Joshua 21:1

1 Then the heads of the families of the Levites came to the priest Eleazar and to Joshua son of Nun and to the heads of the families of the tribes of the Israelites;

Joshua 21:1 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 21:1

Then came near the heads of the fathers of the Levites
When the land was divided to the several tribes, and everyone knew the cities that belonged to them, and what they could and should part with to the Levites, and when the six cities of refuge were fixed; the Levites came to put in their claim for cities of habitation, they having no share in the division of the land; and yet it was necessary they should have habitations; the persons that undertook to put in a claim for them were the principal men among them; the fathers of them were Kohath, Gershon, and Merari; the heads of those were the chief men that were then living: these came

unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua the son of Nun;
the high priest and chief magistrate:

and unto the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of
Israel;
the princes appointed to divide the land with the two great personages before mentioned, ( Numbers 34:17-29 ) .

Joshua 21:1 In-Context

1 Then the heads of the families of the Levites came to the priest Eleazar and to Joshua son of Nun and to the heads of the families of the tribes of the Israelites;

2 they said to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, "The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given towns to live in, along with their pasture lands for our livestock."

3 So by command of the Lord the Israelites gave to the Levites the following towns and pasture lands out of their inheritance.

4 The lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received by lot thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

5 The rest of the Kohathites received by lot ten towns from the families of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.