Now the sons of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities with their pasture lands, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.
Parallel translations
- WEB The children of Israel gave these cities with their suburbs by lot to the Levites, as Yahweh commanded by Moses.
- KJV And the children of Israel gave by lot unto the Levites these cities with their suburbs, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.
- BSB So the Israelites allotted to the Levites these cities, together with their pasturelands, as the LORD had commanded through Moses.
- NKJV And the children of Israel gave these cities with their common-lands by lot to the Levites, as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses.
- NLT So the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s command to Moses and assigned these towns and pasturelands to the Levites by casting sacred lots.
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
The Israelites give these cities with their pasturelands to the Levites by lot, as the LORD commanded through Moses. The whole arrangement rests on God's earlier word.
Overview
This summary verse stresses that the entire allocation was carried out by lot and in obedience to the command given through Moses. The repeated emphasis on God's word and the lot underscores that the Levites' provision was divinely ordered, not humanly contrived. It assures the reader that God faithfully provided for His servants exactly as He had promised.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Josh 21:3The children of Israel gave to the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the commandment of Yahweh, these cities with their suburbs.
- Num 35:3They shall have the cities to dwell in. Their suburbs shall be for their livestock, and for their possessions, and for all their animals.
- Num 32:2the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the princes of the congregation, saying,
- Josh 18:6You shall survey the land into seven parts, and bring the description here to me; and I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh our God.
- Num 33:54You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the more you shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer you shall give the less inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers.
- Prov 16:33The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from Yahweh.
- Prov 18:18The lot settles disputes, and keeps strong ones apart.
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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 21:8 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.