Week 6 Day 4
Listen: 
The Levite Cities
Joshua 21
1 And the heads of the fathers of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, and [came] to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers of the tribes, to the sons of Israel,
2 and they spoke to them in Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, Jehovah commanded by the hand of Moses, to give to us cities to dwell in, and the outskirts of them for our beasts.
3 And the sons of Israel gave to the Levites out of their inheritance at the mouth of Jehovah these cities and their outskirts.
4 And the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites; and it was for the sons of Aaron the priest, of the Levites, out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of the Simeonites, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, by the lot, thirteen cities;
5 and for the remaining sons of Kohath, by lot, ten cities, out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, and out of the tribe of Dan, and out of half the tribe of Manasseh.
6 And the sons of Gershon had by lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar, and from the tribe of Asher, and from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.
7 The sons of Merari had by lot according to their families 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 sons of Israel gave to the Levites by lot these cities and their outskirts, as Jehovah commanded by the hand of Moses.
9 And they gave out of the tribe of the sons of Judah, and out of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, these cities which are called by name.
10 And the sons of Aaron, from the families of the Kohathites, of the sons of Levi, had them; for theirs was the first lot.
11 And they gave to them the walled city of Arba1, the father of the Anak—it is Hebron in the mountain of Judah—and the outskirts thereof all around it.
12 And the field of the city and the villages thereof, they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession.
13 And they gave to the sons of Aaron the priest, Hebron and her outskirts, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Libnah and her outskirts,
14 and Jattir and her outskirts, and Eshtemoa and her outskirts,
15 and Holon and her outskirts, and Debir and her outskirts,
16 and Ain and her outskirts, and Juttah and her outskirts, and Beth-shemesh and her outskirts; nine cities out of those two tribes.
17 And from the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon and her outskirts, Gibea2 and her outskirts,
18 Anathoth and her outskirts, and Almon and her outskirts: four cities.
19 All the cities of the sons of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities and her outskirts.
20 And the families of the sons of Kohath, the Levites who remained of the sons of Kohath, had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim.
21 And they gave to them the city of refuge for the manslayer, Shechem and her outskirts, in Mount Ephraim, and Gezer and her outskirts,
22 and Kibzaim and her outskirts, and Beth-choron and her outskirts: four cities.
23 And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh and her outskirts, and Gibbethon and her outskirts,
24 Aijalon and her outskirts, and Gath-rimmon and her outskirts: four cities.
25 And from the half tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and her outskirts, and Gath-rimmon and her outskirts: two cities.
26 All the cities were ten and their outskirts for the families of the sons of Kohath that remained.
27 And to the sons of Gershon, the families of the Levites, from the half tribe of Manasseh, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Golan in Bashan, and her outskirts, and Beeshterah and her outskirts: two cities.
28 And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishon and her outskirts, Dabareh and her outskirts,
29 Jarmuth and her outskirts, and En-gannim and her outskirts: four cities.
30 And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal and her outskirts, Abdon and her outskirts,
31 Helkath and her outskirts, and Rehob and her outskirts: four cities.
32 And out of the tribe of Naphtali, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Kedesh in Galilee, and her outskirts, and Chammoth-dor and her outskirts, and Kartan and her outskirts: three cities.
33 All the cities of the Gershonite according to their families were thirteen cities and their outskirts.
34 And to the families of the sons of Merari, the remaining Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and her outskirts, and Kartah and her outskirts,
35 Dimnah and her outskirts, Nahalal and her outskirts: four cities.
36 And from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer and her outskirts, and Jahaz and her outskirts,
37 Kedemoth and her outskirts, and Mephaath and her outskirts; four cities.
38 And out of the tribe of Gad, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Ramoth in Gilead and her outskirts, and Mahanaim and her outskirts,
39 Heshbon and her outskirts, Jazer and her outskirts: four cities in all.
40 All the cities for the sons of Merari, according to their families, which were remaining of the families of the Levites, and their lot was twelve cities.
41 All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the sons of Israel were forty and eight cities and their outskirts.
42 These cities were city by city and their outskirts all around them; thus were all these cities.
43 And Jehovah gave to Israel all the land which He promised to give to their fathers; and they possessed it and dwelt in it.
44 And Jehovah gave them rest all around according to all He promised to their fathers; and there stood not a man before them of all their enemies; Jehovah gave all their enemies into their hand.
45 Not a word fell from any good word which Jehovah had spoken to the house of Israel; all came to pass.
1“The walled city of Arba” in Hebrew is the same as “Kiriath-arba” (see Joshua 14:15).
2“Gibea” and “Gibeah” reflect different spellings in the Hebrew.
Questions and Comments
- Forty-eight cities were designated as cities for the Levites to dwell in (see verse 41). These cities were located in every tribe. What might have been the purpose of this on the natural level? The next section includes passages explaining why this was done based on the internal sense.
- The cities of refuge were also Levite cities (see verses 13, 21, 27, 32, 36, and 38). Why do you think the cities of refuge were also Levite cities?
- Some additional laws about the Levite cities from Leviticus 25:32-34:
32 But the cities of the Levites, and the houses of the cities of their property, are for the Levites to be redeemed to eternity.
33 And if one from the Levites redeem, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in the year of jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession in the midst of the sons of Israel.
34 But the field of the outskirts of their cities may not be sold; for it is their eternal possession.
The Heavenly Doctrine does not address these verses. As you read the next sections perhaps the spiritual meaning of these additional laws will come into focus.| previous |  |
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