Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Joshua 21:13

in Joshua 21

So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave these cities, together with their pasturelands: Hebron, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Libnah,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And unto the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Libnah with its suburbs,

KJV

Thus 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,

⋯

This verse in Joshua 21

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

they designated these cities by name

on Joshua 21:9-19

Hebron goes to the priests as a city of refuge, and verse 12 keeps Caleb's grant of 14:13 by leaving him the fields and villages. The parallel list at 1 Chronicles 6:54-81 differs in several names, which Barnes treats as variant forms and copyists' slips rather than a different grant.

This site's exposition

city of refuge for the manslayer

Numbers 35:6 had ordered that the six cities of refuge be among the Levites' towns, and Hebron is the first of them named here. A manslayer stayed there until the high priest died, according to Numbers 35:25. Libnah revolted against King Jehoram at 2 Chronicles 21:10.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

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 Jos 20:3, and Libnah with her suburbs; a royal city, of which see Jos 10:29.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

they gave . . . these cities which are here mentioned by name--It was overruled by the unerring providence of the Divine Lawgiver that the cities of the priests lay within the territories of Judah and Benjamin. This was a provision, the admirable wisdom and propriety of which were fully manifested on the schism that took place in the reign of Rehoboam.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

The words behind it

16 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְלִבְנֵ֣י׀and to [the] descendants of

    velivneiH1121 →4930 times

  • אַהֲרֹ֣ןAaron

    ʾaharonH175 →347 times

  • הַכֹּהֵ֗ןthe priest

    hakohenH3548 →750 times

  • נָֽתְנוּ֙they gave

    natenuH5414 →2011 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • עִיר֙[the] city of

    ʾirH5892 →1090 times

  • מִקְלַ֣ט<the> refuge of

    miklatH4733 →20 times

  • הָרֹצֵ֔חַthe killer

    harotzeachH7523 →47 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • חֶבְר֖וֹןHebron

    chevronH2275 →72 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • מִגְרָשֶׁ֑הָpasture lands its

    migrashehaH4054 →119 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • לִבְנָ֖הLibnah

    livnahH3841 →18 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • מִגְרָשֶֽׁהָ׃pasture lands its

    migrashehaH4054 →119 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

11 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Joshua 15:42Libnah, Ether, Ashan,4 works2 Kings 8:22So to this day Edom has been in rebellion against the hand of Judah. Likewise, Libnah rebelled at the same time.4 worksJoshua 10:29Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah.4 worksNumbers 35:6Six of the cities you give the Levites are to be appointed as cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. In addition to these, give the Levites forty-two other cities.4 worksJoshua 20:7So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.3 worksJoshua 15:54Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior—nine cities, along with their villages.3 works
The other 5 cross-references, with their words ▾
Isaiah 37:8When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.2 works1 Chronicles 6:56–57But the fields and villages around the city were given to Caleb son of Jephunneh.2 worksJoshua 10:36Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron and fought against it.2 works2 Chronicles 21:10So to this day Edom has been in rebellion against the hand of Judah. Likewise, Libnah rebelled against his rule at the same time, because Jehoram had forsaken the LORD, the God of his fathers.2 worksNumbers 13:22They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, dwelled. It had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Joshua 15:42

    Libnah, Ether, Ashan,

    it leads to

    • Joshua 10:29

      Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 2 Kings 8:22

      So to this day Edom has been in rebellion against the hand of Judah. Likewise, Libnah rebelled at the same time.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Joshua 20:7

    So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

    it leads to

    • Joshua 21:11

      They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pasturelands, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.)

    • Joshua 21:32

      And from the tribe of Naphtali they were given Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Hammoth-dor, and Kartan—three cities, together with their pasturelands.

    • Luke 1:39

      In those days Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah,

    • 1 Chronicles 6:76

      And from the tribe of Naphtali they were given Kedesh in Galilee, Hammon, and Kiriathaim, together with their pasturelands.

  • Through

    Joshua 10:29

    Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to Libnah and fought against Libnah.

    it leads to

    • Joshua 12:15

      the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Joshua 15:54

    Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior—nine cities, along with their villages.

    it leads to

    • Joshua 15:13

      According to the LORD’s command to him, Joshua gave Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion among the sons of Judah—Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.)

Where this verse is studied

About Joshua

Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon, John Martin, 1816, National Gallery of Art. Public domain.
Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon, John Martin, 1816, National Gallery of Art. Public domain.
Joshua: the study guide →Read Joshua 21 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth.

Read on in Joshua 21 →