Of the tribes of the children of Juda and of Simeon Josue gave cities: whose names are these,

And they give out of the tribe of the sons of Judah, and out of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, these cities which are called by name;

From the tribes of the children of Judah and the children of Simeon they gave these towns, listed here by name:

From the tribes of the sons of Judah and Simeon, Joshua gave cities, whose names are these:

Dederunt ergo de tribu filiorum Juda, et de tribu filiorum Simeon, urbes istas quas vocavit nomine.

The thirteen priestly cities (see the marginal references) were all in the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. Thus, as Calvin remarks, God so overruled it that the priestly families were placed upon the spot which He had determined before hand to choose as the site of His temple.

And they gave out of the tribe of the children of Judah,.... Here follows a particular account of the several cities which were given out of each tribe, and first out of this:
and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon; which is joined with that of Judah, because the cities of it lay within it, Joshua 19:1,
these cities which are here mentioned by name; Joshua 21:13.

By mixing the Levites with the other tribes, they were made to see that the eyes of all Israel were upon them, and therefore it was their concern to walk so that their ministry might not be blamed. Every tribe had its share of Levites' cities. Thus did God graciously provide for keeping up religion among them, and that they might have the word in all parts of the land. Yet, blessed be God, we have the gospel more diffused amongst us.

THE CITIES OF THE PRIESTS. (Joshua. 21:9-42)
they gave . . . these cities which are here mentioned by name--It was overruled by the unerring providence of the Divine Lawgiver that the cities of the priests lay within the territories of Judah and Benjamin. This was a provision, the admirable wisdom and propriety of which were fully manifested on the schism that took place in the reign of Rehoboam.

Names of the Levitical Towns.
(Note: There is a similar list in 1 Chron 6:54-81, though in some respects differently arranged, and with many variations in the names, and corruptions of different kinds in the text, which show that the author of the Chronicles has inserted an ancient document that was altogether independent of the book before us. Thus in the Chronicles there are only forty-two towns mentioned by name instead of forty-eight, although it is stated in 1-Chronicles 6:45. that 13 + 10 + 13 + 12, i.e., forty-eight towns in all, were given up to the Levites. The names omitted are (1) Jutta in Judah; (2) Gibeon in Benjamin; (3 and 4) Ethekeh and Gibbethon in Daniel; (5 and 6) and Jokneam and Nahalal in Zebulun (compare Joshua 21:16, Joshua 21:17, Joshua 21:23, Joshua 21:34, and Joshua 21:35, with 1-Chronicles 6:59-60, 1-Chronicles 6:68, 1-Chronicles 6:77. In some cases also the author of the Chronicles gives different names, though some of them indeed are only different forms of the same name, e.g., Hilen for Holon, Alemeth for Almon, Ashtaroth for Beeshterah, Mashal for Misheal, Hammon for Hammoth-dor, Kirjathaim for Kartan (compare 1-Chronicles 6:58, 1-Chronicles 6:60, 1-Chronicles 6:71, 1-Chronicles 6:74, 1-Chronicles 6:76, with Joshua 21:15, Joshua 21:18, Joshua 21:27, Joshua 21:30, Joshua 21:32); or in some cases possibly different names of the same town, e.g., Jokmeam for Kibzaim, and Ramoth for Jarmuth, and Anem for En-gannim (1-Chronicles 6:68, 83, and Joshua 21:22, Joshua 21:29); whilst some evidently give the true reading, viz., Ashan for Ain, and Bileam for Gath-rimmon (1-Chronicles 6:59, 1-Chronicles 6:70; Joshua 21:16, Joshua 21:26). The majority, however, are faulty readings, viz., Aner for Tanach, Kedesh for Kishon, Hukok for Helkath, Rimmon and Tabor (compare 1-Chronicles 6:70, 1-Chronicles 6:72, 1-Chronicles 6:75, 1-Chronicles 6:77, with Joshua 21:25, Joshua 21:28, Joshua 21:31, Joshua 21:34-35).)

Judah and Simeon - These are mentioned together, because the cities of Simeon lay within Judah's portion.