Joshua 21 · a question people ask
Jacob said of Levi, "I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel" (Genesis 49:7). Is this chapter that coming true?
Jacob's words are about Simeon and Levi together: "Simeon and Levi are brothers. Their swords are weapons of violence" (Genesis 49:5), and "Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce" (Genesis 49:7). Joshua 21 doesn't cite Genesis 49. Its own reason for the cities is the LORD's command: "as the LORD commanded by Moses" (21:8). Every reading agrees on what the chapter says: the Levites' cities lay "among the possessions of the children of Israel" (21:41), in the land of every tribe. Christians read the two passages side by side in more than one way.
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
Jacob's words, come to pass
Those who hold this view set Genesis 49:7 beside the list: Levi has no region of its own, only cities spread through all the tribes (21:41), and Simeon's inheritance "was in the middle of the inheritance of the children of Judah" (Joshua 19:1). On this reading, what Jacob said of the two brothers is what the dividing of the land shows.
Genesis 49:7 · Joshua 21:41 · Joshua 19:1 · Joshua 19:9
A scattering given a new purpose
Those who hold this view read Genesis 49:7 as fulfilled here, and also note what came between. When the sons of Levi gathered to Moses, he said, "Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD" (Exodus 32:29); "the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi… to bless in his name" (Deuteronomy 10:8); and Moses' blessing says of Levi, "They shall teach Jacob your ordinances, and Israel your law" (Deuteronomy 33:10). On this reading the scattering stands, and the LORD gives it a purpose among all the tribes.
Exodus 32:26-29 · Deuteronomy 10:8-9 · Deuteronomy 33:10
Joshua's own reason
Those who hold this view read Joshua 21 on its own terms. The Levites ask because "The LORD commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in" (21:2), the book says "The LORD, the God of Israel, is their inheritance" (13:33) and "the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance" (18:7), and Numbers gives the command without naming Genesis 49 (Numbers 35:2-8). On this reading the chapter explains the cities by the LORD's command and Levi's service, and the link to Genesis 49:7 isn't one the text draws.
Joshua 21:2 · Joshua 13:33 · Joshua 18:7 · Numbers 35:2-8
The verses
““Simeon and Levi are brothers. Their swords are weapons of violence. My soul, don’t come into their council. My glory, don’t be united to their assembly; for in their anger they killed men. In their self-will they hamstrung cattle. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.”
“The children of Israel gave these cities with their pasture lands by lot to the Levites, as the LORD commanded by Moses.”
“All the cities of the Levites among the possessions of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their pasture lands.”