Chapter Twenty-One

1–7. The request of the leaders of the Levite clans in the gathering at Shiloh for cities for dwelling, and the distribution by lot of the cities appointed by the Israelite tribes among the three clans of the Levite tribe. 8–42. A list of the appointed cities. 43–45. The fulfillment of God’s promises concerning the giving of the land of Canaan to the Israelite people and victories over enemies.

Joshua 21:1. Then the leaders of the Levite clans came to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the leaders of the clans of the Israelites, Joshua 21:2. and they said to them in Shiloh, in the land of Canaan, and said: The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities to dwell in, with pasture lands for our cattle. The Levite tribe consisted of three clans: Gershonites, Kohathites, and Merarites (Num 3:17-20). The divine promise on which the leaders of the clans based their request for cities for dwelling was given to Moses (Num 35:1-8).

Joshua 21:4. And the lot came out for the Kohathite clans; and to the sons of Aaron the priest, Levites, from the tribe of Judah, and from the tribe of Simeon, and from the tribe of Benjamin, there fell thirteen cities; The distribution of the cities appointed by the Israelite tribes for the Levite tribe among the clans of the latter was effected by lot (Josh 14:2), which determined which of the Levite clans should receive the cities appointed by one or another tribe. The first lot fell to the clan of Kohath, which consisted of four families (Exod 6:18), the oldest of which was the family of Amram, which at that time consisted of two houses: of Aaron and of Moses (Exod 6:20). “The house of Aaron the priest,” representing the senior line in the clan of Kohath both by descent and by service in the congregation of the Lord, received precisely the cities appointed for Levites from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin in the number of thirteen. The designation by lot of cities in these particular tribes, rather than in the tribe of Ephraim, in whose territory the Tabernacle of the congregation was situated at that time, is not a chance occurrence, but a significant event in view of the closest proximity of the dwelling places of the priests, designated by lot, to the Temple of Jerusalem.

Joshua 21:5. and to the remaining sons of Kohath from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, and of Dan, and of half the tribe of Manasseh, by lot, there fell ten cities; “And to the remaining sons of Kohath,” that is, the junior line of the family of Amram, consisting of the house of Moses and the families of Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel (Exod 6:18), there fell by lot cities in the territories of Ephraim, Dan, and the land west of the Jordan half of the tribe of Manasseh, in the number of ten.

Joshua 21:6. As for the sons of Gershon, from the clans of the tribe of Issachar, and the tribe of Asher, and the tribe of Naphtali, and the half of the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, by lot, there fell thirteen cities; Joshua 21:7. As for the sons of Merari, by their clans, from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zebulun – twelve cities. Joshua 21:8. And the Israelites gave to the Levites these cities with their pasture lands, as the Lord commanded through Moses, by lot. The clans of Gershon and Merari received the remaining twenty-five cities in the territories of other western and eastern Jordanic tribes. The appointment of forty-eight cities for the Levite tribe, which according to the last census numbered twenty-three thousand men (Num 26:62), is explained, firstly, by the fact that cities in the land of Canaan were at that time not large and generally consisted of a small number of inhabitants, and secondly, by the fact that these cities were not occupied solely by priests or Levites, but together with them lived members of the tribe in whose territory they were located, as is especially evident from what is said concerning Beth-shemesh, being a priestly city, whose inhabitants, who reaped wheat and then brought a burnt offering to the Lord, are clearly distinguished from the Levites who took the Ark of the Lord and set it on a great stone (1 Sam 6:13). In appointing cities to the Levite tribe, consideration was naturally given to its increase in numbers in subsequent times. Some of these cities were also to have houses for involuntary manslayers. As for the number of priests who made up the house of Aaron at the time of the division of the land of Canaan, it is not known with precision, but cannot be represented as very small, consisting as it did of Eleazar and Ithamar (Num 3:2). The considerable number of them at that time is evident from the fact that at the crossing of the Jordan, the priests not only bore the Ark of the Covenant but also held it on their shoulders for the whole time during which the people crossed the Jordan, and at the marching around Jericho, besides the priests who bore the Ark of the Covenant, there were seven priests who blew the jubilee trumpets. The twenty-fourth chapter of 1 Chronicles (1 Chr 24:4) presents clear indication that the sons of Aaron, Eleazar and Ithamar, had twenty-four sons who became heads of twenty-four priestly families, among whom the service at the sanctuary was distributed in David’s time. And since at the beginning of the second year after the exodus from Egypt (Exod 40:12-15; Lev 9:1) these sons of Aaron were already priests, that is, of full age, after forty years their children were also of full age and had children themselves. Through three generations the posterity of Aaron would have multiplied to several hundred males.

