Their's was the lot - i. e. "the first lot." The Kohathites had the first lot among the Levitical families, as being the family whereto the high priesthood was attached (compare Joshua 21:10).

Theirs was the lot - All the tribes and families obtained their respective inheritances by lot, but to the sons of Aaron was the first lot; and so the Syriac and Arabic have understood this place. The first lot, says Jarchi, fell to Judah, that they might give to the priests and the Levites the cities marked below. See an account of the possessions of the priests and Levites, Joshua 20:1-9, 21.

Now these are their dwelling places,.... The dwelling places of the priests and Levites, assigned and given to them in the several tribes of Israel; and the account of them agrees with that in Joshua 21:1 with some few variations of names of places, which have been there observed: see the notes there; only in 1 Chronicles 6:57 two cities are omitted, Juttah and Gibeon, through want of care in transcribing, since they are said to be "thirteen", as they should be, whereas eleven only are mentioned. The Jews say (h), the cities of the suburbs (those here mentioned) ceased from the time the first temple was destroyed; and yet Ezra, who lived after the captivity, and the building the second temple, here gives a very particular account of them; the suburbs belonging to every city, which he particularly mentions, were 2000 cubits, both to the cities of refuge, and the rest, Numbers 35:5 Hebron, the first city mentioned in the next verse, was a city of refuge, and had suburbs of such a space; and it is remarkable, that some of the temples with the Heathens, which were asylums, or places of refuge, had the space of 2000 paces assigned them for the same sanctity and privilege (i).

(h) T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 48. 2.((i) Tacit. Annal. l. 3. c. 62.

(1 Chronicles 6:39-66). Register of the cities of the Levites, which agrees on the whole with the register in Joshua 21, if we except different forms of some names of cities, and many corruptions of the text, but differing in many ways from it in form; whence we gather that it is not derived from the book of Joshua, but from some other ancient authority.

1 Chronicles 6:54

(6:39). 1 Chronicles 6:54 contains the superscription, "These are their dwelling-places according to their districts, in their boundaries." So far the superscription belongs to the whole catalogue of cities. The suffixes point back to the לוי בּני, 1 Chronicles 6:1. טירה, from טוּר, to surround in a circle, signifies in the older language a "nomad village" (cf. Genesis 25:16; Numbers 31:10); here, on the contrary, it is sued in a derivative sense for "district," to denote the circle of dwellings which were granted to the Levites in the cities of the other tribes. The following words, "For the sons of Aaron of the family of Kohath," etc., are the superscription to 1 Chronicles 6:54-61, and together with the confirmatory clause, "for to him the (first) lot had fallen," are a repetition of Joshua 21:10, where, however, ראשׁנה is found after הגּורל, and has perhaps been here dropped out.

Now these are their {l} dwelling places throughout their castles in their coasts, of the sons of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites: for theirs was the {m} lot.

(l) Or, cities which were given to the Levites.

(m) They were first appointed, and prepared for.

6:54 Castles - So called, not only because, walled and well guarded by the country; but because they and their possessions were in a particular manner the care of divine providence. As God was their portion, so God was their protector. And a cottage will be a castle to those that abide under the shadow of the Almighty. The lot - Or, the first lot.

6:1-81 Genealogies. - We have an account of Levi in this chapter. The priests and Levites were more concerned than any other Israelites, to preserve their descent clear, and to be able to prove it; because all the honours and privileges of their office depended upon their descent. Now, the Spirit of God calls ministers to their work, without any limit as to the families they came from; and then, as now, though believers and ministers may be very useful to the church, none but our great High Priest can make atonement for sin, nor can any be accepted but through his atonement.