21:2 And they spake unto them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan,
saying, The LORD commanded a by the hand of Moses to give
us cities to dwell in, with the suburbs thereof for our
cattle.
(a) By Moses, by whose ministry God showed his power.
21:4 And the lot came out for the families of the b
Kohathites: and the children of Aaron the priest, [which
were] of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah,
and out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of
Benjamin, c thirteen cities.
(b) He means those that were priests: for some were but
Levites.
(c) Every tribe gave more or fewer cities according to the
size of their inheritance, (Nu 35:8).
21:10 Which the children of d Aaron, [being] of the families
of the Kohathites, [who were] of the children of Levi,
had: for theirs was the first lot.
(d) For Aaron came from Kohath, and therefore the priests
office remained in that family.
21:13 Thus they gave to the e children of Aaron the priest
Hebron with her suburbs, [to be] a city of refuge for the
slayer; and Libnah with her suburbs,
(e) That is, the priest of the family of the Kohathites,
of whom Aaron was chief.
21:17 And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with her f
suburbs, Geba with her suburbs,
(f) The suburbs were a thousand cubits from the wall of
the cities round about, (Nu 35:4).
21:20 And the families of the children of Kohath, g the
Levites which remained of the children of Kohath, even
they had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of
Ephraim.
(g) That were not priests.
21:21 For they gave them h Shechem with her suburbs in mount
Ephraim, [to be] a city of refuge for the slayer; and
Gezer with her suburbs,
(h) Hebron and Shechem were the two cities of refuge under
the Kohathites.
21:25 And out of the i half tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with her
suburbs, and Gathrimmon with her suburbs; two cities.
(i) Who dwelt in Canaan.
21:27 And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the
Levites, out of the [other] half tribe of Manasseh [they
gave] k Golan in Bashan with her suburbs, [to be] a city
of refuge for the slayer; and Beeshterah with her suburbs;
two cities.
(k) Golan and Kedesh were the cities of refuge under the
Gershonites.
21:34 And unto the families of the children of Merari, the l
rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam
with her suburbs, and Kartah with her suburbs,
(l) They are here called the rest, because they are last
numbered, and Merari was the younger brother,
(Ge 46:11).
21:36 And out of the tribe of Reuben, m Bezer with her
suburbs, and Jahazah with her suburbs,
(m) Bezer and Ramoch were the cities of refuge under the
Merarites and beyond Jordan, (Jos 20:8).
21:41 All the cities of the Levites n within the possession of
the children of Israel [were] forty and eight cities with
their suburbs.
(n) Thus according to Jacob's prophecy they were scattered
throughout the country, which God used so that his
people might be instructed in the true religion by
them.
