Joshua 21:12

Jos 21:12 But the fields of the city, and the villages thereof, gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession.

Ver. 12. Gave they to Caleb.] Who was glad, no doubt, of the Levites’ so near neighbourhood and good company, to instruct him and his in the law of the Lord, and to exhort them to obedience, which the best are too backward to, and may need monitors and remembrancers. {2Pe 1:12}

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.

Jos 21:12. The fields and villages — That is, all beyond the two thousand cubits expressed Num 35:5. This is here mentioned, not as his peculiar case, but as one eminent instance, to show that it was so in all the rest of the cities here named; that the fields and villages thereof still belonged to the several tribes from whom the cities and their suburbs were taken. It would make the rest of the Israelites more cheerfully resign part of their possessions to the Levites, considering that even Caleb did so, though his possession had been long before promised, and now actually given to him by God’s special command, as a mark of honour and compensation for his long and faithful service.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 12. The fields of the city - gave they to Caleb] This was an exclusive privilege to him and his family, with which the grant to the Levites did not interfere. See Clarke on Jos 14:14.

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

12. But the fields of the city] of Hebron and its villages, i.e. the arable land had been already assigned to Caleb (see above ch. Jos_14:13). Whence we may conclude “that the Levites only received as many houses in the cities assigned them, as their numerical strength required, and that it was these which remained in their hands as an inalienable possession.” See Keil’s Commentary.

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 fields of the city, and the villages thereof,.... Which lay beyond the two thousand cubits:

gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh, for his possession; as Moses had promised, and Joshua had confirmed to him; and now the children of Israel gave them to him, and put him in the possession of, Jos 14:6; and the same is to be observed of all the other cities given to the Levites, that they and their suburbs, extending to such a distance only, were given to them; but the fields and villages, which belonged to them, continued the inheritance of the tribes in which they were.

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

Possession. Only the houses which the priests occupied, were taken from him. (Calmet) --- Caleb enjoyed all the dependencies of Hebron, and took the city, as he would not have been secure while the Chanaanites dwelt there. (Magalian.) --- Serarius thinks that he abandoned the city to the priests, in which he follows Tostat, who supposes that they had to pay tribute to the tribes among whom they lived; and that mines, &c., belonged to the latter. (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).

The fields of the city, i.e. all beyond the 2000 cubits expressed Num 35:5. This is here mentioned, not as his peculiar case, but as one eminent instance, to show that it was so in all the rest of the cities here named; that the fields and villages thereof still belonged to the several tribes from whom the cities and their suburbs were taken; and to make the rest of the Israelites more contentedly and cheerfully resign so great a part of their possessions to the Levites, because even Caleb did so, though his possession had been long before promised, and now actually given to him by God’s special command, as a mark of honour and compensation for his long and faithful service.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The fields. The original is in the singular. We are not necessarily, therefore, to suppose that the land was mapped out into divisions analogous to our fields. Our word "land" would more accurately represent the meaning of the original, which refers to the arable and pasture land in the neighbourhood of the city, with the agricultural villages or homesteads dotted about it. Keil contends that the Levites only received as many houses within the city as they needed, and that the rest belonged to Caleb. Bahr, moreover ("Symbolik," 2:49), supposed that the Levites dwelt with the other inhabitants of the city, and that the pasture land within the distance of 2, 000 paces from the city was reserved for them, the rest of the land belonging to the inhabitants of the tribe. (see note on Gezer, Jos_10:33) This seems the most probable explanation. The land in general was owned by the descendants of Caleb. But the Levites had certain pastures reserved for them, whither they drove their cattle. (see note on suburbs, Jos_14:4) The special information about Hebron here again is worthy of notice. It is copied by the author of 1 Chronicles in ch. 6.

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

The fields and villages - That is, all beyond the two thousand cubits expressed, Num. xxxv, 5. This is here mentioned, not as his peculiar case, but as one eminent instance, to shew, that it was so in all the rest of the cities here named; that the fields and villages thereof still belonged to the several tribes from whom the cities and their suburbs were taken; and to make the rest of the Israelites more cheerfully resign part of their possessions to the Levites, because even Caleb did so, though his possession had been long before promised, and now actually given to him by God's special command, as a mark of honour and compensation for his long and faithful service.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.