, they designated these cities by name to the descendants of Aaron from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because the first lot fell to them:

They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pasturelands, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.)

But they had given the fields and villages around the city to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.

Morning on a ridge in Benjamin: a small village of flat-roofed stone houses among pasture with goats, and to the east the bare wilderness falling away in pale folds toward the Jordan valley.

The cities

Thirteen cities for the priests

  1. Judah and Simeon

    Hebron, a refuge city, and Libnah

    So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave these cities, together with their pasturelands: Hebron, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Libnah,

  2. Jattir, Eshtemoa

    Jattir, Eshtemoa,

  3. Holon, Debir

    Holon, Debir,

  4. Ain, Juttah, Beth-shemesh: nine

    Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine cities from these two tribes, together with their pasturelands.

  5. Benjamin

    Gibeon, Geba

    And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave them Gibeon, Geba,

  6. Anathoth, Almon: four

    Anathoth, and Almon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

  7. In all

    Thirteen for the priests

    In all, thirteen cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

Reflect

Out of their own inheritance

The Levites had no land of their own, so every tribe gave up towns from its share: “the Israelites gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands out of their own inheritance.” Judah gave Hebron, the town Caleb had fought for. Benjamin gave Anathoth and Gibeon. What has God given you that He may be asking you to share with those who serve Him and His people? Write it down, and one way you could give it gladly this week.

The cities

The rest of Kohath

  1. Ephraim

    The rest of Kohath’s clans

    The remaining Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted these cities:

    From the tribe of Ephraim

  2. Shechem, a refuge city, and Gezer

    they were given Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Gezer,

  3. Kibzaim, Beth-horon: four

    Kibzaim, and Beth-horon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

  4. Dan

    Elteke, Gibbethon

    From the tribe of Dan they were given Elteke, Gibbethon,

  5. Aijalon, Gath-rimmon: four

    Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

  6. West Manasseh

    Taanach, Gath-rimmon: two

    And from the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Taanach and Gath-rimmon—two cities, together with their pasturelands.

  7. In all

    Ten for the rest of Kohath

    In all, ten cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the rest of the Kohathite clans.

This is what the Levite clans of the Gershonites were given:

From the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Golan in Bashan, a city of refuge for the manslayer, and Beeshterah—two cities, together with their pasturelands.

The cities

The Gershonites

  1. Issachar

    Kishion, Daberath

    From the tribe of Issachar they were given Kishion, Daberath,

  2. Jarmuth, En-gannim: four

    Jarmuth, and En-gannim—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

  3. Asher

    Mishal, Abdon

    From the tribe of Asher they were given Mishal, Abdon,

  4. Helkath, Rehob: four

    Helkath, and Rehob—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

  5. Naphtali

    Kedesh, a refuge city, and two more

    And from the tribe of Naphtali they were given Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Hammoth-dor, and Kartan—three cities, together with their pasturelands.

  6. In all

    Thirteen for Gershon

    In all, thirteen cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the Gershonite clans.

Question

Quick question

The Levites’ towns were shared out by lot, clan by clan, just as the tribes’ land had been.

Whose lot came out first for the Levites’ cities?

The cities

The Merarites

  1. Zebulun

    Jokneam, Kartah

    This is what the Merarite clan (the rest of the Levites) were given:

    From the tribe of Zebulun they were given Jokneam, Kartah,

  2. Dimnah, Nahalal: four

    Dimnah, and Nahalal—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

  3. Reuben

    Bezer, Jahaz

    From the tribe of Reuben they were given Bezer, Jahaz,

  4. Kedemoth, Mephaath: four

    Kedemoth, and Mephaath—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

  5. Gad

    Ramoth, a refuge city, Mahanaim

    And from the tribe of Gad they were given Ramoth in Gilead, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Mahanaim,

  6. Heshbon, Jazer: four

    Heshbon, and Jazer—four cities in all, together with their pasturelands.

  7. In all

    Twelve for Merari

    In all, twelve cities were allotted to the clans of Merari, the remaining Levite clans.

For the Levites, then, there were forty-eight cities in all, together with their pasturelands, within the territory of the Israelites. Each of these cities had its own surrounding pasturelands; this was true for all the cities.

Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel had failed; everything was fulfilled.

Joshua 21:45

Pray

Every word kept

Hundreds of years after God spoke to Abraham, the book can say it plainly: “Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel had failed; everything was fulfilled.” Thank God that He has never broken His word, not once. Then bring Him the promises you are still waiting on, and ask Him for faith to trust Him in the waiting as Israel learned to.

From promise to fulfillment

To Abraham‘to your offspring’(Genesis 12:7)Sworn to thefathersIsaac and JacobThrough Mosesthe borders drawn(Numbers 34)The land givenpossessed and settled(21:43)Rest on everysideno enemy could stand(21:44)Not one failedeverything fulfilled(21:45)Yes in Christevery promise (2Corinthians 1:20)

Whiteboard

God promised the land to Abraham, swore it again to Isaac and Jacob, and drew its borders through Moses. Now Joshua 21 closes the account: “the LORD gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers,” and “Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel had failed.” The same faithful God has made every promise ‘Yes’ in Christ.

You’ve experienced

Joshua 21

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A verse to carry with you

Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel had failed; everything was fulfilled.

Joshua 21:45

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