A Deep Dive into Joshua 21: Every Promise Kept.

A Place for God's Ministers

With the land divided, the leaders of the Levites gather at Shiloh to receive their portion. This chapter details the fulfillment of a promise made back in the book of Numbers. It unfolds as a systematic and orderly distribution, showing how God provides for those He has set apart for His service by scattering them throughout the nation they were meant to serve.

The Levites' Request and God's Plan  (Joshua 21:1-8)

¹ Then the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel.
² And they said to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, "The Lord commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, along with their pasturelands for our livestock."
³ So by command of the Lord the people of Israel gave to the Levites the following cities and pasturelands out of their inheritance.
⁴ And the lot came out for the clans of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, thirteen cities.
⁵ And the rest of the Kohathites received by lot from the clans of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.
⁶ And the rest of the Kohathites received by lot from the clans of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.
⁷ The sons of Merari according to their clans received twelve cities as their inheritance.
⁸ And the people of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities and their pasturelands, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

Cities for the Priestly Line  (Joshua 21:9-19)

⁹ And they gave out from the tribe of the people of Judah and the tribe of the people of Simeon these cities mentioned by name,
¹⁰ which the people of Aaron, of the clans of the Kohathites who were of the people of Levi, had, for the lot fell to them.
¹¹ They gave them Kiriath-arba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasturelands around it.
¹² But the fields of the city and its villages had been given to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.
¹³ And to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands, Libnah with its pasturelands,
¹⁴ And Jattir with its pasturelands, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands,
¹⁵ And the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the people of Israel were in all forty-eight cities with their pasturelands.
¹⁶ Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands,
¹⁷ Then out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its pasturelands,
¹⁸ Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its pasturelands - four cities.
¹⁹ All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the people of Israel were forty-eight in all, with their pasturelands.

Cities for the Rest of the Levites  (Joshua 21:20-40)

²⁰ and out of the tribe of the people of Ephraim, Kibzaim with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Mahanaim with its pasturelands,
²¹ Then they gave Hebron to the descendants of Aaron the priest as a city of refuge for the manslayer, Libnah with its pasturelands,
²² And Kibzaim with its pasturelands, Beth-horon with its pasturelands, four cities.
²³ Out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with its pasturelands, Gibbethon with its pasturelands,
²⁴ And the leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah the son of Ammihud, Sherebiah the son of Bunni,
²⁵ And from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands - two cities.
²⁶ All that the Levites left in return for their cities was their common land, as the possession of their cities.
²⁷ And to the Gershonites, one of the clans of the Levites, were given out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Beeshterah with its pasturelands - two cities.
²⁸ And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands,
²⁹ Jarmuth with its pasturelands, En-gannim with its pasturelands, and Beth-horon with its pasturelands.
³⁰ And out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Aner with its pasturelands, and Bileam with its pasturelands, for the rest of the clans of the Kohathites.
³¹ These were the cities designated for all the people of the people of Israel and for the stranger sojourning among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation.
³² And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Hammoth-dor with its pasturelands, and Kartan with its pasturelands.
³³ All the cities of the Gershonites according to their clans were thirteen cities with their pasturelands.
³⁴ And to the rest of the Levites, the Merarite clans were given out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasturelands, Kartah with its pasturelands,
³⁵ Jarmuth with its pasturelands, En-gannim with its pasturelands,
³⁶ All these were cities with their pasturelands.
³⁷ Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands - four cities.
³⁸ And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Mahanaim with its pasturelands,
³⁹ Heshbon with its pasturelands, Jazer with its pasturelands - four cities in all.
⁴⁰ All these cities with their pasturelands totaled forty-eight cities.

The Grand Total  (Joshua 21:41-42)

⁴¹ All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the people of Israel were forty-eight in all, with their pasturelands.
⁴² These cities each had its surrounding pasturelands. So it was with all these cities.

Every Promise Fulfilled  (Joshua 21:43-45)

⁴³ Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there.
⁴⁴ And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands.
⁴⁵ Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.