For the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim: therefore they gave no part unto the Levites in the land, save cities to dwell in, with their suburbs for their cattle and for their substance. The children of Joseph were two tribes - This was ascertained by the prophetic declaration of their grandfather Jacob, Genesis 48:5, Genesis 48:6; and as Levi was taken out of the tribes for the service of the sanctuary, one of these sons of Joseph came in his place, and Joseph was treated as the first-born of Jacob, in the place of Reuben, who forfeited his right of primogeniture.
With their suburbs for their cattle - For the meaning of this passage the reader is referred to the note on Numbers 35:6.