And unto the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites ,.... The descendants of the youngest son of Levi, who were all that remained of the Levites unprovided of cities: out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with her suburbs ; which lay near Carmel, and was a royal city; See Gill on Joshua 12:22 , and Kartah with her suburbs ; perhaps the same with Kattath, Joshua 19:15 . read more
The ecclesiastical settlement of Canaan. Though the ecclesiastical institutions of the Christian Church differ, in some respects materially, from these of the Jewish, yet inasmuch as the law and the gospel came from the same All-wise Hand, we may naturally expect that the main principles of each will be the same. Perhaps we have insisted too much of late on the fact that the law was "done away in Christ," and too little on the qualifying truth that Christ came "not to destroy, but to... read more
Merarite cities. Some of these places are not found in the list of Zebulonite cities in Joshua 19:10-16. The text is considered corrupt. read more
Cities for the Levites (20:1-21:45)The Levites were given forty-eight cities throughout Israel, along with surrounding pasture lands for their cattle (see 21:41-42; Numbers 35:1-8). Among these cities were six cities of refuge (Numbers 35:6). These were cities where a person who had killed another could flee for safety until he had been lawfully judged (Exodus 21:12-14). If he was found guilty of murder he was to be executed, but if he was found to have caused the death accidentally, he could... read more
Kartah. Some codices, with five early printed editions, Aramaean, and Vulgate, read "and Kartah read more
THE CITIES OF THE MERARITES"And unto the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its suburbs, Kartah with its suburbs, Dimnah with its suburbs, Nahalal with its suburbs; four cities. And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its suburbs, and Jahaz with its suburbs, Kedemoth with its suburbs, and Mephaath with its suburbs; four cities. And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the... read more
2. The cities of the Levites 21:1-42The tribes also had to set aside 42 additional cities for the priests and Levites to inhabit (cf. Numbers 35:1-8). read more
The Merarites’ towns 21:34-42There were 12 towns in which the Merarites resided: four in Zebulun (Joshua 21:34-35), four in Reuben (Joshua 21:36-37), and four in Gad (Joshua 21:38-39).In all, the Levites received 48 cities with their surrounding pasturelands, including the six cities of refuge (Joshua 21:41-42). God provided so that the Levites, whose responsibilities included the teaching and counseling of the other Israelites in the Law, were not far from anyone in Israel. They were to... read more
The Assignment of Forty-eight Cities to the Levites2. The injunction to Moses was given in the plains of Moab, and is recorded in Numbers 35:2-5.3-8. Number and localities of the cities distributed to each of the families of Levi.9-42. Detailed specification of the cities:—Cities of the Aaronites (Priests) in Judah and Benjamin (9-19); of the Kohathites in Ephraim, Dan, and W. Manasseh (20-26); of the Gershonites in E. Manasseh, Issachar, Asher, and Naphtali (27-33); of the Merarites in... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Joshua 21:9-42
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?... read more