J
O S H U A
CHAP. XXI.
It
had been often said that the tribe of Levi should have "no inheritance
with their brethren," no particular part of the country assigned them, as
the other tribes had, no, not the country about Shiloh, which one might have
expected to be appropriated to them as the lands of the church; but, though
they were not thus cast into a country by themselves, it appears, by the
provision made for them in this chapter, that they were no losers, but the
rest of the tribes were very much gainers, by their being dispersed. We have
here, I. The motion they made to have their cities assigned them, according to
God's appointment, ver. 1, 2. II. The nomination of the cities accordingly out
of the several tribes, and the distribution of them to the respective families
of this tribe, ver. 3-8. III. A catalogue of the cities, forty-eight in all,
ver. 9-42. IV. A receipt entered in full of all that God had promised to his
people Israel, ver. 43-45.
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The
Cities of the Levites.
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B.
C. 1444.
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1 Then came near the
heads of the fathers of the Levites unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua
the son of Nun, and unto the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the
children of Israel; 2 And they spake unto them at Shiloh in the
land of Canaan, saying, The LORD
commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the suburbs
thereof for our cattle. 3 And the children of Israel gave unto the
Levites out of their inheritance, at the commandment of the LORD,
these cities and their suburbs. 4 And the lot came out for the
families of the Kohathites: and the children of Aaron the priest, which
were of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the
tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities.
5 And the rest of the children of Kohath 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. 6 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. 7 The children of Merari by their
families had out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad,
and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities. 8 And the children
of Israel gave by lot unto the Levites these cities with their suburbs, as the
LORD
commanded by the hand of Moses.
Here is, I. The Levites' petition presented to this general convention of the
states, now sitting at Shiloh, v. 1, 2. Observe, 1. They had not their
lot assigned them till they made their claim. There is an inheritance provided
for all the saints, that royal priesthood, but then they must petition for it.
Ask, and it shall be given you. Joshua had quickened the rest of the
tribes who were slack to put in their claims, but the Levites, it may be
supposed, knew their duty and interest better than the rest, and were
therefore forward in this matter, when it came to their turn, without being
called upon. They build their claim upon a very good foundation, not their own
merits nor services, but the divine precept: "The Lord commanded by
the hand of Moses to give us cities, commanded you to grant them, which
implied a command to us to ask them." Note, The maintenance of ministers
is not an arbitrary thing, left purely to the good-will of the people, who may
let them starve if they please; no, as the God of Israel commanded that the
Levites should be well provided for, so has the Lord Jesus, the King of the
Christian church, ordained, and a perpetual ordinance it is that those who
preach the gospel should live of the gospel (1 Cor. ix. 14), and should
live comfortably. 2. They did not make their claim till all the rest of the
tribes were provided for, and then they did it immediately. There was some
reason for it; every tribe must first know their own, else they would not know
what they gave the Levites, and so it could not be such a reasonable service
as it ought to be. But it is also an instance of their humility, modesty, and
patience (and Levites should be examples of these and other virtues), that
they were willing to be served last, and they fared never the worse for it.
Let not God's ministers complain if at any time they find themselves postponed
in men's thoughts and cares, but let them make sure of the favour of God and
the honour that comes from him, and then they may well enough afford to bear
the slights and neglects of men.
II. The Levites' petition granted immediately, without any dispute, the
princes of Israel being perhaps ashamed that they needed to be called upon in
this matter, and that the motion had not been made among themselves for the
settling of the Levites. 1. The children of Israel are said to give the cities
for the Levites. God had appointed how many they should be in all,
forty-eight. It is probable that Joshua and the princes, upon consideration of
the extent and value of the lot of each tribe as it was laid before them, had
appointed how many cities should be taken out of each; and then the fathers of
the several tribes themselves agreed which they should be, and therefore are
said to give them, as an offering, to the Lord; so God had appointed. Num.
