Joshua 21:16
New International Version
Ain, Juttah and Beth Shemesh, together with their pasturelands—nine towns from these two tribes.

New Living Translation
Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine towns from these two tribes.

English Standard Version
Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands—nine cities out of these two tribes;

Berean Standard Bible
Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine cities from these two tribes, together with their pasturelands.

King James Bible
And Ain with her suburbs, and Juttah with her suburbs, and Bethshemesh with her suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes.

New King James Version
Ain with its common-land, Juttah with its common-land, and Beth Shemesh with its common-land: nine cities from those two tribes;

New American Standard Bible
Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands; nine cities from these two tribes.

NASB 1995
and Ain with its pasture lands and Juttah with its pasture lands and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands; nine cities from these two tribes.

NASB 1977
and Ain with its pasture lands and Juttah with its pasture lands and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands; nine cities from these two tribes.

Legacy Standard Bible
and Ain with its pasture lands, and Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands; nine cities from these two tribes.

Amplified Bible
and Ain with its pasture lands and Juttah with its pasture lands and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands; nine cities from these two tribes (Judah and Simeon).

Christian Standard Bible
Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands—nine cities from these two tribes.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands—nine cities from these two tribes.

American Standard Version
and Ain with its suburbs, and Juttah with its suburbs, and Beth-shemesh with its suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes.

English Revised Version
and Ain with her suburbs, and Juttah with her suburbs, and Beth-shemesh with her suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Ain, Juttah, and Beth Shemesh.

Good News Translation
Ain, Juttah, and Beth Shemesh, with their pasture lands: nine cities from the tribes of Judah and Simeon.

International Standard Version
Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands, for a total of nine cities from these two tribes.

Majority Standard Bible
Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh?nine cities from these two tribes, together with their pasturelands.

NET Bible
Ain, Juttah, and Beth Shemesh, along with the grazing areas of each--a total of nine cities taken from these two tribes.

New Heart English Bible
Ashan with its suburbs, Juttah with its suburbs, and Beth Shemesh with its suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Ain with its suburbs, and Juttah with its suburbs, and Beth-shemesh with its suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes.

World English Bible
Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth Shemesh with its pasture lands: nine cities out of those two tribes.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
and Ain and its outskirts, and Juttah and its outskirts, Beth-Shemesh and its outskirts; nine cities out of these two tribes.

Young's Literal Translation
and Ain and its suburbs, and Juttah and its suburbs, Beth-Shemesh and its suburbs; nine cities out of these two tribes.

Smith's Literal Translation
And Ain and her area, and Juttah and her area, and the House of the Sun and her area: nine cities from these two tribes.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And Ain, and Jeta, and Bethsames, with their suburbs : nine cities out of the two tribes, as hath been said.

Catholic Public Domain Version
and Ain, and Juttah, and Beth-shemesh, with their suburbs: nine cities from two tribes, just as has been said.

New American Bible
Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands: nine cities from these two tribes.

New Revised Standard Version
Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands—nine towns out of these two tribes.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Ain with its suburbs, Aata with its suburbs, and Beth-shemesh with its suburbs; nine cities out of the tribes of Judah and Simeon.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And Eyn and its fields and Aata and its fields and Bayth Shemesh and its fields nine cities from the tribe of Yehuda and of Shimeon
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
and Ain with the open land about it, and Juttah with the open land about it, and Beth-shemesh with the open land about it; nine cities out of those two tribes.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
and Asa and its suburbs; and Tany and its suburbs; and Baethsamys and its suburbs: nine cities from these two tribes.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Forty-Eight Cities for the Levites
15Holon, Debir, 16 Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh— nine cities from these two tribes, together with their pasturelands. 17And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave them Gibeon, Geba,…

Cross References
Joshua 20:7
So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

Joshua 15:55
Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah,

1 Chronicles 6:57
So the descendants of Aaron were given Hebron (a city of refuge), Libnah, Jattir, Eshtemoa,

1 Chronicles 6:64
So the Israelites gave to the Levites these cities and their pasturelands.

Numbers 35:1-8
Again the LORD spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho: / “Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance they will possess, cities for the Levites to live in and pasturelands around the cities. / The cities will be for them to live in, and the pasturelands will be for their herds, their flocks, and all their other livestock. ...

Deuteronomy 4:41-43
Then Moses set aside three cities across the Jordan to the east / to which a manslayer could flee after killing his neighbor unintentionally without prior malice. To save one’s own life, he could flee to one of these cities: / Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau belonging to the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the Gadites, or Golan in Bashan belonging to the Manassites.

1 Kings 9:11
King Solomon gave twenty towns in the land of Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, who had supplied him with cedar and cypress logs and gold for his every desire.

2 Chronicles 8:2
Solomon rebuilt the cities Hiram had given him and settled Israelites there.

Genesis 23:2
She died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went out to mourn and to weep for her.

Genesis 35:27
Jacob returned to his father Isaac at Mamre, near Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.

Matthew 2:6
‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people Israel.’”

Luke 2:4
So Joseph also went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, since he was from the house and line of David.

John 4:5
So He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

Acts 7:16
Their bones were carried back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a price he paid in silver.

Hebrews 7:14
For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, a tribe as to which Moses said nothing about priests.


Treasury of Scripture

And Ain with her suburbs, and Juttah with her suburbs, and Bethshemesh with her suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes.

