Joshua 21:20
in Joshua 21The remaining Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted these cities:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, even the rest of the children of Kohath, they had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim.
KJV
And 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.
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This verse in Joshua 21
Commentary
4 notes on this verseAnd the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites,.... Who were not priests: which remained of the children of Kohath; these are the children of Moses, as Jarchi says, and those that descended from Kohath in the lines of Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel: even they had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim; and were as follow.
This site's exposition
the Levites which remained of
on Joshua 21:20-26
The Kohathites who were not priests are placed in Ephraim, Dan and half Manasseh, and three of their ten towns are places Israel never cleared. Gezer at verse 21 is where Joshua 16:10 says the Canaanites stayed and paid tribute, Aijalon at verse 24 is where Judges 1:35 says the Amorites would dwell, and Tanach at verse 25 appears as Taanach in Judges 1:27 among the towns Manasseh could not drive out. Shechem is the refuge city of this group, the place where Joseph's bones are buried at Joshua 24:32 and where Abimelech is crowned in Judges 9.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Of the cities of the non-priestly Kohathites, for Kibzaim we find Jokmeam in 1Ch 6:68. This is perhaps another name for the same place, since both names may be derived from roots having a similar meaning; and for Gath-rimmon in 1Ch 6:70, Bileam is given, and probably correctly; Gath-rimmon having apparently been repeated inadvertently from the preceding verse. Bileam is but another form of Ibleam Jos 17:11.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
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
12 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּלְמִשְׁפְּח֤וֹת | ulemishpechot | and to [the] clans of | H4940 → | 303 times |
| בְּנֵֽי־ | benei- | [the] descendants of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| קְהָת֙ | kehat | Kohath | H6955 → | 32 times |
| הַלְוִיִּ֔ם | halviyim | the Levites | H3881 → | 291 times |
| הַנּוֹתָרִ֖ים | hanotarim | who remained | H3498 → | 106 times |
| מִבְּנֵ֣י | mibenei | of [the] descendants of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| קְהָ֑ת | kehat | Kohath | H6955 → | 32 times |
| וַֽיְהִי֙ | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| עָרֵ֣י | ʾarei | [the] cities of | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| גֽוֹרָלָ֔ם | goralam | lot their | H1486 → | 78 times |
| מִמַּטֵּ֖ה | mimateh | from [the] tribe of | H4294 → | 252 times |
| אֶפְרָֽיִם׃ | ʾefrayim | Ephraim | H669 → | 180 times |
וּלְמִשְׁפְּח֤וֹתand to [the] clans of
ulemishpechotH4940 →303 times
בְּנֵֽי־[the] descendants of
benei-H1121 →4930 times
קְהָת֙Kohath
kehatH6955 →32 times
הַלְוִיִּ֔םthe Levites
halviyimH3881 →291 times
הַנּוֹתָרִ֖יםwho remained
hanotarimH3498 →106 times
מִבְּנֵ֣יof [the] descendants of
mibeneiH1121 →4930 times
קְהָ֑תKohath
kehatH6955 →32 times
וַֽיְהִי֙and it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
עָרֵ֣י[the] cities of
ʾareiH5892 →1090 times
גֽוֹרָלָ֔םlot their
goralamH1486 →78 times
מִמַּטֵּ֖הfrom [the] tribe of
mimatehH4294 →252 times
אֶפְרָֽיִם׃Ephraim
ʾefrayimH669 →180 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach 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 21:5The remaining descendants of Kohath received ten cities by lot from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
it leads to
- Joshua 21:20–26
The remaining Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted these cities:
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 46:11
The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
- 1 Chronicles 6:66–70
And some of the clans of the Kohathites were given cities from the tribe of Ephraim for their territory:
- Numbers 3:27
From Kohath came the clans of the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites; these were the clans of the Kohathites.
- 1 Chronicles 6:61
To the rest of the Kohathites, ten cities were allotted from the half-tribe of Manasseh.
- Joshua 21:20–26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
