Joshua 13:14
New International Version
But to the tribe of Levi he gave no inheritance, since the food offerings presented to the LORD, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as he promised them.

New Living Translation
Moses did not assign any allotment of land to the tribe of Levi. Instead, as the LORD had promised them, their allotment came from the offerings burned on the altar to the LORD, the God of Israel.

English Standard Version
To the tribe of Levi alone Moses gave no inheritance. The offerings by fire to the LORD God of Israel are their inheritance, as he said to him.

Berean Standard Bible
To the tribe of Levi, however, Moses had given no inheritance. The offerings made by fire to the LORD, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, just as He had promised them.

King James Bible
Only unto the tribe of Levi he gave none inheritance; the sacrifices of the LORD God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance, as he said unto them.

New King James Version
Only to the tribe of Levi he had given no inheritance; the sacrifices of the LORD God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance, as He said to them.

New American Standard Bible
Only to the tribe of Levi he did not give an inheritance; the offerings by fire to the LORD, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as He spoke to him.

NASB 1995
Only to the tribe of Levi he did not give an inheritance; the offerings by fire to the LORD, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as He spoke to him.

NASB 1977
Only to the tribe of Levi he did not give an inheritance; the offerings by fire to the LORD, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as He spoke to him.

Legacy Standard Bible
Only to the tribe of Levi he did not give an inheritance; the offerings by fire to Yahweh, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as He spoke to him.

Amplified Bible
It was only to the tribe of Levi that Moses gave no [territory as an] inheritance; the offerings by fire to the LORD, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as He told him.

Christian Standard Bible
He did not, however, give any inheritance to the tribe of Levi. This was their inheritance, just as he had promised: the food offerings made to the LORD, the God of Israel.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He did not give any inheritance to the tribe of Levi. This was its inheritance, just as He had promised: the offerings made by fire to the LORD, the God of Israel.

American Standard Version
Only unto the tribe of Levi he gave no inheritance; the offerings of Jehovah, the God of Israel, made by fire are his inheritance, as he spake unto him.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Only he did not give a division to the tribe of Levi, because the offerings of LORD JEHOVAH, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, just as Moshe said to them

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Only no inheritance was given to the tribe of Levi: the Lord God of Israel, he is their inheritance, as the Lord said to them; and this is the division which Moses made to the children of Israel in Araboth Moab, on the other side of Jordan, by Jericho.

Contemporary English Version
Moses did not give any land to the Levi tribe, because the LORD God of Israel had told them, "Instead of land, you will receive the sacrifices offered at my altar."

Douay-Rheims Bible
But to the tribe of Levi he gave no possession: but the sacrifices and victims of the Lord God of Israel, are his inheritance, as he spoke to him.

English Revised Version
Only unto the tribe of Levi he gave none inheritance; the offerings of the LORD, the God of Israel, made by fire are his inheritance, as he spake unto him.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Moses did not give any land as an inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The sacrifices offered to the LORD God of Israel are what the Levites inherited, as the LORD had promised them.

Good News Translation
Moses had given no land to the tribe of Levi. As the LORD had told Moses, they were to receive as their possession a share of the sacrifices burned on the altar to the LORD God of Israel.

International Standard Version
Moses allotted no inheritance solely to the tribe of Levi. As he had mentioned to them, the offerings by fire to the LORD God of Israel are their inheritance.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Only unto the tribe of Levi he gave no inheritance; the offerings of the LORD, the God of Israel, made by fire are his inheritance, as He spoke unto him.

Literal Standard Version
Only, he has not given an inheritance to the tribe of Levi; fire-offerings of YHWH, God of Israel, [are] its inheritance, as He has spoken to it.

Majority Standard Bible
To the tribe of Levi, however, Moses had given no inheritance. The offerings made by fire to the LORD, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, just as He had promised them.

New American Bible
However, Moses assigned no heritage to the tribe of Levi; the LORD, the God of Israel, is their heritage, as the LORD had promised them.

NET Bible
However, Moses did not assign land as an inheritance to the Levites; their inheritance is the sacrificial offerings made to the LORD God of Israel, as he instructed them.