Ain

Joshua 15:42
Libnah, and Ether, and Ashan,

1 Chronicles 6:59
And Ashan with her suburbs, and Bethshemesh with her suburbs:

Ashan

Joshua 15:55
Maon, Carmel, and Ziph, and Juttah,

Bethshemesh

Joshua 15:10
And the border compassed from Baalah westward unto mount Seir, and passed along unto the side of mount Jearim, which is Chesalon, on the north side, and went down to Bethshemesh, and passed on to Timnah:

1 Samuel 6:9,12
And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Bethshemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us; it was a chance that happened to us…

1 Chronicles 6:59
And Ashan with her suburbs, and Bethshemesh with her suburbs:

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Ain A'in Beth Bethshemesh Beth-Shemesh Beth-She'mesh Cities Juttah Lands Nine Open Pasture Pasturelands Shemesh Suburbs Together Towns Tribes
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Ain A'in Beth Bethshemesh Beth-Shemesh Beth-She'mesh Cities Juttah Lands Nine Open Pasture Pasturelands Shemesh Suburbs Together Towns Tribes
Joshua 21
1. Forty-eight cities given by lot, out of the other tribes unto the Levites.
43. God gives the land, and rest unto the Israelites, according to his promise














Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh
These cities were part of the allotment given to the Levites, specifically the descendants of Aaron, as part of their inheritance in the Promised Land. Ain is often associated with a spring or fountain, indicating a place of water, which was crucial for settlement and agriculture. Juttah is located in the hill country of Judah and is mentioned in connection with the priestly city of Hebron. Beth-shemesh, meaning "house of the sun," was a significant city in the Shephelah region, known for its strategic location and later as a site where the Ark of the Covenant was returned by the Philistines (1 Samuel 6:12-15).

Nine cities from these two tribes
The two tribes referred to here are Judah and Simeon. The allocation of cities to the Levites from these tribes underscores the integration of the priestly class within the broader tribal structure of Israel. The number nine signifies completeness in this context, as it represents the full allotment from these particular tribal lands. This distribution reflects the fulfillment of God's promise to provide for the Levites, who had no territorial inheritance of their own (Numbers 18:20-24).

Together with their pasturelands
The inclusion of pasturelands was essential for the Levites, as it provided them with the means to sustain their livestock and, by extension, their families. This provision ensured that the Levites could focus on their religious duties without the burden of agricultural labor. The pasturelands also symbolize God's provision and care for those dedicated to His service, echoing the broader biblical theme of God as a shepherd who provides for His flock (Psalm 23:1-2).

Persons / Places / Events
1. Ain
A city allocated to the Levites within the territory of Judah. Its name means "spring" or "fountain," indicating a place of water, which is essential for life and sustenance.

2. Juttah
Another city given to the Levites, located in the hill country of Judah. It is significant as a Levitical city, providing a place for the Levites to live and serve.

3. Beth-shemesh
A city whose name means "house of the sun." It was also a Levitical city and played a role in various biblical events, including the return of the Ark of the Covenant.

4. Levites
The tribe of Levi, set apart for religious duties and service to God. They were given cities and pasturelands instead of a contiguous territory.

5. Tribes of Judah and Simeon
The territories from which these cities were allocated to the Levites, demonstrating the shared responsibility among the tribes to support the Levitical priesthood.
Teaching Points
God's Provision for His Servants
The allocation of cities to the Levites shows God's care and provision for those dedicated to His service. We are reminded to support those who serve in ministry today.

Community Responsibility
The shared responsibility among the tribes to provide for the Levites teaches us about the importance of community support and cooperation in fulfilling God's purposes.

Spiritual Inheritance
The Levites' lack of a territorial inheritance points to a spiritual inheritance, reminding us that our ultimate inheritance is in Christ and not in earthly possessions.

Role of Worship and Service
The presence of Levitical cities throughout Israel underscores the centrality of worship and service to God in the life of His people. We are called to prioritize worship and service in our own lives.Verse 16. - Ain with her suburbs. We have "Ashan" in 1 Chronicles 6:59. If the view taken above of Ain (see note on Joshua 15:32, and Joshua 19:7) be correct, Ashen is the true reading here.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Ain,
עַ֣יִן (‘a·yin)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 5871: Ain -- a spring (of water)

Juttah,
יֻטָּה֙ (yuṭ·ṭāh)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3194: Juttah -- a city in Judah

and Beth-shemesh—
שֶׁ֖מֶשׁ (še·meš)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 1053: Beth-shemesh -- 'sun temple', three places in Palestine, also a place in Egypt

nine
תֵּ֔שַׁע (tê·ša‘)
Number - feminine singular
Strong's 8672: Nine, ninth

cities
עָרִ֣ים (‘ā·rîm)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 5892: Excitement

from
מֵאֵ֕ת (mê·’êṯ)
Preposition-m | Direct object marker
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

these
הָאֵֽלֶּה׃ (hā·’êl·leh)
Article | Pronoun - common plural
Strong's 428: These, those

two
שְׁנֵ֥י (šə·nê)
Number - mdc
Strong's 8147: Two (a cardinal number)

tribes,
הַשְּׁבָטִ֖ים (haš·šə·ḇā·ṭîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 7626: Rod, staff, club, scepter, tribe

along with
וְאֶת־ (wə·’eṯ-)
Conjunctive waw | Direct object marker
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

their pasturelands.
מִגְרָשֶׁ֑הָ (miḡ·rā·še·hā)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 4054: A suburb, the area around a, building, the margin of the sea


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OT History: Joshua 21:16 Ain with its suburbs Juttah with its (Josh. Jos)
Joshua 21:15
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