xxxv. 8, Every one shall give of his cities to the Levites. Here God
tried their generosity, and it was found to praise and honour, for it appears
by the following catalogue that the cities they gave to the Levites were
generally some of the best and most considerable in each tribe. And it is
probable that they had an eye to the situation of them, taking care they
should be so dispersed as that no part of the country should be too far
distant from a Levites' city. 2. They gave them at the commandment of the
Lord, that is, with an eye to the command and in obedience to it, which
was it that sanctified the grant. They gave the number that God commanded, and
it was well this matter was settled that the Levites might not ask more nor
the Israelites offer less. They gave them also with their suburbs, or
glebe-lands, belonging to them, so many cubits by measure from the walls of
the city, as God had commanded (Num. xxxv. 4, 5), and did not go about to cut
them short. 3. When the forty-eight cities were pitched upon, they were
divided into four lots, as they lay next together, and then by lot were
determined to the four several families of the tribe of Levi. When the
Israelites had surrendered the cities into the hand of God, he would himself
have the distributing of them among his servants. (1.) The family of Aaron,
who were the only priests, had for their share the thirteen cities that were
given by the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, v. 4. God in wisdom
ordered it thus, that though Jerusalem itself was not one of their cities, it
being as yet in the possession of the Jebusites (and those generous tribes
would not mock the Levites, who had another warfare to mind, with a city that
must be recovered by the sword before it could be enjoyed), yet the cities
that fell to their lot were those which lay next to Jerusalem, because that
was to be, in process of time, the holy city, where their business would
chiefly lie. (2.) The Kohathite-Levites (among whom were the posterity of
Moses, though never distinguished from them) had the cities that lay in the
lot of Dan, which lay next to Judah, and in that of Ephraim, and the
half-tribe of Manasseh, which lay next to Benjamin. So those who descended
from Aaron's father joined nearest to Aaron's sons. (3.) Gershon was the
eldest son of Levi, and therefore, though the younger house of the Kohathites
was preferred before his, yet his children had the precedency of the other
family of Merari, v. 6. (4.) The Merarites, the youngest house, had
their lot last, and it lay furthest off, v. 7. The rest of the sons of
Jacob had a lot for every tribe only, but Levi, God's tribe, had a lot for
each of its families; for there is a particular providence directing and
attending the removals and settlements of ministers, and appointing where
those shall fix who are to be the lights of the world.
9 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 are here mentioned by name, 10
Which the children of Aaron, being of the families of the Kohathites, who
were of the children of Levi, had: for theirs was the first lot.
11 And they gave them the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is
Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with the suburbs thereof round
about it. 12 But the fields of the city, and the villages thereof,
gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession. 13
Thus they gave to the children of Aaron the priest Hebron with her suburbs, to
be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Libnah with her suburbs,
14 And Jattir with her suburbs, and Eshtemoa with her suburbs, 15
And Holon with her suburbs, and Debir with her suburbs, 16 And Ain
with her suburbs, and Juttah with her suburbs, and Beth-shemesh with
her suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes. 17 And out of
the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with her suburbs, Geba with her suburbs,
18 Anathoth with her suburbs, and Almon with her suburbs; four cities.
19 All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen
cities with their suburbs. 20 And the families of the children of
Kohath, the Levites which remained of the children of Kohath, even they had
the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim. 21 For they
gave them Shechem with her suburbs in mount Ephraim, to be a city of
refuge for the slayer; and Gezer with her suburbs, 22 And Kibzaim
with her suburbs, and Beth-horon with her suburbs; four cities. 23
And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with her suburbs, Gibbethon with her
suburbs, 24 Aijalon with her suburbs, Gath-rimmon with her
suburbs; four cities. 25 And out of the half tribe of Manasseh,
Tanach with her suburbs, and Gath-rimmon with her suburbs; two cities.
26 All the cities were ten with their suburbs for the families of the
children of Kohath that remained. 27 And unto the children of
Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the other half tribe of
Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan with her suburbs, to be a
city of refuge for the slayer; and Beesh-terah with her suburbs; two
cities. 28 And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishon with her
suburbs, Dabareh with her suburbs, 29 Jarmuth with her suburbs,
En-gannim with her suburbs; four cities. 30 And out of the tribe
of Asher, Mishal with her suburbs, Abdon with her suburbs, 31
Helkath with her suburbs, and Rehob with her suburbs; four cities.
