1 Chronicles 6:66-70 details the cities of the Kohathite families in the hill country of Ephraim––Shechem the city of refuge, Gezer, Jokmeam, Beth-horon, Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon––with Aner and Bileam from the half-tribe of Manasseh.
1 Chronicles 6:66-70 names thecities of the non-priestly Kohathites in the hill country ofEphraim and the half-tribe of Manasseh, headed by Shechem, the northern city ofrefuge.
The detail promised in the summary now begins: some of the families of the sons of Kohath had cities of their territory from the tribe of Ephraim (v 66). These are the Kohathites outside Aaron's priestly family--the rest of the sons of Kohath from 1 Chronicles 6:61--and their towns sat in the central hill country.
Their chief city carried centuries of covenant memory: among the cities of refuge they received Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim with its pasture lands (v 67). Shechem was a city ofrefuge (Joshua 20:7), and it was holy ground long before Israel possessed the land. At Shechem the LORD first promised Abram, "To your descendants I will give this land" (Genesis 12:7). There Jacob buried his household's foreign gods (Genesis 35:4), there Joshua gathered all Israel to renew the covenant (Joshua 24:1, 25), and there the bones of Joseph were buried (Joshua 24:32). The town where the promise of the land began became a Levite town within it. With Shechem came Gezer also with its pasture lands (v 67). Gezer guarded the road where the hill country met the coastal plain; Joshua defeated its king (Joshua 12:12), and generations later Pharaoh captured it and gave it as a dowry to Solomon's wife, after which Solomon rebuilt it (1 Kings 9:16-17).
Next come Jokmeam with its pasture lands and Beth-horon with its pasture lands (v 68). Beth-horon guarded the main ridge road from the coast up to the hill country, the route of Joshua's great victory, where the LORD threw the Amorite kings into confusion and hurled hailstones on them as they fled down the descent of Beth-horon (Joshua 10:10-11). The Levites received a town on the very road where God had fought for Israel.
The next pair, Aijalon with its pasture lands and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands (v 69), comes with a battlefield view. Aijalon looks over the valley where the moon stood still at Joshua's word: "O sun, stand still at Gibeon, And O moon in the valley of Aijalon" (Joshua 10:12). In the parallel list, Aijalonand Gath-rimmon come from the tribe of Dan (Joshua 21:23-24); the Chronicler, writing long after Dan's territory had been absorbed by its neighbors, groups the towns by the region where they lay.
Manasseh's contribution completes the allotment: from the half-tribe of Manasseh: Aner with its pasture lands and Bileam with its pasture lands, for the rest of the family of the sons of Kohath (v 70). Bileam is the town called Ibleam elsewhere (Joshua 17:11), near the pass where Jehu's judgment later overtook King Ahaziah (2 Kings 9:27). These Kohathite towns in the Ephraim hills also solve a puzzle from earlier in the chapter. Samuel's family, Kohathites by descent (1 Chronicles 6:27-28), lived in Ramathaim in the hillcountry of Ephraim (1 Samuel 1:1). A Kohathite household in Ephraim's hills is exactly what this list would lead us to expect. The genealogy and the geography confirm each other.
1 Chronicles 6:66-70
66 Now some of the families of the sons of Kohath had cities of their territory from the tribe of Ephraim.
67 They gave to them the following cities of refuge: Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim with its pasture lands, Gezer also with its pasture lands,
68 Jokmeam with its pasture lands, Beth-horon with its pasture lands,
69 Aijalon with its pasture lands and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands;
70 and from the half-tribe of Manasseh: Aner with its pasture lands and Bileam with its pasture lands, for the rest of the family of the sons of Kohath.
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1 Chronicles 6:66-70 meaning
1 Chronicles 6:66-70 names the cities of the non-priestly Kohathites in the hill country of Ephraim and the half-tribe of Manasseh, headed by Shechem, the northern city of refuge.
The detail promised in the summary now begins: some of the families of the sons of Kohath had cities of their territory from the tribe of Ephraim (v 66). These are the Kohathites outside Aaron's priestly family--the rest of the sons of Kohath from 1 Chronicles 6:61--and their towns sat in the central hill country.
Their chief city carried centuries of covenant memory: among the cities of refuge they received Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim with its pasture lands (v 67). Shechem was a city of refuge (Joshua 20:7), and it was holy ground long before Israel possessed the land. At Shechem the LORD first promised Abram, "To your descendants I will give this land" (Genesis 12:7). There Jacob buried his household's foreign gods (Genesis 35:4), there Joshua gathered all Israel to renew the covenant (Joshua 24:1, 25), and there the bones of Joseph were buried (Joshua 24:32). The town where the promise of the land began became a Levite town within it. With Shechem came Gezer also with its pasture lands (v 67). Gezer guarded the road where the hill country met the coastal plain; Joshua defeated its king (Joshua 12:12), and generations later Pharaoh captured it and gave it as a dowry to Solomon's wife, after which Solomon rebuilt it (1 Kings 9:16-17).
Next come Jokmeam with its pasture lands and Beth-horon with its pasture lands (v 68). Beth-horon guarded the main ridge road from the coast up to the hill country, the route of Joshua's great victory, where the LORD threw the Amorite kings into confusion and hurled hailstones on them as they fled down the descent of Beth-horon (Joshua 10:10-11). The Levites received a town on the very road where God had fought for Israel.
The next pair, Aijalon with its pasture lands and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands (v 69), comes with a battlefield view. Aijalon looks over the valley where the moon stood still at Joshua's word: "O sun, stand still at Gibeon, And O moon in the valley of Aijalon" (Joshua 10:12). In the parallel list, Aijalon and Gath-rimmon come from the tribe of Dan (Joshua 21:23-24); the Chronicler, writing long after Dan's territory had been absorbed by its neighbors, groups the towns by the region where they lay.
Manasseh's contribution completes the allotment: from the half-tribe of Manasseh: Aner with its pasture lands and Bileam with its pasture lands, for the rest of the family of the sons of Kohath (v 70). Bileam is the town called Ibleam elsewhere (Joshua 17:11), near the pass where Jehu's judgment later overtook King Ahaziah (2 Kings 9:27). These Kohathite towns in the Ephraim hills also solve a puzzle from earlier in the chapter. Samuel's family, Kohathites by descent (1 Chronicles 6:27-28), lived in Ramathaim in the hill country of Ephraim (1 Samuel 1:1). A Kohathite household in Ephraim's hills is exactly what this list would lead us to expect. The genealogy and the geography confirm each other.