Joshua 21:9. And from the tribe of the sons of Judah, and from the tribe of the sons of Simeon, [and from the tribe of the sons of Benjamin] they gave cities, which are here named: Joshua 21:10. To the sons of Aaron, from the clans of the Kohathites, from the sons of Levi [since the first lot was theirs], Joshua 21:11. they gave Kirjath-arba (the father of Anak), that is, Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with its pasture lands; Joshua 21:12. but the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh. Joshua 21:13. And to the sons of Aaron the priest they gave the city of refuge for the manslayer – Hebron with its pasture lands, and Libnah with its pasture lands, Joshua 21:14. Jattir with its pasture lands, and Eshtemoa with its pasture lands, Joshua 21:15. Holon with its pasture lands, and Debir with its pasture lands, Joshua 21:16. Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands: nine cities from these two tribes; Joshua 21:17. and from the tribe of Benjamin: Gibeon with its pasture lands, and Geba with its pasture lands, Joshua 21:18. Anathoth with its pasture lands, and Almon with its pasture lands: four cities. Joshua 21:19. All the cities of the sons of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their pasture lands. Of the thirteen cities that fell to the priests, eleven were mentioned in the previous chapters and indicated by their location (Hebron, Josh 10:3; Libnah, Josh 10:29; Jattir, Josh 15:48; Eshtemoa, Josh 15:50; Holon, Josh 15:51; Debir, Josh 10:38; Ain, Josh 19:7; Juttah, Josh 15:55; Beth-shemesh, Josh 15:10; Gibeon, Josh 9:3; Geba, Josh 18:28). Of the two other cities, Anathoth was situated an hour’s journey to the northeast of Jerusalem, and at its present location is the Muslim village of Anata; from the summit of the hill on which the village is situated, a wide view opens out over the Jordan valley and the mountains beyond the Jordan. Almon, now the place of the ruins Almit, is about twenty minutes to the northeast of Anata. The cities given to the priests are also listed in 1 Chr 6:54-60.

Joshua 21:20. And to the clans of the sons of Kohath, the Levites, the remaining sons of Kohath, by their lot, there fell cities from the tribe of Ephraim; Joshua 21:21. they gave them the city of refuge for the manslayer – Shechem with its pasture lands, in the hill country of Ephraim, and Gezer with its pasture lands, Joshua 21:22. Kibzaim with its pasture lands, and Beth-horon with its pasture lands: four cities; Joshua 21:23. from the tribe of Dan: Eltekeh with its pasture lands, and Gibbethon with its pasture lands, Joshua 21:24. Aijalon with its pasture lands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands: four cities; Joshua 21:25. and from the half of the tribe of Manasseh: Taanach with its pasture lands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands: two cities. Joshua 21:26. All the cities of the remaining clans of the sons of Kohath, with their pasture lands, were ten. Of the ten cities received by the remaining families of the clan of Kohath, eight cities are mentioned in the previous chapters (Shechem, Josh 17:7; Gezer, Josh 10:33; Beth-horon – upper (Josh 10:10) or lower (Josh 16:3); Eltekeh and Gibbethon, Josh 19:44; Aijalon, Josh 19:42; Gath-rimmon, Josh 19:45; Taanach, Josh 12:21). Of the other two, Kibzaim remains unknown as to its location. As for Gath-rimmon, given to the Kohathites from the half-tribe of Manasseh, this name is identical according to the present Hebrew text with what a city of the tribe of Dan bore, as named in Josh 21:24, and is recognized by commentators following the Hebrew text that entered it through the error of an ancient scribe 215. In 1 Chr 6:70 the second city given from the half-tribe of Manasseh to the Kohathites bears the name Bileam, according to the Slavonic Bible Ievlaam, in accordance with the Greek manuscripts. This last name is identical with Ievlaam according to the Slavonic Bible, as Ivleam was called according to the Hebrew text, which belonged to the half-tribe of Manasseh (Josh 17:11) 216.

