Numbers 35:2
New International Version
“Command the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. And give them pasturelands around the towns.

New Living Translation
“Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites from their property certain towns to live in, along with the surrounding pasturelands.

English Standard Version
“Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities.

Berean Standard Bible
“Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance they will possess, cities for the Levites to live in and pasturelands around the cities.

King James Bible
Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and ye shall give also unto the Levites suburbs for the cities round about them.

New King James Version
“Command the children of Israel that they give the Levites cities to dwell in from the inheritance of their possession, and you shall also give the Levites common-land around the cities.

New American Standard Bible
“Command the sons of Israel that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to live in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands around the cities.

NASB 1995
“Command the sons of Israel that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to live in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands around the cities.

NASB 1977
“Command the sons of Israel that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession, cities to live in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands around the cities.

Legacy Standard Bible
“Command the sons of Israel that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to live in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands around the cities.

Amplified Bible
“Command the Israelites to give to the Levites cities to live in from the inheritance of their possession; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands around the cities.

Christian Standard Bible
“Command the Israelites to give cities out of their hereditary property for the Levites to live in and pastureland around the cities.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Command the Israelites to give cities out of their hereditary property for the Levites to live in and pastureland around the cities.

American Standard Version
Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and suburbs for the cities round about them shall ye give unto the Levites.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“Command the children of Israel and they shall give towns to inhabit to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession and they shall give fields of the towns in their surroundings to the Levites.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Give orders to the children of Israel, and they shall give to the Levites cities to dwell in from the lot of their possession, and they shall give to the Levites the suburbs of the cities round about them.

Contemporary English Version
to say to them: When you receive your tribal lands, you must give towns and pastures to the Levi tribe.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Command the children of Israel that they give to the Levites out of their possessions,

English Revised Version
Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and suburbs for the cities round about them shall ye give unto the Levites.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Tell the Israelites to give the Levites some cities from their own property. They must also give the Levites the pastureland around those cities.

Good News Translation
"Tell the Israelites that from the property they receive they must give the Levites some cities to live in and pasture land around the cities.

International Standard Version
"Instruct the Israelis to set aside a portion of their inheritance for the descendants of Levi to live in, along with grazing land surrounding their towns.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and open land round about the cities shall ye give unto the Levites.

Literal Standard Version
“Command the sons of Israel, and they have given to the Levites cities to inhabit from the inheritance of their possession; you also give [the] outskirt around them, of the cities, to the Levites.

Majority Standard Bible
“Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance they will possess, cities for the Levites to live in and pasturelands around the cities.

New American Bible
Command the Israelites out of the heritage they possess to give the Levites cities to dwell in; you will also give the Levites the pasture lands around the cities.

NET Bible
"Instruct the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. You must also give the Levites grazing land around the towns.

New Revised Standard Version
Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance that they possess, towns for the Levites to live in; you shall also give to the Levites pasture lands surrounding the towns.

New Heart English Bible
"Command the children of Israel that they give to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and you shall give suburbs for the cities around them to the Levites.

Webster's Bible Translation
Command the children of Israel, that they give to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and ye shall give also to the Levites suburbs for the cities around them.

World English Bible
“Command the children of Israel to give to the Levites cities to dwell in out of their inheritance. You shall give pasture lands for the cities around them to the Levites.

Young's Literal Translation
'Command the sons of Israel, and they have given to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to inhabit; also a suburb for the cities round about them ye do give to the Levites.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Forty-Eight Cities for the Levites
1Again the LORD spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho: 2“Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance they will possess, cities for the Levites to live in and pasturelands around the cities. 3The cities will be for them to live in, and the pasturelands will be for their herds, their flocks, and all their other livestock.…

Cross References
Leviticus 25:34
But the open pastureland around their cities may not be sold, for this is their permanent possession.

Numbers 35:1
Again the LORD spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho:

Numbers 35:3
The cities will be for them to live in, and the pasturelands will be for their herds, their flocks, and all their other livestock.

Deuteronomy 18:6
Now if a Levite moves from any town of residence throughout Israel and comes in all earnestness to the place the LORD will choose,

Joshua 21:2
at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and said to them, "The LORD commanded through Moses that we be given cities in which to live, together with pasturelands for our livestock."

2 Chronicles 11:14
For the Levites left their pasturelands and their possessions and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the LORD.

2 Chronicles 31:19
As for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who lived on the farmlands around each of their cities or in any other city, men were designated by name to distribute a portion to every male among the priests and to every Levite listed by the genealogies.


