Joshua 21: The towns of the Levites

In plain English: Then the heads of the Levite families came to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the families of the tribes of Israel.

In plain English: They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan: "Yahweh commanded through Moses (literally: by the hand of Moses) that we be given towns to live in, with their pasture lands for our livestock."

The Hebrew word: "Pasture lands" is migrash, which the dictionary gives as "a suburb (i.e. open country whither flocks are driven from pasture)": the open land around a town.

How it is translated: This Bible says "pasture land" or "pasture lands" in 68 of the 69 verses that use migrash, and in all 33 of them in Joshua.

Good to know: The command the Levites remember is in Numbers 35:2 to 8. The tribe of Levi gets no land of its own, as 13:14 and 13:33 said; these towns are where the Levites live.

In plain English: So the Israelites gave the Levites these towns and their pasture lands out of their own inheritance, as Yahweh had commanded (literally: at the mouth of Yahweh).

In plain English: The lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. The sons of Aaron the priest, who were Levites, received thirteen towns by lot from the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Simeon, and the tribe of Benjamin.

In plain English: The rest of the sons of Kohath received ten towns by lot from the families of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.

In plain English: The sons of Gershon received thirteen towns by lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

In plain English: The sons of Merari, family by family, received twelve towns from the tribe of Reuben, from the tribe of Gad, and from the tribe of Zebulun.

In plain English: The Israelites gave these towns and their pasture lands to the Levites by lot, as Yahweh had commanded through Moses.

In plain English: From the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Simeon they gave these towns, which are named here (literally: which he called by name):

In plain English: they went to the sons of Aaron, of the Kohathite families of the Levites, because the first lot was theirs.

In plain English: They gave them Kiriath Arba, named after the father of Anak, which is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with the pasture lands around it.

In plain English: But the fields of the town and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his own property.

Good to know: Hebron was given to Caleb in 14:13 and 15:13. Here the town and its pasture lands go to the priests, and the fields of the town and its villages go to Caleb as his own property (verse 12).

In plain English: To the sons of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the killer, with its pasture lands, and Libnah with its pasture lands,

In plain English: Jattir with its pasture lands, Eshtemoa with its pasture lands,

In plain English: Holon with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands,

In plain English: Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth Shemesh with its pasture lands: nine towns from these two tribes.

In plain English: From the tribe of Benjamin: Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands,

In plain English: Anathoth with its pasture lands, and Almon with its pasture lands: four towns.

In plain English: All the towns of the sons of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen towns with their pasture lands.

In plain English: The rest of the families of the sons of Kohath, the Levites, received the towns of their lot from the tribe of Ephraim.

In plain English: They gave them Shechem, the city of refuge for the killer, with its pasture lands in the hill country of Ephraim, and Gezer with its pasture lands,

In plain English: Kibzaim with its pasture lands, and Beth Horon with its pasture lands: four towns.

In plain English: From the tribe of Dan: Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands,

In plain English: Aijalon with its pasture lands, and Gath Rimmon with its pasture lands: four towns.

In plain English: From the half-tribe of Manasseh: Taanach with its pasture lands, and Gath Rimmon with its pasture lands: two towns.

In plain English: All the towns for the families of the rest of the sons of Kohath were ten, with their pasture lands.

In plain English: To the sons of Gershon, of the Levite families, they gave from the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan, the city of refuge for the killer, with its pasture lands, and Be Eshterah with its pasture lands: two towns.

In plain English: From the tribe of Issachar: Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands,

In plain English: Jarmuth with its pasture lands, and En Gannim with its pasture lands: four towns.

In plain English: From the tribe of Asher: Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands,

In plain English: Helkath with its pasture lands, and Rehob with its pasture lands: four towns.

In plain English: From the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee, the city of refuge for the killer, with its pasture lands, Hammoth Dor with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands: three towns.

In plain English: All the towns of the Gershonites, family by family, were thirteen towns with their pasture lands.

In plain English: To the families of the sons of Merari, the rest of the Levites, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun: Jokneam with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands,

In plain English: Dimnah with its pasture lands, and Nahalal with its pasture lands: four towns.

In plain English: From the tribe of Reuben: Bezer with its pasture lands, Jahaz with its pasture lands,

Good to know: Verses 36 and 37 are missing in the Leningrad Codex, the old Hebrew manuscript that this study's Hebrew word list follows. That list fills them in from 1 Chronicles 6, which names the same four towns for Reuben (1 Chronicles 6:78 and 6:79, where Jahaz is spelled Jahzah). This Bible prints both verses, and so does the old Greek translation (the Septuagint), with some of the names different. Verse 40 gives Merari twelve towns: four from Zebulun (verses 34 and 35), four from Reuben (these two verses), and four from Gad (verses 38 and 39).

In plain English: Kedemoth with its pasture lands, and Mephaath with its pasture lands: four towns.

In plain English: From the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead, the city of refuge for the killer, with its pasture lands, and Mahanaim with its pasture lands,

In plain English: Heshbon with its pasture lands, and Jazer with its pasture lands: four towns in all.

In plain English: All these were the towns of the sons of Merari, family by family, the rest of the Levite families. Their lot was twelve towns.

In plain English: All the towns of the Levites within the land the Israelites owned were forty-eight towns with their pasture lands.

Good to know: Forty-eight towns is the number Yahweh gave Moses in Numbers 35:7, six of them cities of refuge (35:6). Long before, Jacob had said of Simeon and Levi, "I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel" (Genesis 49:7). The text of Joshua does not link the two.

In plain English: Each of these towns had its pasture lands around it. It was so with all these towns.

In plain English: So Yahweh gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give to their fathers. They took it over and lived in it.

Good to know: Verses 43 to 45 say Yahweh gave Israel all the land and that every good word came true. Earlier Yahweh tells Joshua that very much land is still to be taken (13:1), the text says that Judah could not drive out the Jebusites (15:63), and in 23:4 and 23:5 Joshua speaks of nations that remain. The text does not say how these fit together, and readers explain it in different ways.

In plain English: Yahweh gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies stood against them. Yahweh gave all their enemies into their hand.

In plain English: Not one of all the good things that Yahweh had spoken to the house of Israel failed (literally: not a word fell from every good word). Every one came true.

Good to know: Joshua says nearly the same in 23:14, and Solomon says it again in 1 Kings 8:56: "There has not failed one word of all his good promise."