Joshua 21:4

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.

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 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.

6 The descendants of Gershon [received] by lot thirteen cities from the families of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, and Naphtali and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "came out"
• [b]. Hebrew "Kohathite"
• [c]. Or "sons"
• [d]. Literally "they had"