Joshua 21:3

3 And the sons of Israel gave of their possessions, by commandment of the Lord, cities and the suburbs of those. (And so the Israelites gave to the Levites out of their possessions, by the command of the Lord, the following cities and their suburbs.)

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 And the princes of the families of Levi nighed to Eleazar, the priest, and to Joshua, the son of Nun, and to the dukes of the kindreds, by all the lineages of the sons of Israel; (And the leaders of the families of Levi came to Eleazar, the priest, and to Joshua, the son of Nun, and to the leaders of the families, of all the tribes of the Israelites;)
2 and they spake to them in Shiloh, a city of the land of Canaan, and they said, The Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, that cities should be given to us to dwell in, and the suburbs of those for our work beasts to be fed in. (and they spoke to them in Shiloh, a city in the land of Canaan, and they said, The Lord commanded by Moses, that we should be given cities to live in, and also their suburbs for our work beasts to be fed in.)
3 And the sons of Israel gave of their possessions, by commandment of the Lord, cities and the suburbs of those. (And so the Israelites gave to the Levites out of their possessions, by the command of the Lord, the following cities and their suburbs.)
4 And the lot went out into the family of Kohath, of the sons of Aaron, the priest, of the lineages of Judah, and of Simeon, and of Benjamin, thirteen cities; (And the lot went out to the Kohathite families, that is, to the Levites of the sons of Aaron, the priest, thirteen cities from the tribes of Judah, and Simeon, and Benjamin;)
5 and to the others of the sons of Kohath, that is, to the deacons that were left (over), of the lineages of Ephraim, and of Dan, and of the half lineage of Manasseh, ten cities. (and to the rest of the Kohathite families, that is, to the Levites of the lower degree, ten cities from the tribes of Ephraim, and Dan, and the western half of the tribe of Manasseh.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.