New Revised Standard Version
To the tribe of Levi alone Moses gave no inheritance; the offerings by fire to the LORD God of Israel are their inheritance, as he said to them.

New Heart English Bible
Only he gave no inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The offerings of the LORD, the God of Israel, made by fire are his inheritance, as he spoke to him.

Webster's Bible Translation
Only to the tribe of Levi he gave no inheritance; the sacrifices of the LORD God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance, as he said to them.

World English Bible
Only he gave no inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The offerings of Yahweh, the God of Israel, made by fire are his inheritance, as he spoke to him.

Young's Literal Translation
Only, to the tribe of Levi he hath not given an inheritance; fire-offerings of Jehovah, God of Israel, is its inheritance, as He hath spoken to it.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Inheritance East of the Jordan
13but the Israelites did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites. So Geshur and Maacath dwell among the Israelites to this day. 14To the tribe of Levi, however, Moses had given no inheritance. The offerings made by fire to the LORD, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, just as He had promised them.

Cross References
Deuteronomy 18:1
The Levitical priests--indeed the whole tribe of Levi--shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They are to eat the offerings made by fire to the LORD; that is their inheritance.

Deuteronomy 18:2
Although they have no inheritance among their brothers, the LORD is their inheritance, as He promised them.

Joshua 13:13
but the Israelites did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites. So Geshur and Maacath dwell among the Israelites to this day.

Joshua 13:15
This is what Moses had given to the clans of the tribe of Reuben:

Joshua 13:33
To the tribe of Levi, however, Moses had given no inheritance. The LORD, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, just as He had promised them.

Joshua 14:3
For Moses had given the inheritance east of the Jordan to the other two and a half tribes. But he granted no inheritance among them to the Levites.

Ezekiel 44:29
They shall eat the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the guilt offerings. Everything in Israel devoted to the LORD will belong to them.


Treasury of Scripture

Only to the tribes of Levi he gave none inheritance; the sacrifices of the LORD God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance, as he said to them.

See the note on verse

Joshua 13:33
But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave not any inheritance: the LORD God of Israel was their inheritance, as he said unto them.

Joshua 14:3,4
For Moses had given the inheritance of two tribes and an half tribe on the other side Jordan: but unto the Levites he gave none inheritance among them…

Numbers 18:20-24
And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land, neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel…

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Alone Heritage Inheritance Israel Levi Moses Offerings Sacrifices Tribe Tribes
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Alone Heritage Inheritance Israel Levi Moses Offerings Sacrifices Tribe Tribes
Joshua 13
1. The bounds of the land not yet conquered
8. The inheritance of the two tribes and a half
14. The Lord and his sacrifices are the inheritance of Levi
15. The bounds of the inheritance of Reuben
22. Balaam slain
24. The bounds of the inheritance of God
29. and of the half tribe of Manasseh














