Joshua 21:19
in Joshua 21In all, thirteen cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their suburbs.
KJV
All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their suburbs.
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This verse in Joshua 21
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThirteen cities with their suburbs - At the time mentioned here certainly thirteen cities were too large a proportion for the priests, as they and their families amounted to a very small number: but this ample provision was made in reference to their great increase in after times, when they formed twenty-four courses, as in the days of David.
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
were given to the priests
All thirteen priestly towns lie in Judah, Simeon and Benjamin, the ground that stayed with the house of David when the kingdom split. When Jeroboam rejected the Levites as priests, 2 Chronicles 11:14 says they left their pasturelands and went to Judah and Jerusalem. The priests were already there.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
We read in both Testaments of such numbers of priests that we may suppose none of all the families of Israel that came out of Egypt increased afterwards so much as that of Aaron did; and the promise afterwards to the house of Aaron is, God shall increase you more and more, you and your children, Ps. cxv.
All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests,.... Those of the Kohathites that came from him: were thirteen cities with their suburbs; and just so many are mentioned by name in Jos 21:11.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
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The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עָרֵ֥י | ʾarei | [the] cities of | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| בְנֵֽי־ | venei- | [the] descendants of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אַהֲרֹ֖ן | ʾaharon | Aaron | H175 → | 347 times |
| הַכֹּֽהֲנִ֑ים | hakohanim | the priests | H3548 → | 750 times |
| שְׁלֹשׁ־ | shelosh- | [were] thir- | H7969 → | 432 times |
| עֶשְׂרֵ֥ה | ʾesreh | teen | H6240 → | 338 times |
| עָרִ֖ים | ʾarim | cities | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| וּמִגְרְשֵׁיהֶֽן׃ ס | umigresheihen | and pasture lands their | H4054 → | 119 times |
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
עָרֵ֥י[the] cities of
ʾareiH5892 →1090 times
בְנֵֽי־[the] descendants of
venei-H1121 →4930 times
אַהֲרֹ֖ןAaron
ʾaharonH175 →347 times
הַכֹּֽהֲנִ֑יםthe priests
hakohanimH3548 →750 times
שְׁלֹשׁ־[were] thir-
shelosh-H7969 →432 times
עֶשְׂרֵ֥הteen
ʾesrehH6240 →338 times
עָרִ֖יםcities
ʾarimH5892 →1090 times
וּמִגְרְשֵׁיהֶֽן׃ סand pasture lands their
umigresheihenH4054 →119 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies11
About Joshua
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.