Joshua 21:4

4 The lot came out for the families of the K'hati. The descendants of Aharon the cohen, who were of the L'vi'im, received by lot thirteen cities from the tribes of Y'hudah, Shim'on and Binyamin.

Joshua 21:4 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 21:4

And the lot came out for the family of the Kohathites
The first lot that was drawn out of the pot or urn was for the descendants of Kohath, a son of Levi:

and the children of Aaron the priest, [which were] of the Levites;
who descended from Amram, the eldest son of Kohath, and these were not only Levites, but priests: these

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;
which are after mentioned by name; and as these were priests, whose business was to serve in the temple, and at the altar, the cities assigned them by the lot, were, by the wise disposal of divine Providence, ordered them out of those tribes which lay nearest to Jerusalem; the place God had chosen to put his name in, where the temple would be built, and the altars erected for sacrifices and incense.

Joshua 21:4 In-Context

2 It was at Shiloh in the land of Kena'an that they spoke to them; they said, "ADONAI ordered through Moshe that we be given cities to live in, with the surrounding open land for our livestock."

3 So out of their inheritance the people of Isra'el gave the L'vi'im the following cities with the surrounding open land:

4 The lot came out for the families of the K'hati. The descendants of Aharon the cohen, who were of the L'vi'im, received by lot thirteen cities from the tribes of Y'hudah, Shim'on and Binyamin.

5 The rest of the descendants of K'hat received by lot ten cities from the families of the tribes of Efrayim and Dan and the half-tribe of M'nasheh.

6 The descendants of Gershon received by lot thirteen cities from the families of the tribes of Yissakhar, Asher, Naftali and the half-tribe of M'nasheh in Bashan.