Joshua 21:27

And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the other half tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Beeshterah with her suburbs; two cities.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
children	וְלִבְנֵ֣י ve.liv.Nei	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Gershon	גֵרְשׁוֹן֮ ge.re.shOn	H1648	Gereshon or Gereshom · proper noun, a man's name
families	מִמִּשְׁפְּחֹ֣ת mi.mish.pe.Chot	H4940	a family · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct
Levites	הַלְוִיִּם֒ hal.vi.Yim	H3881	a Levite or descendant of Levi · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
half	מֵחֲצִ֞י me.cha.Tzi	H2677	the half or middle · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
tribe	מַטֵּ֣ה ma.Teh	H4294	a branch (as extending) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Manasseh	מְנַשֶּׁ֗ה me.na.Sheh	H4519	Menashsheh · proper noun, a man's name
Golan	גּוֹלָ֤ן ga.lon	H1474	Golan · proper noun, a place name
Bashan	בַּבָּשָׁן֙ ba.ba.Shan	H1316	Bashan (often with the article) · preposition with the article + proper noun, a place name
suburbs	מִגְרָשֶׁ֔הָ mig.ra.She.ha	H4054	a suburb (i.e. open country whither flocks are driven f… · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
city	עִיר֙ 'ir	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · noun, common feminine singular construct
refuge	מִקְלַ֣ט mik.Lat	H4733	an asylum (as a receptacle) · noun, common masculine singular construct
slayer	הָרֹצֵ֔חַ ha.ro.Tze.ach	H7523	properly · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
Beesh-terah	בְּעֶשְׁתְּרָ֖ה be.'esh.te.Rah	H1203	Beeshterah · proper noun, a place name
suburbs	מִגְרָשֶׁ֑הָ mig.ra.She.ha	H4054	a suburb (i.e. open country whither flocks are driven f… · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
two	שְׁתָּֽיִם she.Ta.yim	H8147	two · cardinal number, feminine dual absolute
cities	עָרִ֖ים 'a.Rim	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · noun, common masculine plural absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 Chronicles 6:71 Unto the sons of Gershom were given out of the family of the half tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with her suburbs, and Ashtaroth with he…
Deuteronomy 1:4 After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei:
Deuteronomy 4:43 Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the…
Joshua 20:8 And on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramot…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Joshua 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, Lev 25:33. Yet it is probable that the Levites having only the cities and suburbs, while the land about pertained to th…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Joshua 21:9

THE CITIES OF THE PRIESTS. (Jos. 21:9-42) they gave . . . these cities which are here mentioned by name--It was overruled by the unerring providence of the Divine Lawgiver that the cities of the priests lay within the territories of Judah and Benjamin. This was a provision, the admirable wisdom and propriety of which were fully manifested on the schism that took place in the reign of Rehoboam.

Adam Clarke on Joshua 21:27

Golan in Bashan - On this and the other cities of refuge mentioned here, see the note on Jos 20:7.

John Gill on Joshua 21:27

And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites,.... The descendants of the second son of Levi: out of the other half tribe of Manasseh; that which was settled beyond Jordan: they gave Golan in Bashan, with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; see Joshua 20:8; this is the third city of refuge mentioned: and Beeshterah with her suburbs; called Ashtaroth, 1 Chronicles 6:71; which had been the royal city of Og, king of Bashan, where he had his palace, Deuteronomy 1:4. Here seems to have been formerly a temple dedicated to the goddess Astarte; for Beeshterah is a compound of "Beth" and "Ashterah", or Astarte; that is, the house or temple of Astarte, but now bec…

Dictionary and topics

Ashtaroth — A city of Bashan, in the kingdom of Og (Deut. 1:4; Josh. 12:4; 13:12; 9:10). It was in the half-tribe of Manasseh (Josh. 13:12), and as a Levitical city was given to the Gershonites (1 Chr. 6:71).…
Bashan — Light soil, first mentioned in Gen. 14:5, where it is said that Chedorlaomer and his confederates “smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth,” where Og the king of Bashan had his residence. At the time of…
Beeshterah — (house of Ashterah), one of the two cities allotted to the sons of Gershon out of the tribe of Manasseh beyond Jordan. (Joshua 21:27) Probably identical with Ashtaroth. (1 Chronicles 6:71)
Cities Of Refuge — six Levitical cities specially chosen for refuge to the involuntary homicide until released from banishment by the death of the high priest. (Numbers 35:6,13,15; Joshua 20:2,7,9) There were three on…
Gaulanitis — A name derived from “Golan” (q.v.), one of the cities of refuge in the territory of Manasseh (Josh. 20:8; 21:27; Deut. 4:43). This was one of the provinces ruled by Herod Antipas. It lay to the east…
Gershon — =Ger’shom expulsion, the eldest of Levi’s three sons (Gen. 46:11; Ex. 6:16). In the wilderness the sons of Gershon had charge of the fabrics of the tabernacle when it was moved from place to place,…
Golan — Exile, a city of Bashan (Deut. 4:43), one of the three cities of refuge east of Jordan, about 12 miles north-east of the Sea of Galilee (Josh. 20:8). There are no further notices of it in Scripture.…
Kibzaim — Two heaps, a city of Ephraim, assigned to the Kohathite Levites, and appointed as a city of refuge (Josh. 21: 22). It is also called Jokmeam (1 Chr. 6:68).
Levite — A descendant of the tribe of Levi (Ex. 6:25; Lev. 25:32; Num. 35:2; Josh. 21:3, 41). This name is, however, generally used as the title of that portion of the tribe which was set apart for the…
Beesh-Terah · A Leviti — A Leviti

Joshua 21:27

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Joshua 21:9-42

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Joshua 21:9

Adam Clarke on Joshua 21:27

John Gill on Joshua 21:27

Dictionary and topics

Joshua 21:27

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Joshua 21:9-42

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Joshua 21:9

Adam Clarke on Joshua 21:27

John Gill on Joshua 21:27

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Joshua 21:20–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Joshua 21:9-42

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Joshua 21:9-42

Rashi on Joshua 21:18