Bible Strands
Joshua 21:18
Anathoth, and Almon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joshua records the final distribution of Levitical cities from the tribe of Benjamin to the priestly descendants of Aaron. This allocation occurs during the territorial settlement following the conquest of Canaan.
The words — The text lists עֲנָתוֹת (Anatot) and עַלְמוֹן (Almon) alongside מִגְרָשֶׁהָ (migroshah), literally "its pasture lands," which designates the agricultural zones attached to each urban allotment.
The thread — The same towns reappear in 1 Chronicles 6:60 as part of a parallel priestly census and in 1 Kings 2:26 as Abiathar’s ancestral exile site. Isaiah 10:30 later personifies Anathoth as a location of impending lament.
Why it lands — The verse states that priestly sustenance was legally bound to specific geographic parcels rather than abstract stipends. It requires the reader to track how named places function as concrete anchors for both historical provision and future prophetic judgment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Anathoth with her suburbs, and Almon with her suburbs; four cities.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 2:26 Then the king said to Abiathar the priest, “Go back to your fields in Anathoth. Even though you deserve to die, I will not put you to death at this time, since you carried the ark of the Lord GOD before my father David, and you suffered through all that my father suffered.”
- 1 Chronicles 6:60 And from the tribe of Benjamin they were given Gibeon, Geba, Alemeth, and Anathoth, together with their pasturelands. So they had thirteen cities in all among their families.
- Isaiah 10:30 Cry aloud, O Daughter of Gallim! Listen, O Laishah! O wretched Anathoth!
- Jeremiah 1:1 These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.