Joshua 21:4
New International Version
The first lot came out for the Kohathites, according to their clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest were allotted thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin.

New Living Translation
The descendants of Aaron, who were members of the Kohathite clan within the tribe of Levi, were allotted thirteen towns that were originally assigned to the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

English Standard Version
The lot came out for the clans of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, thirteen cities.

Berean Standard Bible
The first lot came out for the Kohathite clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

King James Bible
And the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites: and the children of Aaron the priest, which were of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities.

New King James Version
Now the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. And the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, had thirteen cities by lot from the tribe of Judah, from the tribe of Simeon, and from the tribe of Benjamin.

New American Standard Bible
Then the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. And to the sons of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, thirteen cities were given by lot from the tribe of Judah, from the tribe of the Simeonites, and from the tribe of Benjamin.

NASB 1995
Then the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. And the sons of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, received thirteen cities by lot from the tribe of Judah and from the tribe of the Simeonites and from the tribe of Benjamin.

NASB 1977
Then the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. And the sons of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, received thirteen cities by lot from the tribe of Judah and from the tribe of the Simeonites and from the tribe of Benjamin.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. And the sons of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, received thirteen cities by lot from the tribe of Judah and from the tribe of the Simeonites and from the tribe of Benjamin.

Amplified Bible
The [first] lot (allotment) came out for the families of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were sons (descendants) of Aaron the priest received thirteen cities by lot from the tribe of Judah and from the tribe of Simeon and from the tribe of Benjamin.

Christian Standard Bible
The lot came out for the Kohathite clans: The Levites who were the descendants of the priest Aaron received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
The lot came out for the Kohathite clans: The Levites who were the descendants of Aaron the priest received 13 cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

American Standard Version
And the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites: and the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of the Simeonites, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And the lot of the family of Qahath and the children of Aaron the Priest went out from the Levites and they gave to them from the tribe of Yehuda and from the tribe of Shemon and from the tribe of Benyamin, thirteen cities

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And the lot came out for the children of Caath; and the sons of Aaron, the priests the Levites, had by lot thirteen cities out of the tribe of Juda, and out of the tribe of Symeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin.

Contemporary English Version
The leaders asked the LORD to show them in what order the clans of Levi would be given towns, and which towns each clan would receive. The Kohath clans were first. The descendants of Aaron, Israel's first priest, were given 13 towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the lot came out for the family of Caath of the children of Aaron the priest out of the tribes of Juda, and of Simeon, and of Benjamin, thirteen cities.

English Revised Version
And the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites: and the children of Aaron the priest, which were of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of the Simeonites, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
These are the cities for the families of Kohath that were chosen by drawing lots. These descendants of the priest Aaron the Levite received 13 cities from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

Good News Translation
The families of the Levite clan of Kohath were the first to be assigned cities. The families who were descended from Aaron the priest were assigned thirteen cities from the territories of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

International Standard Version
The lottery went to the families of the descendants of Kohath. So the descendants of Aaron the priest, who were descendants of Levi, received thirteen cities by random lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites; and the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of the Simeonites, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities.

Literal Standard Version
and the lot goes out for the families of the Kohathite, and there are for the sons of Aaron the priest (of the Levites), out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities by lot,

Majority Standard Bible
The first lot came out for the Kohathite clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

New American Bible
When the first lot among the Levites fell to the clans of the Kohathites, the descendants of Aaron the priest obtained by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, thirteen cities.

NET Bible
The first lot belonged to the Kohathite clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest were allotted thirteen cities from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

New Revised Standard Version
The lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received by lot thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

New Heart English Bible
The lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. The descendants of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, had thirteen cities by lot out of the tribe of Judah, out of the tribe of the Simeonites, and out of the tribe of Benjamin.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites: and the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities.

World English Bible
The lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. The children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, had thirteen cities by lot out of the tribe of Judah, out of the tribe of the Simeonites, and out of the tribe of Benjamin.

Young's Literal Translation
And the lot goeth out for the families of the Kohathite, and there are for the sons of Aaron the priest (of the Levites), out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, by lot thirteen cities,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Forty-Eight Cities for the Levites
3So by the command of the LORD, the Israelites gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands out of their own inheritance: 4The first lot came out for the Kohathite clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. 5The remaining descendants of Kohath received ten cities by lot from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.…

Cross References
Numbers 3:27
From Kohath came the clans of the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites; these were the clans of the Kohathites.

Joshua 21:3
So by the command of the LORD, the Israelites gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands out of their own inheritance:

Joshua 21:5
The remaining descendants of Kohath received ten cities by lot from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

1 Chronicles 6:54
Now these were the territories assigned to the descendants of Aaron from the Kohathite clan for their settlements, because the first lot fell to them:


Treasury of Scripture

And the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites: and the children of Aaron the priest, which were of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities.

the children

Joshua 21:8-19
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…

Joshua 24:33
And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim.

1 Chronicles 6:54-60
Now 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…

Numbers 35:8
And the cities which ye shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel: from them that have many ye shall give many; but from them that have few ye shall give few: every one shall give of his cities unto the Levites according to his inheritance which he inheriteth.

