And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the
Levites
The descendants of the second son of Levi: out of the [other] half tribe of Manasseh;
that which was settled beyond Jordan: [they gave] Golan in Bashan, with her suburbs, [to be] a city of
refuge for the slayer;
see ( Joshua 20:8 ) ; this is the third city of refuge mentioned: and Beeshterah with her suburbs;
called Ashtaroth, ( 1 Chronicles 6:71 ) ; which had been the royal city of Og, king of Bashan, where he had his palace, ( Deuteronomy 1:4 ) . Here seems to have been formerly a temple dedicated to the goddess Astarte; for Beeshterah is a compound of "Beth" and "Ashterah", or Astarte; that is, the house or temple of Astarte, but now become a city of the Levites: two cities;
two more having been before given out of the other half tribe.