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Set to dark mode1 Chronicles 6:71-76
71 To the sons of Gershom were given, from the family of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan with its pasture lands and Ashtaroth with its pasture lands;
72 and from the tribe of Issachar: Kedesh with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands
73 and Ramoth with its pasture lands, Anem with its pasture lands;
74 and from the tribe of Asher: Mashal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands,
75 Hukok with its pasture lands and Rehob with its pasture lands;
76 and from the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands, Hammon with its pasture lands and Kiriathaim with its pasture lands.
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1 Chronicles 6:71-76 meaning
1 Chronicles 6:71-76 assigns the thirteen cities of the sons of Gershom across the northern tribes--Manasseh in Bashan, Issachar, Asher, and Naphtali--including the refuge cities Golan and Kedesh in Galilee.
Gershom's family took the far north, receiving from the family of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan with its pasture lands and Ashtaroth with its pasture lands (v 71). Golan was the city of refuge for the region east of the Sea of Galilee, one of the three refuge towns Moses himself set apart beyond the Jordan (Deuteronomy 4:43; Joshua 20:8). Ashtaroth had been the royal seat of Og king of Bashan (Deuteronomy 1:4), the giant king whose defeat Israel sang about for generations (Psalm 135:10-11). A capital that once belonged to Israel's enemy became a pasture town for the servants of Israel's God.
Issachar's contribution begins with Kedesh with its pasture lands and Daberath with its pasture lands (v 72). This Kedesh in Issachar (called Kishion in Joshua 21:28) is distinct from the more famous Kedesh in Galilee (v 76); the name, built on the Hebrew root for "holy," attached to several Israelite towns. Daberath sat at the foot of Mount Tabor on Issachar's border (Joshua 19:12).
Issachar's four towns complete with Ramoth with its pasture lands and Anem with its pasture lands (v 73). Ramoth means "heights," a common town name in Israel's hill regions--this Issachar Ramoth (Jarmuth in Joshua 21:29) is distinct from Ramoth in Gilead (1 Chronicles 6:80). Anem appears as En-gannim ("spring of gardens") in Joshua 21:29.
Asher's towns lay along the northwestern coastlands: from the tribe of Asher came Mashal with its pasture lands and Abdon with its pasture lands (v 74). Mashal (Mishal in Joshua 21:30) and Abdon--a name built on the Hebrew verb "to serve," like Abdi in 1 Chronicles 6:44--stationed Levites in the tribe farthest toward the sea.
Asher's grant closes with Hukok with its pasture lands and Rehob with its pasture lands (v. 75). Rehob had been one of the towns the twelve spies passed on their reconnaissance of the land (Numbers 13:21), and one of the towns Asher failed at first to fully possess (Judges 1:31). Levites came to live where conquest had once been incomplete--teachers of the law planted in territory still learning to belong to the LORD.
Naphtali completed the circle with Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands, Hammon with its pasture lands and Kiriathaim with its pasture lands (v 76). Kedesh in Galilee was another city of refuge (Joshua 20:7) and the hometown of Barak, whom Deborah summoned there to deliver Israel from the army of Sisera (Judges 4:6, 9-10). Taken together, Gershom's thirteen towns (1 Chronicles 6:62) ringed the northern tribes from Bashan across Galilee to the coast of Asher. The pattern of the whole chapter holds here: wherever Israelites farmed, herded, and raised their families, Levites lived among them, keeping the knowledge of the LORD within reach of the farthest tribe.