32 And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with her suburbs, to
be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Hammoth-dor with her suburbs, and
Kartan with her suburbs; three cities. 33 All the cities of the
Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their
suburbs. 34 And unto the families of the children of Merari, the
rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with her suburbs,
and Kartah with her suburbs, 35 Dimnah with her suburbs, Nahalal
with her suburbs; four cities. 36 And out of the tribe of Reuben,
Bezer with her suburbs, and Jahazah with her suburbs, 37 Kedemoth
with her suburbs, and Mephaath with her suburbs; four cities. 38
And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with her suburbs, to be a
city of refuge for the slayer; and Mahanaim with her suburbs, 39
Heshbon with her suburbs, Jazer with her suburbs; four cities in all.
40 So all the cities for the children of Merari by their families, which were
remaining of the families of the Levites, were by their lot twelve
cities. 41 All the cities of the Levites within the possession of
the children of Israel were forty and eight cities with their
suburbs. 42 These cities were every one with their suburbs round
about them: thus were all these cities.
We have here a particular account of the cities which were given to the
children of Levi out of the several tribes, not only to be occupied and
inhabited by them, as tenants to the several tribes in which they lay--no,
their interest in them was not dependent and precarious, but to be owned and
possessed by them as lords and proprietors, and as having the same title to
them that the rest of the tribes had to their cities or lands, as appears by
the law which preserved the house in the Levites' cities from being alienated
any longer than till the year of jubilee, Lev. xxv. 32, 33. Yet it is probable
that the Levites having only the cities and suburbs, while the land about
pertained to the tribes in which they lay, those of that tribe, for the
convenience of occupying that land, might commonly rent houses of the Levites,
as they could spare them in their cities, and so live among them as their
tenants. Several things may be observed in this account, besides what was
observed in the law concerning it, Num. xxxv.
I. That the Levites were dispersed into all the tribes, and not suffered to
live all together in any one part of the country. This would find them all
with work, and employ them all for the good of others; for ministers, of all
people, must neither be idle nor live to themselves or to one another only.
Christ left his twelve disciples together in a body, but left orders that they
should in due time disperse themselves, that they might preach the gospel
to every creature. The mixing of the Levites thus with the other tribes
would be an obligation upon them to walk circumspectly, and as became their
sacred function, and to avoid every thing that might disgrace it. Had they
lived all together, they would have been tempted to wink at one another's
faults, and to excuse one another when they did amiss; but by this means they
were made to see the eyes of all Israel upon them, and therefore saw it their
concern to walk so as that their ministry might in nothing be blamed nor their
high character suffer by their ill carriage.
II. That every tribe of Israel was adorned and enriched with its share of
Levites' cities in proportion to its compass, even those that lay most remote.
They were all God's people, and therefore they all had Levites among them. 1.
To show kindness to, as God appointed them, Deut. xii. 19; xiv. 29. They were
God's receivers, to whom the people might give their grateful acknowledgments
of God's goodness, as the occasion and disposition were. 2. To receive advice
and instruction from; when they could not go up to the tabernacle, to consult
those who attended there, they might go to a Levites' city, and be taught the
good knowledge of the Lord. Thus God set up a candle in every room of his
house, to give light to all his family; as those that attended the altar kept
the charge of the Lord, to see that no divine appointment was neglected
there, so those that were scattered in the country had their charge too, which
was to see that no idolatrous superstitious usages were introduced at a
distance and to watch for the souls of God's Israel. Thus did God graciously
provide for the keeping up of religion among them, and that they might have
the word nigh them; yet, blessed be God, we, under the gospel, have it yet
nigher, not only Levites in every county, but Levites in every parish, whose
office it is still to teach the people knowledge, and to go before them in the
things of God.
III. That there were thirteen cities, and those some of the best, appointed
for the priests, the sons of Aaron, v. 19. Aaron left but two sons,
Eleazar and Ithamar, yet his family was now so much increased, and it was
foreseen that it would in process of time grow so numerous, as to replenish
all these cities, though a considerable number must of necessity be resident
wherever the ark and the altar were. We read in both Testaments of such
numbers of priests that we may suppose none of all the families of Israel that
came out of Egypt increased afterwards so much as that of Aaron did; and the
promise afterwards to the house of Aaron is, God shall increase you more
and more, you and your children, Ps. cxv. 12, 14. He will raise up a seed
to serve him.
