“And Heshbon with her suburbs, and Jazer with her suburbs; four cities in all.”
Context:This verse is part of the book of Joshua, which describes the conquest of the Promised Land by the Israelites under the leadership of Joshua after the death of Moses.
The portion of the verse you mentioned is a brief description of the allocation of cities to the Levites. In this chapter, Joshua 21, the division of the land among the Israelite tribes is being documented. The Levites, who were set apart as priests and did not receive a specific territory, were given certain cities throughout the other tribes’ territories to dwell in. These cities served as both places of residence for the Levites and as centers for teaching the law and performing religious duties.
Joshua 21:39 specifically mentions two cities: Heshbon and Jazer. These cities were assigned to the Levites, along with their respective suburbs or pasturelands. It is important to note that the number four mentioned in the verse refers to the total number of cities mentioned in that particular sentence, not the total number of Levitical cities.
Heshbon was a city located in the territory of the tribe of Reuben, on the east side of the Jordan River. Jazer, on the other hand, was situated in the territory of the tribe of Gad, also on the east side of the Jordan River. These cities were designated as Levitical cities to fulfill the provision of land for the Levites throughout the entire region.