Treasury of Scripture

Command the children of Israel, that they give to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and you shall give also to the Levites suburbs for the cities round about them.

Leviticus 25:32,33
Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites, and the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time…

Joshua 14:3,4
For Moses had given the inheritance of two tribes and an half tribe on the other side Jordan: but unto the Levites he gave none inheritance among them…

Joshua 21:2
And they spake unto them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, The LORD commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the suburbs thereof for our cattle.

Jump to Previous
Children Cities Dwell Heritage Inhabit Inheritance Israel Israelites Levites Open Orders Outskirts Pasture Pasturelands Possess Possession Round Suburb Suburbs Theirs Towns
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Children Cities Dwell Heritage Inhabit Inheritance Israel Israelites Levites Open Orders Outskirts Pasture Pasturelands Possess Possession Round Suburb Suburbs Theirs Towns
Numbers 35
1. Forty-eight cities for the Levites, with their suburbs, and measure thereof
6. Six of them are to be cities of refuge
9. The laws of murder and manslaughter
31. No satisfaction for murder














XXXV.

(2) Cities to dwell in.--The object of the dispersion of the Levites throughout the other tribes seems to have been primarily with a view to the instruction of their brethren in the law of the Lord (Deuteronomy 33:10). It is probable that the Levites also discharged all those other functions which are now discharged by the learned professions.

And ye shall give also unto the Levites suburbs . . . --The word migrash, "suburb," denotes, probably, pasture ground into which flocks are driven.

Verse 2. - That they give unto the Levites... cities to dwell in. This legislation forms the natural sequel and complement of the Divine decrees already promulgated concerning the Levites. Separated from the rest of the tribes from the time of the first census (Numbers 1:49), excluded from any tribal inheritance (Numbers 18:20), but endowed with tithes and offerings for their maintenance (Numbers 18:21, etc.), it was also necessary that they should be provided with homes for themselves and their cattle. They might indeed have been left to exist as they could, and where they could, upon the provision made for them in the law. But, on the one hand, that provision was itself precarious, depending as it did upon the piety and good feeling of the people (which must often have been found wanting: cf. Nehemiah 13:10; Malachi 3:8, 9); and, on the other, it is evident that the Levites were intended, as far as their family and social life was concerned, to share the ordinary comforts and enjoyments of Israelites. Nothing could have been more foreign to the Mosaic ideal than a ministry celibate, ascetic, and detached from this world's wealth, such as readily enough sprang up (whether intended or not) under the teaching of the gospel (cf. Luke 10:4; Luke 12:33; Acts 20:34, 35; 1 Corinthians 7:7, 25, 26; 1 Corinthians 9:18, 27; 2 Corinthians 6:10; 2 Timothy 2:4). Suburbs. The Hebrew word מִגְרָשׁ undoubtedly means here a pasture, or a paddock, an enclosed place outside the town into which the cattle were driven by day to feed. It is possible that the A.V. may have used the word "suburbs" in that sense. To keep cattle to some extent was not only a universal custom, but was well-nigh a necessity of life in that age.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
“Command
צַו֮ (ṣaw)
Verb - Piel - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 6680: To lay charge (upon), give charge (to), command, order

the Israelites
בְּנֵ֣י (bə·nê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

to give,
וְנָתְנ֣וּ (wə·nā·ṯə·nū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

from the inheritance
מִֽנַּחֲלַ֛ת (min·na·ḥă·laṯ)
Preposition-m | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 5159: Something inherited, occupancy, an heirloom, an estate, patrimony, portion

they will possess,
אֲחֻזָּתָ֖ם (’ă·ḥuz·zā·ṯām)
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 272: Something seized, a possession

cities
עָרִ֣ים (‘ā·rîm)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 5892: Excitement

for the Levites
לַלְוִיִּ֗ם (lal·wî·yim)
Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine plural
Strong's 3881: Levites -- descendant of Levi

to live in
לָשָׁ֑בֶת (lā·šā·ḇeṯ)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

and pasturelands
וּמִגְרָ֗שׁ (ū·miḡ·rāš)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4054: A suburb, the area around a, building, the margin of the sea

around
סְבִיבֹ֣תֵיהֶ֔ם (sə·ḇî·ḇō·ṯê·hem)
Adverb | third person masculine plural
Strong's 5439: A circle, neighbour, environs, around

the cities.
לֶֽעָרִים֙ (le·‘ā·rîm)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 5892: Excitement


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OT Law: Numbers 35:2 Command the children of Israel that they (Nu Num.)
Numbers 35:1
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