1 Chronicles 6:71-76 Meaning: Why God Preserves a List of Lost Cities

⁷¹To the sons of Gershom were given, out of the family of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its pasture lands, and Ashtaroth with its pasture lands;

⁷²and out of the tribe of Issachar, Kedesh with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands,

⁷³Ramoth with its pasture lands, and Anem with its pasture lands;

⁷⁴and out of the tribe of Asher, Mashal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands,

⁷⁵Hukok with its pasture lands, and Rehob with its pasture lands;

⁷⁶and out of 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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Meaning in one sentence

This passage lists ancient Levite cities. Discover why these names matter more than you think for understanding God's faithful provision.

I Chronicles Old Testament Hebrew

Context

First Chronicles 6 is a long list of Levite families and the cities they received when Israel settled the Promised Land. Verses 71 through 76 record the towns given to Gershom’s descendants, the branch of Levites who served outside the sanctuary. What looks like a dry inventory actually completes a promise God made centuries earlier: that the tribe set apart for worship would have homes and pasture lands scattered among all the other tribes. Every name, Golan, Ashtaroth, Kedesh, Daberath, is a small monument to that faithfulness.

Key Words

Two English phrases carry the weight here. The first is “pasture lands.” In the Hebrew mind, these were open fields around each town where Levites could graze livestock and gardens. The land itself belonged to God; the Levites had no tribal territory of their own. Giving them pasture lands was how the nation kept the promise that those who serve God would be provided for. The second phrase is “out of the tribe of…”, a repeated reminder that the provision came from their brothers. Every tribe gave something. Issachar gave Kedesh and Daberath. Asher gave Mashal and Abdon. Naphtali gave Kedesh in Galilee and Kiriathaim. The list is not random; it is a record of shared responsibility, tribe by tribe, generation after generation.

How Christians Read This Verse

Christians across traditions have read these city lists as more than ancient geography. Many Reformed commentators, following Matthew Henry, emphasize that God remembered even the smallest details of His covenant: not a single Levite was left without a home. Anglican scholars in the Cambridge Bible note how the Chronicler rearranged older material from Joshua, showing the careful preservation of these names. Wesleyans like Adam Clarke openly call the register “barren” but insist it matters, comparing it to bedrock that supports richer soil. All agree: the list testifies that God’s care for His servants is practical and concrete, He gives them not just a calling, but a place to live and land to sustain them.

A common misunderstanding

Many readers glance at verses like these and think, This is just out-of-date geography, irrelevant to my life. In fact, this list is part of a larger testimony: God kept every promise He made to the Levites, family by family, town by town. It shows that nothing in His word is wasted, and that faithful provision spans generations. If God cared enough to record the pasture lands of long-forgotten villages, He also remembers what you need today.

Living This Out

This week, consider one practical need you tend to treat as too small for God, the next meal, a place to rest, enough margin in your schedule. The Levites could not farm for a living because they were called to serve the tabernacle, yet God made sure they had pasture land. That attention to detail invites you to trust Him with the ordinary parts of your day. You do not have to carry your small worries alone. He who kept track of Golan and Ashtaroth is not too grand to notice what you need tomorrow morning.

Main takeaway: God keeps His promises to provide for those who serve Him, down to the last detail, even the pasture lands.

For Families

For ages 5, 8

God gave the Levites land where their sheep could eat grass. He knows what you need, even breakfast.

For ages 9, 12

Imagine you had to move all the time because you had no house of your own. The Levites were like that, they worked in God’s temple and didn’t own a whole tribe’s land. So God made sure each tribe gave them towns with fields for their animals. This long list of city names is God saying, ‘I didn’t forget anyone.’ He provides for people who serve Him, right down to the grass their sheep eat.

Questions People Ask

Why does the Bible list so many cities in 1 Chronicles 6?

This list shows that the Levites were given specific towns across Israel. It demonstrates God's faithfulness to His promise that the Levites would have homes and pasture lands, even though they did not inherit a single territory like the other tribes.

Were all these Levite cities also cities of refuge?

Some were, like Golan in Bashan and Kedesh in Galilee (see Joshua 20:8-9). But not every town on this list was a city of refuge. The list here focuses on the provision of dwelling places and pasture lands for the Gershomite Levites, not on the judicial function of refuge.

Do these cities still exist today?

Most of these ancient names have been lost to time or have uncertain locations. Archaeological work has identified some sites, like Golan (modern el-Jumeiz) and Ashtaroth (Tell-Ashtara). The point of the list is not to give modern directions but to record God's historical care.

Why do the names differ between Joshua 21 and 1 Chronicles 6?

The same cities sometimes had different names across centuries. Copyists may also have introduced small variations. The Chronicler rearranged the Joshua passage for his own purposes, focusing on the number of cities and tribal assignments, not on a perfect match of every name.

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