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Joshua Chapter 21

Forty-eight Cities Designated for the Levites Forty-eight cities given by lot, out of the other tribes unto the Levites.

21 1 Jos 14:1; Jos 17:4 T1Then came near the heads of the fathers of the Levites unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua the son of Nun, and unto the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel;

2 Jos 18:1; Num 35:2; Mat 10:10; Gal 6:6; 1 Tim 5:17-18 2And they spake unto them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, The Lord commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the suburbs thereof for our cattle.

3And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, at the commandment of the Lord, these cities and their suburbs.

4 Jos 24:33 4And the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites: and the children of Aaron the priest, which were of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities.

5And the rest of the children of Kohath had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, and out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.

6And the children of Gershon had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.

7The children of Merari by their families had out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.

8 Gen 49:7; Jos 18:6; Pro 16:33; Num 35:2 8And the children of Israel gave by lot unto the Levites these cities with their suburbs, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses.

9¶And they gave out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, these cities which are here mentioned by name,

10Which the children of Aaron, being of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi, had: for theirs was the first lot.

11 Luk 1:39; 2 Sam 5:1-5; 2 Sam 2:1-3; Jos 15:13 11And they gave them the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with the suburbs thereof round about it.

12 Jos 14:14 12But the fields of the city, and the villages thereof, gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession.

13 Isa 37:8; Jos 15:42; Jos 10:29; Jos 15:54 13Thus they gave to the children of Aaron the priest Hebron with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Libnah with her suburbs,

14 Jos 15:48; Jos 15:50 14And Jattir with her suburbs, and Eshtemoa with her suburbs,

15 Jos 15:49; 1 Chr 6:58 15And Holon with her suburbs, and Debir with her suburbs,

16 1 Chr 6:59; Jos 15:55; Jos 15:10 16And Ain with her suburbs, and Juttah with her suburbs, and Bethshemesh with her suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes.

17 Jos 18:24; Jos 18:25 17And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with her suburbs, Geba with her suburbs,

18 1 Chr 6:60 18Anathoth with her suburbs, and Almon with her suburbs; four cities.

19All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their suburbs.

20 1 Chr 6:66 20And 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 Gen 33:19; Jos 20:7; 1 Kin 12:1 21For they gave them Shechem with her suburbs in mount Ephraim, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Gezer with her suburbs,

22And Kibzaim with her suburbs, and Bethhoron with her suburbs; four cities.

23And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with her suburbs, Gibbethon with her suburbs,

24Aijalon with her suburbs, Gathrimmon with her suburbs; four cities.

25And out of the half tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with her suburbs, and Gathrimmon with her suburbs; two cities.

26All the cities were ten with their suburbs for the families of the children of Kohath that remained.

27 1 Chr 6:71; Jos 20:8; Deu 1:4; 1 Chr 6:71 27And 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.

28And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishon with her suburbs, Dabareh with her suburbs,

29Jarmuth with her suburbs, Engannim with her suburbs; four cities.

30And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with her suburbs, Abdon with her suburbs,

31Helkath with her suburbs, and Rehob with her suburbs; four cities.

32 Jos 20:7 32And 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.

33All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their suburbs.

34 1 Chr 6:77 34And 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,

35Dimnah with her suburbs, Nahalal with her suburbs; four cities.

36 Jos 20:8 36And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with her suburbs, and Jahazah with her suburbs,

37Kedemoth with her suburbs, and Mephaath with her suburbs; four cities.

38 2 Sam 2:8; Gen 32:2; 1 Kin 4:13; Deu 4:43 38And 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,

39Heshbon with her suburbs, Jazer with her suburbs; four cities in all.

40So 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 Gen 49:7 41All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty and eight cities with their suburbs.

42These cities were every one with their suburbs round about them: thus were all these cities. God gives the land, and rest unto the Israelites, according to his promise

43 Gen 13:15; Gen 15:18; Gen 26:3 43¶And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.

44 Deu 7:24; Jos 22:4; Jos 11:23 44And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware 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 Exo 3:7-8; Jos 23:14; 1 Kin 8:56; Isa 49:7-8 45There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

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Introduction to Joshua
by John MacArthur

Title

This is the first of the 12 historical books, and it gained its name from the exploits of Joshua, the understudy whom Moses prayed for and commissioned as a leader in Israel (Num 27:12-23). “Joshua” means “Jehovah saves,” or “the LORD is salvation,” and corresponds to the NT name “Jesus.” God delivered Israel in Joshua’s day when He was personally present as the saving Commander who fought on Israel’s behalf (Jos 5:14-6:2; 10:42; 23:3, 5; Acts 7:45).

Author and Date

Although the author is not named, the most probable candidate is Joshua, who was the key eyewitness to the events recorded (cf. 18:9; 24:26). An assistant whom Joshua groomed could have finished the book by attaching such comments as those concerning Joshua’s death (Jos 24:29-33). Some have even suggested that this section was written by the High-Priest Eleazar, or his son, Phinehas. Rahab was still living at the time Josh 6:25 was penned. The book was completed before David’s reign (Jos 15:63; cf. 2 Sam 5:5-9). The most likely writing period is ca. 1405-1385 B.C.

Joshua was born in Egyptian slavery, trained under Moses, and by God’s choice rose to his key position of leading Israel into Canaan. distinguishing features of his life include: 1) service (Ex 17:10; 24:13; 33:11; Num 11:28); 2) soldiering (Ex 17:9-13); 3) scouting (Num 13, 14); 4) supplication by Moses (Num 27:15-17); 5) the sovereignty of God (Num 27:18ff.); 6) the Spirit’s presence (Num 27:18; Deut 34:9); 7) separation by Moses (Num 27:18-23; Deut 31:7, 8, 13-15); and 8) selflessness in wholly following the Lord (Num 32:12).

