Numbers 35:8
New International Version
The towns you give the Levites from the land the Israelites possess are to be given in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: Take many towns from a tribe that has many, but few from one that has few.”

New Living Translation
These towns will come from the property of the people of Israel. The larger tribes will give more towns to the Levites, while the smaller tribes will give fewer. Each tribe will give property in proportion to the size of its land.”

English Standard Version
And as for the cities that you shall give from the possession of the people of Israel, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.”

Berean Standard Bible
The cities that you apportion from the territory of the Israelites should be given to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one.”

King James Bible
And the cities which ye shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel: from them that have many ye shall give many; but from them that have few ye shall give few: every one shall give of his cities unto the Levites according to his inheritance which he inheriteth.

New King James Version
And the cities which you will give shall be from the possession of the children of Israel; from the larger tribe you shall give many, from the smaller you shall give few. Each shall give some of its cities to the Levites, in proportion to the inheritance that each receives.”

New American Standard Bible
As for the cities which you shall give them from the possession of the sons of Israel, you shall take more from the larger, and you shall take fewer from the smaller; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to his inheritance which he possesses.”

NASB 1995
“As for the cities which you shall give from the possession of the sons of Israel, you shall take more from the larger and you shall take less from the smaller; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to his possession which he inherits.”

NASB 1977
“As for the cities which you shall give from the possession of the sons of Israel, you shall take more from the larger and you shall take less from the smaller; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to his possession which he inherits.”

Legacy Standard Bible
Now as for the cities which you shall give from the possession of the sons of Israel, you shall take more from the larger, and you shall take less from the smaller; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to his possession which he inherits.”

Amplified Bible
As for the cities which you shall give from the possession of the Israelites, from the larger tribes you shall take many and from the smaller tribes few; each tribe shall give [at least some] of its cities to the Levites in proportion to [the size of] its inheritance which it possesses.”

Christian Standard Bible
Of the cities that you give from the Israelites’ territory, you should take more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one. Each tribe is to give some of its cities to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance it receives.”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Of the cities that you give from the Israelites’ territory, you should take more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one. Each tribe is to give some of its cities to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance it receives.”

American Standard Version
And concerning the cities which ye shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many ye shall take many; and from the few ye shall take few: every one according to his inheritance which he inheriteth shall give of his cities unto the Levites.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And the cities that you are giving from the inheritance of the children of Israel, from the many you shall give more, and from the few you shall give less; a man will give from his cities to the Levites according to the proportion of the inheritance that he possesses.”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And as for the cities which ye shall give out of the possession of the children of Israel, from those that have much ye shall give much, and from those that have less ye shall give less: they shall give of their cities to the Levites each one according to his inheritance which they shall inherit.

Contemporary English Version
Since the towns for the Levites must come from Israel's own tribal lands, the larger tribes will give more towns than the smaller ones.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And of these cities which shall be given out of the possessions of the children of Israel, from them that have more, more shall be taken: and from them that have less, fewer. Each shall give towns to the Levites according to the extent of their inheritance.

English Revised Version
And concerning the cities which ye shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many ye shall take many; and from the few ye shall take few: every one according to his inheritance which he inheriteth shall give of his cities unto the Levites.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
The cities you give the Levites from the property of the other Israelites must be given based on the amount of land each tribe owns. Take more cities from larger tribes and fewer from smaller tribes."

Good News Translation
The number of Levite cities in each tribe is to be determined according to the size of its territory."

International Standard Version
You are to apportion the towns that you will be giving the Israelis according to the relative size of the tribe. Take a larger portion from those larger in number and a lesser portion from those fewer in number. Each is to set aside towns for the descendants of Levi proportional to the size of their inheritance that they receive."

JPS Tanakh 1917
And concerning the cities which ye shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many ye shall take many, and from the few ye shall take few; each tribe according to its inheritance which it inheriteth shall give of its cities unto the Levites.'

Literal Standard Version
And the cities which you give [are] from the possession of the sons of Israel; from the many you multiply, and from the few you diminish; each, according to his inheritance which they inherit, gives to the Levites from his cities.”

Majority Standard Bible
The cities that you apportion from the territory of the Israelites should be given to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one.”

New American Bible
In assigning the cities from what the Israelites possess, take more from a larger group and fewer from a smaller one, so that each will cede cities to the Levites in proportion to the heritage which it receives.

NET Bible
The towns you will give must be from the possession of the Israelites. From the larger tribes you must give more; and from the smaller tribes fewer. Each must contribute some of its own towns to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance allocated to each.

New Revised Standard Version
And as for the towns that you shall give from the possession of the Israelites, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it obtains, shall give of its towns to the Levites.

New Heart English Bible
Concerning the cities which you shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many you shall take many; and from the few you shall take few: everyone according to his inheritance which he inherits shall give of his cities to the Levites."

