44 and Jehovah giveth rest to them round about, according to all that which He hath sworn to their fathers, and there hath not stood a man in their presence of all their enemies, the whole of their enemies hath Jehovah given into their hand;
And Joshua taketh the whole of the land, according to all that Jehovah hath spoken unto Moses, and Joshua giveth it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions, by their tribes; and the land hath rest from war.
`And I have set thy border from the Red Sea, even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness unto the River: for I give into your hand the inhabitants of the land, and thou hast cast them out from before thee;
`And Jehovah thy God hath cast out these nations from thy presence little `by' little, (thou art not able to consume them hastily, lest the beast of the field multiply against thee), and Jehovah thy God hath given them before thee, and destroyed them -- a great destruction -- till their destruction; and He hath given their kings into thy hand, and thou hast destroyed their name from under the heavens; no man doth station himself in thy presence till thou hast destroyed them.
`Jehovah thy God He is passing over before thee, He doth destroy these nations from before thee, and thou hast possessed them; Joshua -- he is passing over before thee as Jehovah hath spoken, and Jehovah hath done to them as he hath done to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorite, and to their land, whom He destroyed. And Jehovah hath given them before your face, and ye have done to them according to all the command which I have commanded you;
`Remember the word which Moses, servant of Jehovah, commanded you, saying, Jehovah your God is giving rest to you, and He hath given to you this land;
till that Jehovah giveth rest to your brethren as to yourselves, and they have possessed, even they, the land which Jehovah your God is giving to them; then ye have turned back to the land of your possession, and have possessed it, which Moses, servant of Jehovah, hath given to you beyond the Jordan, `at' the sun-rising.'
`And, now, Jehovah your God hath given rest to your brethren, as He spake to them; and now, turn ye, and go for yourselves to your tents, unto the land of your possession, which Moses, servant of Jehovah, hath given to you beyond the Jordan.
And the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half of the tribe of Manasseh, turn back and go from the sons of Israel out of Shiloh, which `is' in the land of Canaan, to go unto the land of Gilead, unto the land of their possession, in which they have possession, according to the command of Jehovah, by the hand of Moses;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Joshua 21
Commentary on Joshua 21 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 21
It had been often said that the tribe of Levi should have "no inheritance with their brethren,' no particular part of the country assigned them, as the other tribes had, no, not the country about Shiloh, which one might have expected to be appropriated to them as the lands of the church; but, though they were not thus cast into a country by themselves, it appears, by the provision made for them in this chapter, that they were no losers, but the rest of the tribes were very much gainers, by their being dispersed. We have here,
Jos 21:1-8
Here is,
Jos 21:9-42
We have here a particular account of the cities which were given to the children of Levi out of the several tribes, not only to be occupied and inhabited by them, as tenants to the several tribes in which they lay-no, their interest in them was not dependent and precarious, but to be owned and possessed by them as lords and proprietors, and as having the same title to them that the rest of the tribes had to their cities or lands, as appears by the law which preserved the house in the Levites' cities from being alienated any longer than till the year of jubilee, Lev. 25:32, 33. Yet it is probable that the Levites having only the cities and suburbs, while the land about pertained to the tribes in which they lay, those of that tribe, for the convenience of occupying that land, might commonly rent houses of the Levites, as they could spare them in their cities, and so live among them as their tenants. Several things may be observed in this account, besides what was observed in the law concerning it, Num. 35.
Upon the whole, it appears that effectual care was taken that the Levites should live both comfortably and usefully: and those, whether ministers or others, for whom Providence has done well, must look upon themselves as obliged thereby to do good, and, according as their capacity and opportunity are, to serve their generation.
Jos 21:43-45
We have here the conclusion of this whole matter, the foregoing history summed up, and, to make it appear the more bright, compared with the promise of which it was the full accomplishment. God's word and his works mutually illustrate each other. The performance makes the promise appear very true and the promise makes the performance appear very kind.