Joshua 21:38

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

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 21:38

And out of the tribe of Gad ,.... Which also, as that of Reuben, lay on the other side Jordan: Ramoth in Gilead with her suburbs ; of which see Joshua 20:8 , to be a city of refuge for the slayer ; and is the sixth and last city of refuge in this account: and Mahanaim with her suburbs ; here it was the angels met Jacob, which gave rise to the name of the place, Genesis 32:1 ; afterwards a city was built here, and was on the borders of the tribe of Gad, and belonged to it, ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 21:1-45

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

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 21:38

To be a city of refuge (see above, Joshua 21:13 ). Mahanaim (see Joshua 13:26 ). Perhaps the unquestionable entente cordiale between David and the sacerdotal party may have determined him to fix on this as his refuge when fleeing from Absalom, in addition to its situation beyond Jordan, and near the fords ( 2 Samuel 17:22 , 2 Samuel 17:24 ). read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Joshua 21:34-40

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

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Joshua 21:1-45

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

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Joshua 21:38

By an Homoceoteleuton ( App-6 ) some scribe, writing as far as "four cities "at end of Joshua 21:35 , went back with his eye to the same words at the end of Joshua 21:37 , and omitted, by an accident, the two verses Joshua 21:36 and Joshua 21:37 , and continued at Joshua 21:38 , which commences with the some words which end Joshua 21:35 . Hence they are not contained in the current text of the Hebrew Bible. The Authorized Version puts these verses in, however, without a note; the Revised... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Joshua 21:1-42

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

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Joshua 21:34-42

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

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 21:1-45

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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