Joshua 21:20-45

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 Bethhoron 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, Gathrimmon with her suburbs; four cities.

25. And out of the half tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with her suburbs, and Gathrimmon 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 Beeshterah 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, Engannim 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 Hammothdor 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.

43. And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he swear 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 swear 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.

20. And the families of the children of Kohath, etc Why it was necessary that the Levites should be dispersed among the different tribes, the reader may see in my Commentaries on the Books of Moses. This dispersion had, indeed, been imposed on their progenitor as a punishment for the cruelty and perfidy of which he had been guilty toward the children of Shechem, but the disgrace of it had been converted into the highest honor by their appointment as a kind of guardians in every district to retain the people in the pure worship of God. It is true, they were everywhere strangers; but still it was with the very high dignity of acting as stewards for God, and preventing their countrymen from revolting from piety. This is the reason for stating so carefully how many cities they obtained from each tribe; they were everywhere to keep watch, and preserve the purity of sacred rites unimpaired.

41. All the cities of the Levites, etc This passage more especially shows what I have already more than once adverted to, that the boundaries of the other tribes were not so confined as not to comprehend a far larger number of cities than is actually mentioned. It is perfectly well known that Levi was the least numerous of all the tribes. With what equity, then, could it have been allowed to expand itself over four times the space allowed to the tribe of Zebulun, which, though more populous, is mentioned as only possessing twelve cities. Only sixteen are enumerated as belonging to the tribe of Issachar, nineteen to the tribe of Naphtali, and twenty-two to the tribe of Asher. It would surely have been an unequal division to give the greater number of cities for habitation to the smaller population. Hence we infer, that not only the villages which are here set down as accessories of the cities were fit for habitation, but that other cities also, of which no mention is made, were included. In short, the extent of the lot of Levi makes it perfectly obvious how large and ample the territories of the other tribes must have been.

43. And the Lord gave unto Israel, etc Should any one raise a question as to this rest, the answer is easy. The nations of Canaan were so completely overcome with fear, that they thought they could not better consult their interest than by servility flattering the Israelites, and purchasing peace from them on any terms. ² Plainly, therefore, the country was subdued and rendered peaceful for habitation, since no one gave any annoyance, or dared to entertain any hostile intentions, since there were no threats, no snares, no violence, no conspiracies.

A second point, however, raises some doubt, ³ namely, how the children of Israel can be said to have been settled in the possession of the land promised to them, and to have become masters of it, in such a sense that in regard to the enjoyment of it, not one syllable of the promises of God had failed. For we have already seen that many of the enemy were intermingled with them. The divine intention was, that not one of the enemy should be permitted to remain; on the other hand, the Israelites do not drive out many, but admit them as neighbors, as if the inheritance had been common to them; they even make pactions with them. How then can these two things be reconciled, that God, as he had promised, gave possession of the land to the people, and yet they were excluded from some portion by the power or obstinate resistance of the enemy?

In order to remove this appearance of contradiction, it is necessary to distinguish between the certain, clear, and steadfast faithfulness of God in keeping his promises, and between the effeminacy and sluggishness of the people, in consequence of which the benefit of the divine goodness in a manner slipped through their hands. Whatever war the people undertook, in whatever direction they moved their standards, victory was prepared; nor was there any other delay or obstacle to their exterminating all their enemies than their own voluntary torpor. Wherefore, although they did not rout them all so as to make their possession clear, yet the truth of God came visibly forth, and was realized, inasmuch as they might have obtained what was remaining without any difficulty, had they been pleased to avail themselves of the victories offered to them. The whole comes to this, that it was owing entirely to their own cowardice that they did not enjoy the divine goodness in all its fullness and integrity. This will be still clearer from the following chapter.

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Footnotes

1. Latin, “Plurimis urbibus.” French, “Plusieurs villes:” “Several cities.” — Ed. ↩

2. French, “Ils penserent qu’il n’y avoit rien meilleur pour eux ni plus expedient, que de racheter la paix avec les enfans d’Israel, en faisans les chiens couchans (comme l’on dit) devant eux, et leur gratifiant en toutes choses;” “They thought there was nothing better for them, nor more expedient, than to purchase peace with the children of Israel by acting (so to speak) like fawning dogs before them, and gratifying them in all things.” — Ed. ↩

3. Latin, “Verum de secundo ambigitur.” French, “Mais il y a plus grande difficulte sur le second point;” “But there is greater difficulty as to the second point.” — Ed. ↩