Golan

Golan is a town in Bashan east of the Jordan, set apart for two overlapping purposes: it is one of the six cities of refuge for the manslayer, and it is one of the Levitical towns assigned to the sons of Gershon.

City of Refuge in Bashan

When Moses sets aside the eastern cities of refuge before crossing into Canaan, Golan is among them: "[namely], Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites" (De 4:43). The same triad is reaffirmed in the Joshua narrative: "And beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness in the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh" (Jos 20:8). Golan covers the northern of the three eastern refuge-cities, anchored in the Manassite half-tribe.

A Levitical Town for Gershon

The same town reappears as part of the Levitical inheritance. Among the cities given to the Gershonite Levites: "And to the sons of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half-tribe of Manasseh [they gave] Golan in Bashan with its suburbs--the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Be-eshterah with its suburbs; two cities" (Jos 21:27). The Chronicles register preserves the same allotment: "To the sons of Gershom [were given], out of the family of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its suburbs, and Ashtaroth with its suburbs" (1Ch 6:71). The two functions — refuge-city and Levitical possession — are joined in the Joshua list, which explicitly names Golan as both.