IV. That some of the Levites' cities were afterwards famous upon other
accounts. Hebron was the city in which David began his reign, and in Manhanaim,
another Levites' city (v. 38), he lay, and had his headquarters when he
fled from Absalom. The first Israelite that ever wore the title of king
(namely, Abimelech, the son of Gideon) reigned in Shechem, another Levites'
city, v. 21.
V. That the number of them in all was more than of most of the tribes, except
Judah, though the tribe of Levi was one of the least of the tribes, to show
how liberal God is, and his people should be, to his ministers; yet the
disproportion will not appear so great as at first it seems, if we consider
that the Levites had cities only with their suburbs to dwell in, but the rest
of the tribes, besides their cities (and those perhaps were many more than are
named in the account of their lot), had many unwalled towns and villages which
they inhabited, besides country houses.
Upon the whole, it appears that effectual care was taken that the Levites
should live both comfortably and usefully: and those, whether ministers or
others, for whom Providence has done well, must look upon themselves as
obliged thereby to do good, and, according as their capacity and opportunity
are, to serve their generation.
43 And the LORD
gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and
they possessed it, and dwelt therein. 44 And the LORD
gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers:
and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD
delivered all their enemies into their hand. 45 There failed not
ought of any good thing which the LORD
had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.
We have here the conclusion of this whole matter, the foregoing history summed
up, and, to make it appear the more bright, compared with the promise of which
it was the full accomplishment. God's word and his works mutually illustrate
each other. The performance makes the promise appear very true and the promise
makes the performance appear very kind.
I. God had promised to give the seed of Abraham the land of Canaan for a
possession, and now at last he performed this promise (v. 43): They
possessed it, and dwelt therein. Though they had often forfeited the
benefit of that promise, and God had long delayed the performance of it, yet
at last all difficulties were conquered, and Canaan was their own. And the
promise of the heavenly Canaan is as sure to all God's spiritual Israel, for
it is the promise of him that cannot lie.
II. God had promised to give them rest in that land, and now they had rest
round about, rest from the fatigues of their travel through the wilderness
(which tedious march, perhaps, was long in their bones), rest from their wars
in Canaan, and the insults which their enemies there had at first offered
them. They now dwelt, not only in habitations of their own, but those quiet
and peaceable ones; though there were Canaanites that remained, yet none that
had either strength or spirit to attack them, nor so much as give them an
alarm. This rest continued till they by their own sin and folly put thorns
into their own beds and their own eyes.
III. God had promised to give them victory and success in their wars, and this
promise likewise was fulfilled: There stood not a man before them, v.
44. They had the better in every battle, and which way soever they turned
their forces they prospered. It is true there were Canaanites now remaining in
many parts of the land, and such as afterwards made head against them, and
became very formidable. But, 1. As to the present remains of the Canaanites,
they were no contradiction to the promise, for God had said he would not drive
them out all at once, but by little and little, Exod. xxiii. 30. They
had now as much in their full possession as they had occasion for and as they
had hands to manage, so that the Canaanites only kept possession of some of
the less cultivated parts of the country against the beasts of the field, till
Israel, in process of time, should become numerous enough to replenish them.
2. As to the after prevalency of the Canaanites, that was purely the effect of
Israel's cowardice and slothfulness, and the punishment of their sinful
inclination to the idolatries and other abominations of the heathen, whom the
Lord would have cast out before them but that they harboured and indulged
them. So that the foundation of God stands sure. Israel's experience of God's
fidelity is here upon record, and is an acquittance under their hands to the
honour of God, the vindication of his promise which had been so often
distrusted, and the encouragement of all believers to the end of the world: There
failed not any good thing, no, nor aught of any good thing (so full
is it expressed), which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel,
but in due time all came to pass, v. 45. Such an acknowledgment
as this, here subscribed by Joshua in the name of all Israel, we afterwards
find made by Solomon, and all Israel did in effect say Amen to it, 1
Kings viii. 56. The inviolable truth of God's promise, and the performance of
it to the utmost, are what all the saints have been ready to bear their
testimony to; and, if in any thing the performance has seemed to come short,
they have been as ready to own that they themselves must bear all the blame.
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