And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, at the commandment of the LORD, these cities and their suburbs.
Parallel translations
- WEB The children of Israel gave to the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the commandment of Yahweh, these cities with their suburbs.
- BSB So by the command of the LORD, the Israelites gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands out of their own inheritance:
- NKJV So the children of Israel gave to the Levites from their inheritance, at the commandment of the Lord, these cities and their common-lands:
- NASB So the sons of Israel gave the Levites from their inheritance these cities with their pasture lands, in accordance with the command of the Lord.
- NLT So by the command of the Lord the people of Israel gave the Levites the following towns and pasturelands out of their own grants of land.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Obeying the LORD's command, the Israelites give the Levites cities and pasturelands from their own inheritance. The tribes share their portions to support those who serve God.
Overview
Each tribe yielded some of its own towns to provide for the Levites, an act of obedient generosity grounded in God's command. This arrangement ensured that those devoted to the Lord's service were sustained by the whole nation. It models the principle that God's ministers are to be supported by His people, a pattern carried forward in the New Testament church.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Gen 49:7Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
- 1 Chr 6:54–81Now these are their dwelling places throughout their castles in their coasts, of the sons of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites: for theirs was the lot.
- Deut 33:8–10And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;
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Christ at the center
Joshua — the same name as Jesus, 'the LORD saves' — leads God's people into their inheritance, a shadow of the greater Joshua who brings us into the true rest and the promised land that remains.
How Joshua 21:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.