Verse 14. - Only unto the tribe of Levi. See Numbers 18:20-24, where the original command is recorded. Like the clergy under the Christian dispensation, it was seen that they could not at once perform the duties of the priesthood, and act as instructors of the people, if they were burdened, like the rest, with the duty of carrying on war. Their place was supplied by the division of the tribe of Joseph into two, so that the inheritance of Israel was still divided among twelve tribes. Bahr, in his 'Symbolik des Alten Testaments,' 2:48, 49, gives other reasons for the dispersion of the Levites throughout the land. If the Levites were to keep the Law and Word of God, to take measures for its being properly kept by the nation in general, to spread abroad a knowledge of the precepts of the religion of Israel, to stir up the tribes to a devout and religious life, it was not merely desirable, but absolutely necessary, that they should be scattered among the tribes. On the other hand, to secure a proper esprit de corps, a mutual sustaining influence, and a common action, too complete a dispersion would have been a mistake. Hence their collection into the Levitical cities, which, however (see note on Joshua 21:11), were not given up wholly to them. The Divine wisdom which dictated the provisions of the Mosaic law is clearly visible here. The instinct of the Christian Church in early times devised a similar provision for the evangelisation of the people in the organisation of the ancient and mediaeval cathedrals. As he said unto them. This quotation of Numbers 18:20, 24 by a later writer would, under all ordinary circumstances, be regarded as a proof that the Book of Joshua was quoting one of the books of Moses. But the "Elohistic" and "Jehovistic" theory escapes this conclusion in the cumbrous fashion to which reference has been already made. Origen regards this passage as symbolical of the more spiritually earnest among the laity, who" so excel others invirtue of mind and grace of merits, as that the Lord should be called their inheritance." "How very rare," he says, "are those who devote themselves to wisdom and knowledge and preserve their mind clear and pure, and exercise their minds in all excellent virtues, who illuminate the way wherein they walk for simpler souls by the grace of learning, and thus attain to salvation. They are the true priests and Levites, whose inheritance is the Lord, who is wisdom" (Hom. 17 on Joshua). The Sacrifices. The word is derived from אֵשׁ fire. It does not itself, as Keil asserts, signify fire in any place in Holy Writ, but it is used of the shewbread in Leviticus 24:7, 9. It thus came to mean any sacrifice, whether offered by fire or not. And thus the tenth which (Numbers 18:21, 23, 24) was given to the Levites, as being offered for God's service, might be reckoned as in some sense a sacrifice. With this passage we may compare various passages in the New Testament, where, in this respect at least, the Christian ministry stands on the same footing (1 Corinthians 9:11, 13; Galatians 6:6, 7). Thus the maintenance of the Christian ministry is a kind of sacrifice - as we find such deeds called, in fact, in Hebrews 13:16. And an order of men who are set apart to the ministry of souls has a right to claim a sufficient maintenance at the hands of those to whom they minister - a point which in these days of affluence and clerical destitution combined ought to be more largely recognised than it is (see Numbers 18:20-24). "For the law is entrusted to the priests and Levites, and they devote their energies to this alone, and without any anxiety are able to give their time to the Word of God. But that they may be able to do this, they ought to depend upon the support of the laity. For if the laity do not allow the priests and Levites all the necessaries of life, they would be obliged, to engage themselves in temporal occupations, and would thus have less time for the law of God. And when they had no time to spare for the study of God's law, it is thou who wouldst be in danger. For the light of knowledge that is in them would grow dim, because thou hast given no oil for the lamp, and through thy fault it would come to pass, what the Lord said, 'If the blind lead the blind, shall they not both fall into the ditch?'" (Orig., Hom. 17 on Joshua). These words are well worthy of attention now, when a multiplicity of worldly business and a weight of worldly cares are devolved upon God's ministers by a laity which has to too great an extent washed its hands of all cooperation in the work of God's Church.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
To the tribe
לְשֵׁ֣בֶט (lə·šê·ḇeṭ)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7626: Rod, staff, club, scepter, tribe

of Levi,
הַלֵּוִ֔י (hal·lê·wî)
Article | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3878: Levi -- a son of Jacob, also the tribe descended from him

however,
רַ֚ק (raq)
Adverb
Strong's 7535: But, even, except, howbeit howsoever, at the least, nevertheless

[Moses] had given
נָתַ֖ן (nā·ṯan)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

no
לֹ֥א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

inheritance.
נַחֲלָ֑ה (na·ḥă·lāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 5159: Something inherited, occupancy, an heirloom, an estate, patrimony, portion

The offerings made by fire
אִשֵּׁ֨י (’iš·šê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 801: A burnt-offering, a sacrifice

to the LORD,
יְהוָ֜ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

the God
אֱלֹהֵ֤י (’ĕ·lō·hê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

of Israel,
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ (yiś·rā·’êl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3478: Israel -- 'God strives', another name of Jacob and his desc

are
ה֣וּא (hū)
Pronoun - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1931: He, self, the same, this, that, as, are

their inheritance,
נַחֲלָת֔וֹ (na·ḥă·lā·ṯōw)
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5159: Something inherited, occupancy, an heirloom, an estate, patrimony, portion

as
כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר (ka·’ă·šer)
Preposition-k | Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

He promised
דִּבֶּר־ (dib·ber-)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1696: To arrange, to speak, to subdue

them.
לֽוֹ׃ (lōw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew


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OT History: Joshua 13:14 Only he gave no inheritance to (Josh. Jos)
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