Joshua 21:27. And to the sons of Gershon, from the clans of the Levites, they gave: from the half of the tribe of Manasseh the city of refuge for the manslayer – Golan in Bashan with its pasture lands, and Beeshterah with its pasture lands: two cities; Joshua 21:28. from the tribe of Issachar: Kishion with its pasture lands, and Daberath with its pasture lands, Joshua 21:29. Jarmuth with its pasture lands, and En-gannim with its pasture lands: four cities; Joshua 21:30. from the tribe of Asher: Mishal with its pasture lands, and Abdon with its pasture lands, Joshua 21:31. Helkath with its pasture lands, and Rehob with its pasture lands: four cities; Joshua 21:32. from the tribe of Naphtali the city of refuge for the manslayer – Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands, Hammoth-dor with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands: three cities. Joshua 21:33. All the cities of the sons of Gershon, according to their clans, were thirteen cities with their pasture lands. Of the thirteen cities given to the clan of Gershon, the names of nine cities clearly correspond to those indicated in the previous chapters (Golan, Josh 20:8; Kishion, Josh 19:20; Daberath, Josh 19:12; En-gannim, Josh 19:21; Mishal, Josh 19:26; Helkath, Josh 19:25; Rehob, Josh 19:28; Kedesh in Galilee, Josh 19:37; Kedesh and Hammoth-dor, Hamath Josh 19:35). The other four city names require explanation. Beeshterah (Βοσορα, Βεεθαρα, Beesthere; in the translation of Jerome – Bosra) is distinguished by some scholars from Ashtaroth (Josh 9:10) as bearing a different name (in the LXX Ασταρωθ – Slav. Astaraf) and is recognized as Bosra, the former chief city of Gauran, which, according to Eusebius (Ασταρωθ), was thirty-one Roman stadia (about forty-three versts) to the east of Ashtaroth. In Eusebius, Beesthere, corresponding to the biblical Beeshterah, is also distinguished, as one may suppose, from Ashtaroth. With all this, the identification of Beeshterah with Bosra is subject to doubt, especially in view of the fact that in 1 Chr 6:71, where the cities given to the clan of Gershon are enumerated, instead of Beeshterah the Hebrew text sets the name Ashtaroth, that is, the name borne by the capital of the Bashan king according to the indication of Josh 9:10 and other places. This explanation, given by the writer of 1 Chronicles, should, of course, have greater significance than considerations based on ancient translations and examination of the locality. Beeshterah thus represents a somewhat different, but cognate name based on the name of the goddess Astarte, perhaps a shortened form (from the words “beit Ashtera” – house of Ashtera) of the name of Ashtarah, which was located within the land west of the Jordan of the tribe of Manasseh, at the place of the present Tel-Agotera, to the north of Hieromyces. Jarmuth (Ρεμμαθ, Ιερμαθ, Iermof) given to the Levites from the tribe of Issachar represents also a somewhat different name of the same city which in Josh 19:21 is indicated under the name Remeth (Ρεμμας, Ρεμαθ, Ramath). The basis for such identification is the obvious similarity of both names, especially according to the Vatican manuscript, and the fact that Jarmuth and Remeth in both places of the biblical text precede the name of the city En-gannim – Abdon (Δαββων, Αβδων, Abdon) 217, given by the tribe of Asher, do not appear in the enumeration of the cities of this tribe. The opinion of some commentators that Abdon corresponds to the Hebron mentioned in Josh 19:28, whose name entered the Hebrew text instead of the original Abdon due to a scribe’s error, is not without foundation; the latter consists in the fact that in twenty codices of the Hebrew text in Josh 19:28 Abdon is read 218. The site of Abdon is now indicated not far from the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, about six versts to the east of Achzib (Josh 19:29) in Abde, as the ruins are called. Kartan (Θεμμων, Νοεμμων, Noemmon) is unknown as to its location.