Background and Setting

When Moses passed the baton of leadership on to Joshua before he died (Deut 34), Israel was at the end of its 40 year wilderness wandering period ca. 1405 B.C. Joshua was approaching 90 years of age when he became Israel’s leader. He later died at the age of 110 (Jos 24:29), having led Israel to drive out most of the Canaanites and having divided the Land among the 12 tribes. Poised on the plains of Moab, E of the Jordan River and the Land which God had promised (Gen 12:7; 15:18-21), the Israelites awaited God’s direction to conquer the Land. They faced peoples on the western side of the Jordan who had become so steeped in iniquity that God would cause the Land, so to speak, to spew out these inhabitants (Lev 18:24, 25). He would give Israel the Land by conquest, primarily to fulfill the covenant He had pledged to Abraham and his descendants, but also to pass just judgment on the sinful inhabitants (cf. Gen 15:16). Long possession of different parts of the Land by various peoples had pre-dated even Abraham’s day (Gen 10:15-19; 12:6; 13:7). Its inhabitants had continued on a moral decline in the worship of many gods up to Joshua’s time.

Historical and Theological Themes

A keynote feature is God’s faithfulness to fulfill His promise of giving the Land to Abraham’s descendants (Gen 12:7; 15:18-21; 17:8). By His leading (cf. 5:14-6:2), they inhabited the territories E and W of the Jordan, and so the word “possess” appears nearly 20 times.

Related to this theme is Israel’s failure to press their conquest to every part of the Land (Jos 13:1). Judges 1-2 later describes the tragic results from this sin. Key verses focus on: 1) God’s promise of possession of the Land (Jos 1:3, 6); 2) meditation on God’s law, which was strategic for His people (Jos 1:8); and 3) Israel’s actual possession of the Land in part (Jos 11:23; 21:45; 22:4).

Specific allotment of distinct portions in the Land was Joshua’s task, as recorded in chaps. 13-22. Levites were placed strategically in 48 towns so that God’s spiritual services through them would be reasonably within reach of the Israelites, wherever they lived.

God wanted His people to possess the Land: 1) to keep His promise (Gen 12:7); 2) to set the stage for later developments in His kingdom plan (cf. Gen 17:8; 49:8-12), e.g., positioning Israel for events in the periods of the kings and prophets; 3) to punish peoples that were an affront to Him because of extreme sinfulness (Lev 18:25); and 4) to be a testimony to other peoples (Josh 2:9-11), as God’s covenant heart reached out to all nations (Gen 12:1-3).

Interpretive Challenges

Miracles always challenge readers either to believe that the God who created heaven and earth (Gen 1:1) can do other mighty works, too, or to explain them away. As in Moses’ day, miracles in this book were a part of God’s purpose, such as: 1) His holding back the Jordan’s waters (Josh 3:7-17); 2) the fall of Jericho’s walls (Josh 6:1-27); 3) the hailstones (Josh 10:1-11); and 4) the long day (Josh 10:12-15).

Other challenges include: 1) How did God’s blessing on the harlot Rahab, who responded to Him in faith, relate to her telling a lie (Josh 2)? 2) Why were Achan’s family members executed with him (Josh 7)? 3) Why was Ai, with fewer men than Israel, hard to conquer (Josh 7-8)? 4) What does God’s “sending the hornet” before Israel mean (Josh 24:12)? These questions will be addressed in the notes.

Outline of Joshua
by John MacArthur

I. Entering the Promised Land (Jos 1:1-5:15)

II. Conquering the Promised Land (Jos 6:1-12:24)

A. The Central Campaign (Jos 6:1-8:35)
B. The Southern Campaign (Jos 9:1-10:43)
C. The Northern Campaign (Jos 11:1-15)
D. The Summary of Conquests (Jos 11:16-12:24)

III. Distributing Portions in the Promised Land (Jos 13:1-22:34)

A. Summary of Instructions (Jos 13:1-33)
B. West of the Jordan (Jos 14:1-19:51)
C. Cities of Refuge (Jos 20:1-9)
D. Cities of the Levites (Jos 21:1-45)
E. East of the Jordan (Jos 22:1-34)

IV. Retaining the Promised Land (Jos 23:1-24:28)

A. The First Speech by Joshua (Jos 23:1-16)
B. The Second Speech by Joshua (Jos 24:1-28)

Introduction to Joshua
by John MacArthur

Title

Author and Date

Background and Setting

Historical and Theological Themes

Interpretive Challenges

Outline of Joshua
by John MacArthur

I. Entering the Promised Land (Jos 1:1-5:15)

II. Conquering the Promised Land (Jos 6:1-12:24)

III. Distributing Portions in the Promised Land (Jos 13:1-22:34)

IV. Retaining the Promised Land (Jos 23:1-24:28)

V. Postscript (Jos 24:29-33)

The 1440 Agenda

Remembering Marcy

Study Bible

Introduction to Joshuaby John MacArthur

Title

Author and Date

Background and Setting

Historical and Theological Themes

Interpretive Challenges

Outline of Joshuaby John MacArthur

I. Entering the Promised Land (Jos 1:1-5:15)

II. Conquering the Promised Land (Jos 6:1-12:24)

III. Distributing Portions in the Promised Land (Jos 13:1-22:34)

IV. Retaining the Promised Land (Jos 23:1-24:28)

V. Postscript (Jos 24:29-33)

Books of the Bible

Chapters in Joshua

The 1440 Agenda

Introduction to Joshua
by John MacArthur

Outline of Joshua
by John MacArthur