Joshua 18:7

Jos 18:7 But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the LORD [is] their inheritance: and Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have received their inheritance beyond Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them.

Ver. 7. But the Levites, &c.] See on Jos 13:14.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18:7 The Levites: See ch 21. • Gad . . . Manasseh: See 13:15-33.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That is, the sacrifices and offerings, Josh. 13:14.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 7. The priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance] We have already seen that the priests and Levites had the sacrifices, oblations tithes, first-fruits, redemption-money of the firstborn, c., for their inheritance they had no landed possessions in Israel; the LORD was their portion.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. But the Levites] See above, ch. Jos_13:33; Num_18:20.

the priesthood of the Lord] Notice the change here as compared with ch. Jos_13:14. There “the sacrifices of Jehovah” are said to be the portion of Levi, and in Jos_13:33, “Jehovah, God of Israel” is said to be their portion. Here we have “the priesthood of Jehovah,” as in Num_3:10; Num_16:10; Num_18:1-7.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But the Levites have no part among you,.... And so needed not to send any men out of their tribe to measure the land on their account, and is a reason why the remaining part of the land was to be divided into seven parts only:

for the priesthood of the Lord is his inheritance; not only the office, but what appertained to it, all the perquisites of it, the tithes, firstfruits, parts of the sacrifices, &c. see Jos 13:14,

and Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have received their inheritance beyond Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them; and so had no share in the division of the land of Canaan, being sufficiently provided for.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Priesthood, and the rights attached to it, tithes, &c. (Calmet) --- It was therefore necessary to make eight portions. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

7. Levites have no part — See on Jos_13:33.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But the Levites. (see Jos_13:14, Jos_13:33) The priesthood of the Lord. An equivalent expression to that in Jos 13. Here the office of the priesthood, there, more accurately, the sacrifices which it was the privilege of that tribe to offer up, are said to be the possession of the tribe of Levi. By cities. It was evidently not a land survey, entering into such particulars as the physical conditions of the ground, its fitness for agriculture, for pasture and the like. The division was made by cities. These cities had been taken and destroyed by Joshua, and now it was the intention of the Israelites to be guided by the ancient political system of the country, to occupy those cities, and to cultivate the adjacent land, as the Phoenicians had done before them. Thus, not so much the area of the land, as the size and importance of its cities, was to be the leading principle of the division. And not unwisely. The Israelites were about to relinquish their nomad life, and if they settled in Palestine, how, without walled cities, could they hold their own against the powerful nations round about them? And came again to Joshua. "The result of this examination, which was unquestionably a more careful one than that made by the spies of Moses, was that the unsubdued territory was found to be too small for the wants of seven tribes, while that apportioned to Judah was seen to be disproportionately large. To remedy this difficulty a place was found for Benjamin between Judah and Ephraim, and the portion of Simeon was taken out of the southern portion of Judah, while both Judah and Ephraim had to give up some cities to Dan" (Ritter).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Joshua is continuing his speech to the children of Israel.

no portion

"no portion of land"

for the priesthood of Yahweh is their inheritance

Joshua speaks of the great honor that the Levites have by serving Yahweh as priests as if it were something that they inherited. AT: "for the priesthood of Yahweh is what they have" (See: Metaphor)

the half tribe of Manasseh

"half of the tribe of Manasseh"

have received their inheritance

The land that the tribes received is spoken of as if it were an inheritance that they received as a permanent possession. AT: "have received land as their inheritance" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

Levi

priest

Yahweh

inherit

Gad

Reuben

tribe

Manasseh

receive

Jordan River

Moses

servant

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.