Joshua 21:34. To the clans of the sons of Merari, the remaining Levites, they gave: from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasture lands, and Kartah with its pasture lands, Joshua 21:35. Dimna with its pasture lands, and Nahalal with its pasture lands: four cities; Joshua 21:36. [on the other side of the Jordan opposite Jericho] from the tribe of Reuben [was given the city of refuge for the manslayer] Bezer [in the wilderness of Mishor] with its pasture lands, and Jahaz with its pasture lands, Joshua 21:37. Kedemoth with its pasture lands, and Mephaath with its pasture lands: four cities; Joshua 21:38. from the tribe of Gad: the cities of refuge for the manslayer – Ramoth in Gilead with its pasture lands, and Mahanaim with its pasture lands, Joshua 21:39. Heshbon with its pasture lands, and Jazer with its pasture lands: all the cities four. Joshua 21:40. All the cities of the sons of Merari, according to their clans, the remaining Levite clans, by lot, were twelve cities. Of the twelve cities given to the clan of Merari, on both sides of the Jordan, ten cities are mentioned in the previous chapters (Jokneam, Josh 12:22; Bezer, Josh 20:8; Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, Josh 13:18; Ramoth in Gilead, Josh 20:8; Mahanaim, Josh 13:26; Heshbon, Josh 13:17; and Jazer, Josh 13:25). The remaining two cities, Kartah and Dimna, are unknown as to their location. In Josh 21:36 the words in brackets “[on the other side of the Jordan opposite Jericho... in the wilderness of Mishor]” are not found in the present Hebrew text, in whose editions the verses Josh 21:36-37 are omitted or printed at the bottom below the line. But they are found in the translation of the LXX, in both its oldest and latest manuscripts, on the basis of which they are translated in the Slavonic and Russian Bible; in the latter the translation follows the text of the Alexandrian manuscript. That these verses were originally found in the Hebrew text is evident, besides the testimony of the LXX translation, from Josh 20:7, where it is said that the sons of Merari received cities from the tribe of Reuben; the Levite cities of that tribe are enumerated in the indicated verses.

Joshua 21:42. With these cities there were pasture lands around each city; thus it was with all these cities. [When Joshua had finished dividing the land according to its borders, then the Israelites gave a portion to Joshua the son of Nun according to the command of the Lord, and gave him the city that he asked for – Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim – and he built the city and lived in it. And Joshua took flint knives, with which he circumcised the Israelites who were born on the way in the wilderness, because they had not been circumcised in the wilderness; and he put them in Timnath-serah]. The words placed here in brackets “[when Joshua had finished dividing the land... in Timnath-serah]” are not found in the Hebrew text, but are read in the translation of the LXX, according to both its oldest and latest manuscripts. The first half of them is a repetition of what is said in Josh 19:49-50; the second is an addition made by the Greek translators. In the time of Origen these words were already found in the manuscripts of the LXX translation, as is evident from a special sign (obelos) preserved in some of them, indicating the absence of these words in the Hebrew text. The possibility of the omission of these words in later Hebrew manuscripts is ruled out by the fact that they are absent in the Syriac translation 219 and in the translation of Jerome. The confirmation of information about the flint knives placed by Joshua the son of Nun in Timnath-serah through a discovery made in the tomb of Anbia (Josh 19:50) proves ineffective 220; in the identification of the city of Joshua the son of Nun with Kefar Hores, the tomb itself is transferred to a different place, and through this the connection with what was found in the tomb of Anbia is broken. In view of this, the words of the LXX translation cited above may justly be recognized as an addition made by the Greek translators on the basis of an existing tradition or narrative of their time, which they so highly valued that they appended it as an addition to the biblical text.

Joshua 21:43. Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that He swore to give to their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled in it. Joshua 21:44. And the Lord gave them rest on all sides, as He had sworn to their ancestors, and no enemy stood against any of them; the Lord handed all their enemies over into their hands. Joshua 21:45. Not one of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass. The exposition of the second part of the Book of Joshua concludes with the indication of the complete fulfillment on the Lord’s part of the promises given to the Israelite people: the people took possession of the land of Canaan, and no enemy rose up against their dominion over it. If the land was not completely cleared of the former inhabitants and the latter hindered the new masters from enjoying certain areas, then the Lord had not promised their immediate destruction (Exod 23:29-30; Deut 7:22). This clearing of the land from the remaining Canaanites was to be accomplished by the efforts of the people themselves, with God’s help, which was always given when it was asked for. If this did not happen, the cause was the absence not only of common national efforts, but also of the efforts of individual tribes in expelling the Canaanites from their territories at a time when they were able to do so (Josh 17:13). * * * See, for example, Keil. Iosua, 167. To the name Gath-rimmon in Josh 21:25, in the Alexandrian and other manuscripts there correspond Βαιθσα or Βαιθσαν (Vatican manuscript Ιεβαθα), according to the Slavonic Bible “Vefsan”, as the city was called that belonged also to the half-tribe of Manasseh (Josh 17:11). But this Vefsan was not a Levite city. In the LXX this name is transmitted in the Vatican manuscript. Keil. Iosua, 157. It should, however, be noted that Hebron in the LXX bears other names, different from those which designate Abdon; it is namely called Ελβων, Αχραν. Akhran in ancient manuscripts. Holy Land, 2:317. Ibid., p. 323.