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Matthew Henry

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 21:11

And they gave them the city of Arba, the father of Anak ,.... Which from him was called Kirjatharba, Joshua 14:15 ; and Anak, according to Kimchi, is not the name of a man, but a general name, comprehending the Anakims, a race of giants, among whom Arba was the chief and principal man, a prince and ruler over them, as Ben Melech: which city is Hebron in the hill country of Judah ; as in Joshua 14:15 ; see Luke 1:39 , with the suburbs thereof round about it ; as far as two... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 21:12

But the fields of the city, and the villages thereof ,.... Which lay beyond the two thousand cubits: gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh, for his possession ; as Moses had promised, and Joshua had confirmed to him; and now the children of Israel gave them to him, and put him in the possession of, Joshua 14:6 ; and the same is to be observed of all the other cities given to the Levites, that they and their suburbs, extending to such a distance only, were given to them; but the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Joshua 21:13

Thus they gave to the children of Aaron the priest ,.... The families of the Kohathites, that part of them which descended from him, and were priests: Hebron with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer ; that had slain a person unawares, and without design; see on Joshua 20:3 , and Libnah with her suburbs ; a royal city, of which see Joshua 10:29 . read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 21:11

The city of Arba - See the note on Joshua 14:15 . read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Joshua 21:12

The fields of the city - gave they to Caleb - This was an exclusive privilege to him and his family, with which the grant to the Levites did not interfere. See the notes on Joshua 14:14 . 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 21:11

In the hill country of Judah. The word in the original is הַר , mountain, the title which is consistently applied to the highlands of Palestine in the Bible, while our version translates indiscriminately by "mountain" and "hill." read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 21:12

The fields. The original is in the singular. We are not necessarily, therefore, to suppose that the land was mapped out into divisions analogous to our fields. Our word "land" would more accurately represent the meaning of the original, which refers to the arable and pasture land in the neighbourhood of the city, with the agricultural villages or homesteads dotted about it. Keil contends that the Levites only received as many houses within the city as they needed, and that the rest belonged... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Joshua 21:13

Hebron with her suburbs to be a city of refuge for the slayer. Rather, the city of refuge for the slayer, Hebron and her cattle drives (see note above on Joshua 21:2 ). The translation in our version obscures the meaning, which is clearly that the cities of refuge were first fixed on, and then assigned to the Levites. Most of the cities in the following list have been noticed already. read more

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