Joshua 21:40
in Joshua 21In all, twelve cities were allotted to the clans of Merari, the remaining Levite clans.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
All these were the cities of the children of Merari according to their families, even the rest of the families of the Levites; and their lot was twelve cities.
KJV
So 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.
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This verse in Joshua 21
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
the Levite clans of the Gershonites
on Joshua 21:27-40
Gershon takes the north and Merari takes Zebulun with Reuben and Gad, and four refuge cities stand in verses 27, 32, 36 and 38. Ramoth in Gilead is where Ahab dies at 1 Kings 22:29-37, and Mahanaim is where David shelters from Absalom at 2 Samuel 17:24.
This site's exposition
allotted to the clans of Merari
Eight of Merari's twelve towns lay east of the Jordan, on the frontier facing Moab and Aram. 1 Chronicles 5:26 records the Assyrian king taking Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. Isaiah 15:4 counts Heshbon and Jahaz among Moab's towns.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
So all the cities for the children of Merari by their families,.... Which were distributed by lot to them, according to the number of their families, and were sufficient for them: which were remaining of the families of the Levites; the last division of them, besides those of the Kohathites, Levites, and the Gershonites: were by their lot twelve cities; four out of the tribe of Zebulun, four out of the tribe of Reuben, and four out of the tribe of Gad, whose names are before given,
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.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
13 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 |
| הֶ֨עָרִ֜ים | hearim | the cities | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| לִבְנֵ֤י | livnei | of [the] descendants of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| מְרָרִי֙ | merari | Merari | H4847 → | 36 times |
| לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֔ם | lemishpechotam | to clans their | H4940 → | 303 times |
| הַנּוֹתָרִ֖ים | hanotarim | which remained | H3498 → | 106 times |
| מִמִּשְׁפְּח֣וֹת | mimishpechot | of [the] clans of | H4940 → | 303 times |
| הַלְוִיִּ֑ם | halviyim | the Levites | H3881 → | 291 times |
| וַיְהִי֙ | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| גּוֹרָלָ֔ם | goralam | lot their | H1486 → | 78 times |
| עָרִ֖ים | ʾarim | cities | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| שְׁתֵּ֥ים | sheteim | two [plus] | H8147 → | 768 times |
| עֶשְׂרֵֽה׃ | ʾesreh | ten | H6240 → | 338 times |
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הֶ֨עָרִ֜יםthe cities
hearimH5892 →1090 times
לִבְנֵ֤יof [the] descendants of
livneiH1121 →4930 times
מְרָרִי֙Merari
merariH4847 →36 times
לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֔םto clans their
lemishpechotamH4940 →303 times
הַנּוֹתָרִ֖יםwhich remained
hanotarimH3498 →106 times
מִמִּשְׁפְּח֣וֹתof [the] clans of
mimishpechotH4940 →303 times
הַלְוִיִּ֑םthe Levites
halviyimH3881 →291 times
וַיְהִי֙and it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
גּוֹרָלָ֔םlot their
goralamH1486 →78 times
עָרִ֖יםcities
ʾarimH5892 →1090 times
שְׁתֵּ֥יםtwo [plus]
sheteimH8147 →768 times
עֶשְׂרֵֽה׃ten
ʾesrehH6240 →338 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
This page draws on 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.