Bible Strands
Joshua 21:41
For the Levites, then, there were forty-eight cities in all, together with their pasturelands, within the territory of the Israelites.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joshua concludes the tribal inheritance narrative by summarizing the final allotment given to the priestly tribe after detailing the specific cities distributed to each Levitical clan.
The words — כֹּל (kol) marks the complete sum or total, while בְּתוֹךְ (be-tokh) places those settlements directly within the inherited possession of Israel.
The thread — This tally responds to the command in Numbers 35:1 to provide Levitical settlements, while the broader theme of tribal allotment recurs in the patriarchal blessing of Genesis 49:7 and the priestly commission of Deuteronomy 33:10.
Why it lands — It demands recognition that the promised land was actively divided and that the Levites received a defined, bounded portion rather than a territorial inheritance.
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
All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty and eight cities with their suburbs.
Cross-references
- Genesis 49:7 Cursed be their anger, for it is strong, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
- Numbers 35:1 Again the LORD spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho:
- Deuteronomy 33:10 He will teach Your ordinances to Jacob and Your law to Israel; he will set incense before You and whole burnt offerings on Your altar.