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Aaron Allotted Benjamin Children Cities Clan Descendants Heritage Judah Kohathite Kohathites Ko'hathites Lot Priest Received Simeon Simeonites Thirteen Towns Tribe Tribes
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Aaron Allotted Benjamin Children Cities Clan Descendants Heritage Judah Kohathite Kohathites Ko'hathites Lot Priest Received Simeon Simeonites Thirteen Towns Tribe Tribes
Joshua 21
1. Forty-eight cities given by lot, out of the other tribes unto the Levites.
43. God gives the land, and rest unto the Israelites, according to his promise














(4-8) The order of the distribution--viz., (1) to priests, (2) to Kohathites, (3) to Gershonites, (4) to Merarites--is in strict agreement with the order of priority observed in the exodus. In the camp of Israel there were two squares surrounding the tabernacle: an inner square of priests and Levites, an outer square of the tribes of Israel, three on each side. The inner square was arranged thus:--The priests, with Moses and Aaron, on the east, by the entrance of the tabernacle; the Kohathites on the south, the Gershonites on the west, and the Merarites on the north. On the march the priests were the chief officers of this portion of the army. The Kohathites carried the sacred vessels, the Gershonites the curtains and various fabrics of the tent and tabernacle, and the Merarites the bars and boards. When they received their inheritances in Palestine, the same relative order was preserved.

INHERITANCE OF THE PRIESTS (Joshua 21:9-19).

(9) Out of the tribe of . . . Judah . . . and Simeon; and (17) out of the tribe of Benjamin.--It is worthy of notice that, with the exception of a single city in the tribe of Simeon (viz., Ain, Joshua 21:16), all the priestly cities are so arranged as to fall ultimately within the kingdom of Judah, of which the capital was Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put His name there. The Levites also left their cities and their suburbs in the reign of Jeroboam (2Chronicles 11:14), and came over to Judah. But the fact that all the priests, with the trifling exception noted above, were already settled in that kingdom, must have been a great attraction.

When these facts are observed, it is hardly possible not to be struck with the undesigned agreement between the Book of Joshua and the later history, as well as with the Divine foresight which arranged the distribution of the people thus.

(13) Hebron (El Khalil).

(14) Jattir (Attir). . . .

Verse 4. - And the lot came out. As in the distribution of the land among the tribes, so in the division of the cities among the tribes of Levi, the whole matter was referred to the judgment of God. Thus solemnly placed in His hands, the division would not afterwards become the occasion of jealousy or dispute. The division was first made between the descendants of the three sons of Levi, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari (see Exodus 6:16-25), and then, as regards the Kohathites, between the priests, the descendants of Aaron, and the rest of the Levites. We have remarked above (Joshua 19:50) on the disinterestedness of Joshua. We have now to remark on the same characteristic as displayed by Moses. There was no attempt on the part of Moses to "found a family," the object of ambition with most men, whether kings or private persons possessed of wealth. No special privileges belonged to his descendants. They merged in the undistinguished herd of the Levites generally. In this Moses contrasts favourably with most public men in our own day; he stands out prominently before nearly all the great leaders and conquerors before or even after the Christian era. The same may be said of Joshua, his successor. Cincinnatus may be in some measure compared with them, but as a dictator simply in time of danger, his power was by no means so absolute, nor were his temptations so great as those of the two successive leaders of the Israelites. Thirteen cities. It has been contended by Maurer and others that this number of cities was largely in excess of what could possibly be required for the descendants of Aaron in so short a time. But we have to consider

(1) that the cities were probably not, at least at first, inhabited exclusively by the priests;

(2) that the Israelites multiplied rapidly, and that the number of descendants in the fourth generation would probably be nearly a thousand, and in the fifth, above five thousand;

(3) that all the cities were not, as yet, actually taken from the Canaanites at all, and so therefore were in all probability only intended as an eventual possession of the priests, and . . .

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
The [first] lot
הַגּוֹרָ֖ל (hag·gō·w·rāl)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1486: Lot -- a lot (for casting)

came out
וַיֵּצֵ֥א (way·yê·ṣê)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3318: To go, bring, out, direct and proxim

for the Kohathite
הַקְּהָתִ֑י (haq·qə·hā·ṯî)
Article | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 6956: Kohathites -- descendant of Kohath

clans.
לְמִשְׁפְּחֹ֣ת (lə·miš·pə·ḥōṯ)
Preposition-l | Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 4940: A family, circle of relatives, a class, a species, sort, a tribe, people

The Levites
הַלְוִיִּ֗ם (hal·wî·yim)
Article | Noun - proper - masculine plural
Strong's 3881: Levites -- descendant of Levi

who were descendants
לִבְנֵי֩ (liḇ·nê)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

of Aaron
אַהֲרֹ֨ן (’a·hă·rōn)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 175: Aaron -- an elder brother of Moses

the priest
הַכֹּהֵ֜ן (hak·kō·hên)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3548: Priest

received
וַיְהִ֡י (way·hî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

thirteen
שְׁלֹ֥שׁ (šə·lōš)
Number - feminine singular construct
Strong's 7969: Three, third, thrice

cities
עָרִ֖ים (‘ā·rîm)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 5892: Excitement

by lot
בַּגּוֹרָ֔ל (bag·gō·w·rāl)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1486: Lot -- a lot (for casting)

from
מִן־ (min-)
Preposition
Strong's 4480: A part of, from, out of

the tribes
מִמַּטֵּ֣ה (mim·maṭ·ṭêh)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4294: A staff, rod, shaft, branch, a tribe

of Judah,
יְ֠הוּדָה (yə·hū·ḏāh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3063: Judah -- 'praised', a son of Jacob, also the southern kingdom, also four Israelites

Simeon,
הַשִּׁמְעֹנִ֜י (haš·šim·‘ō·nî)
Article | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 8099: Simeonites -- a Shimonite

and Benjamin.
בִנְיָמִן֙ (ḇin·yā·min)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1144: Benjamin -- 'son of the right hand', youngest son of Jacob, also the name of two other Israelites


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OT History: Joshua 21:4 The lot came out for the families (Josh. Jos)
Joshua 21:3
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