Joshua 21:3

3 So, {by command of Yahweh}, the {Israelites} gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands from their inheritance.

Joshua 21:3 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 21:3

And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their
inheritance
Knowing full well there was such a command, made no objection to their motion, but freely gave them cities out of the portion of inheritance allotted to them; this they did

at the commandment of the Lord, and in obedience to it, even gave
these cities and suburbs;
after mentioned: this was done by the tribes themselves; as there were a certain number fixed by the commandment of God, they agreed among themselves how many and what cities should be given out of each tribe; and then lots were cast for them by Joshua, what and which cities should be appropriated to their several divisions, as the Kohathites that sprang from Aaron, and the rest of them that did not, and the Gershonites and Merarites, as follows.

Joshua 21:3 In-Context

1 Then the heads of the families of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the families of the tribes of the {Israelites}.

2 And they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, "Yahweh commanded through the hand of Moses to give us cities to live [in], with their pasturelands for our livestock."

3 So, {by command of Yahweh}, the {Israelites} gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands from their inheritance.

4 The allotment {fell} for the families of the Kohathites. The descendants of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, {received} by lot thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

5 The remaining descendants of Kohath [received] by lot ten cities from the families of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "by the mouth of Yahweh"
• [b]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"