Webster's Bible Translation
And the cities which ye shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel: from them that have many ye shall give many; but from them that have few ye shall give few: every one shall give of his cities to the Levites according to his inheritance which he inheriteth.

World English Bible
Concerning the cities which you shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many you shall take many, and from the few you shall take few. Everyone according to his inheritance which he inherits shall give some of his cities to the Levites.”

Young's Literal Translation
And the cities which ye give are of the possession of the sons of Israel, from the many ye multiply, and from the few ye diminish; each, according to his inheritance which they inherit, doth give of his cities to the Levites.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Six Cities of Refuge
7The total number of cities you give the Levites will be forty-eight, with their corresponding pasturelands. 8The cities that you apportion from the territory of the Israelites should be given to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one.” 9Then the LORD said to Moses,…

Cross References
Leviticus 25:32
As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites always have the right to redeem their houses in the cities they possess.

Numbers 26:54
Increase the inheritance for a large tribe and decrease it for a small one; each tribe is to receive its inheritance according to the number of those registered.

Numbers 33:54
And you are to divide the land by lot according to your clans. Give a larger inheritance to a larger clan and a smaller inheritance to a smaller one. Whatever falls to each one by lot will be his. You will receive an inheritance according to the tribes of your fathers.

Numbers 35:9
Then the LORD said to Moses,

Joshua 21:1
Now the family heads of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the other tribes of Israel


Treasury of Scripture

And the cities which you shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel: from them that have many you shall give many; but from them that have few you shall give few: every one shall give of his cities to the Levites according to his inheritance which he inherits.

possession

Genesis 49:7
Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

Exodus 32:28,29
And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men…

Deuteronomy 33:8-11
And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; …

from them

Numbers 26:54
To many thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to few thou shalt give the less inheritance: to every one shall his inheritance be given according to those that were numbered of him.

Numbers 33:54
And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man's inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit.

Exodus 16:18
And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.

he inheriteth.

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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














Verse 8. - And the cities which ye shall give shall be, etc. Rather, "And as to the cities which ye shall give from the possession of the children of Israel, from the many ye shall multiply, and from the few ye shall decrease." What seems to be a general rule of proportionate giving is laid down here, but it was not carried out, and it is not easy to see how it could have been. From the large combined territory of Judah and Simeon nine cities were indeed surrendered (Joshua 21), but all the rest, great and small, gave up four apiece, except Naphtali, which gave up three only. As the territory of Naphtali was apparently large in proportion to its numbers, this was probably for no other reason than that the tribe stood last on the list. Every one. Hebrew, אִישׁ. It was in fact each tribe that surrendered so many cities, but since the tribal inheritance was the joint property of all the tribesmen, every man felt that he was a party to the gift. No doubt it was the Divine intention to foster in the tribes as far as possible this local feeling of interest and property in the Levites who dwelt among them (compare the expression "their scribes and Pharisees" in Luke 5:30). The dispersion of the Levites (however mysteriously connected with the prophecy of Genesis 49:5-7) was obviously designed to form a bond of unity for all Israel by diffusing the knowledge and love of the national religion, and by keeping up a constant communication between the future capital and all the provinces. According to the Divine ideal Israel as a whole was "the election" (ἡ ἐκλογή) from all the earth, the Levites were the ἐκλογή of Israel, and the priests the ἐκλογή of Levi. The priestly family was at present too small to be influential, but the Levites were numerous enough to have leavened the whole nation if they had walked worthy of their calling. They were gathered together in towns of their own, partly no doubt in order to avoid disputes, but partly that they might have a better opportunity of setting forth the true ideal of what Jewish life should be.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
The cities
וְהֶֽעָרִ֗ים (wə·he·‘ā·rîm)
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 5892: Excitement

that
אֲשֶׁ֤ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

you apportion
תִּתְּנוּ֙ (tit·tə·nū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

from the territory
מֵאֲחֻזַּ֣ת (mê·’ă·ḥuz·zaṯ)
Preposition-m | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 272: Something seized, a possession

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

should be given
יִתֵּ֥ן (yit·tên)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

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

in proportion to
כְּפִ֤י (kə·p̄î)
Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 6310: The mouth, edge, portion, side, according to

the inheritance
נַחֲלָתוֹ֙ (na·ḥă·lā·ṯōw)
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5159: Something inherited, occupancy, an heirloom, an estate, patrimony, portion

of each [tribe]:
אִ֗ישׁ (’îš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

more from
תַּרְבּ֔וּ (tar·bū)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 7235: To be or become much, many or great

a larger [tribe]
הָרַב֙ (hā·raḇ)
Article | Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 7227: Much, many, great

and less from
תַּמְעִ֑יטוּ (tam·‘î·ṭū)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 4591: To pare off, lessen, in, to be, small, few

a smaller one.
הַמְעַ֖ט (ham·‘aṭ)
Article | Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 4592: A little, fewness, a few


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OT Law: Numbers 35:8 Concerning the cities which you shall give (Nu Num.)
Numbers 35:7
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