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Two tasks remained. God commanded Joshua to designate cities of refuge, and the Levites needed places to live. As servants of God ministering at the tabernacle, they received no tribal allotment of land.
The law had made provision for the safety of anyone who killed a person unintentionally. By fleeing to a city of refuge and remaining there until the death of the current high priest, he was safe from the avenger of blood. The duty of a near relative of the victim was to avenge the murder. Murderers were not protected in the cities of refuge but were bound over for execution, even from a city of refuge. Only those who caused deaths accidentally could be sheltered in the cities of refuge.
Six cities of refuge were designated so this provision could be implemented. Three were on the west side of Jordan, three on the east. All six were well-known cities in their regions so they could be easily and quickly found. They were located so that from anywhere in the land one of the six was not far away.
Levi had no tribal inheritance of land. But the priests and Levites who served the tabernacle and later the temple needed places to house their families and pasture their flocks and herds. So forty-eight cities were given to the Levites out of the inheritances of the other tribes; six of these were the cities of refuge previously designated.
From the cities included in this apportionment to Levi, we should not assume that only Levites lived there. The subsequent history of Israel makes it clear that some of these cities at least had non-Levites among their inhabitants. Some were important cities throughout most of Israel’s history, active in its economic and political affairs. Exactly how this Levitical apportionment functioned through the generations we do not know. The author’s concern here is to emphasize the gracious provision of God for those who were not given a tribal territory because of their service to him.
With all distributions completed, the author notes that the three promises made to Joshua (1:3-5) have now been fulfilled. The promise of land and rest had in fact been made to the fathers, the author notes. God is shown to be faithful to his people and true to his word.