Topical Bible: Outskirts

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The term "outskirts" in the biblical context often refers to the outer areas or boundaries of a city, camp, or region. These areas are significant in various biblical narratives and laws, serving as places of refuge, judgment, or transition.

Biblical References:

1. Cities of Refuge: In the Old Testament, the outskirts of cities played a crucial role in the establishment of cities of refuge. These cities were designated places where individuals who had accidentally committed manslaughter could flee for safety from the avenger of blood. The concept of refuge underscores the importance of mercy and justice in God's law. Numbers 35:6-7 states, "Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone may flee. In addition to these, give them forty-two other towns."

2. Levitical Cities: The Levites, who were set apart for priestly duties, were given towns with surrounding pasturelands. These lands were located on the outskirts of the cities and were essential for their sustenance and service. Joshua 21:11-12 mentions, "They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pasturelands, in the hill country of Judah, along with the fields and villages around the city."

3. Encampments: The Israelites' journey through the wilderness involved setting up camps with specific instructions regarding their layout. The outskirts of these camps were often where unclean individuals or those under certain restrictions were required to stay. This separation maintained the purity of the camp and symbolized the holiness required by God. Numbers 5:2-3 instructs, "Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone with a skin disease, a discharge, or who is ceremonially unclean because of a dead body. Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them."

4. Judgment and Execution: The outskirts were also places where certain judgments and executions took place, symbolizing the removal of sin and impurity from the community. In Leviticus 24:14 , God commands, "Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him."

5. Prophetic Symbolism: The prophets sometimes used the imagery of the outskirts to convey messages of judgment or restoration. For instance, Ezekiel's vision of the new temple includes detailed descriptions of the outer areas, symbolizing God's order and holiness. Ezekiel 42:20 describes, "He measured it on the four sides. It had a wall all around, five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, to separate the holy from the common."

Theological Significance:

The concept of the outskirts in biblical texts often highlights themes of separation, holiness, and protection. The boundaries serve as a physical and spiritual demarcation between the sacred and the profane, the clean and the unclean. They remind believers of the importance of maintaining purity and the provision of God's mercy and justice. The outskirts also symbolize the transition from one state to another, whether it be from guilt to innocence, impurity to purity, or judgment to redemption.

Strong's Hebrew

7097a. qatseh -- end, extremity
... 1), extreme end (2), extremity (2), frontiers (1), last one (1), most remote part
(1), mouth (2), other (1), other* (3), outposts (1), outskirts (6), portion (1 ...
/hebrew/7097a.htm - 5k

Library

The Collar of Gold
... the narrow avenue between the tents. Kenkenes passed by on the outskirts
of the encampment and went on. Deep shadow lay on the stone ...
//christianbookshelf.org/miller/the yoke/chapter ix the collar of.htm

The Sower.
... the Teacher had become so broad and dense, that his mother and brothers, who had
come from home to speak with him, were obliged to halt on the outskirts of the ...
//christianbookshelf.org/arnot/the parables of our lord/i the sower.htm

Introduction
... Here is a masterly study of the inner life by a heart thirsting after God, eager
to grasp at least the outskirts of His ways, the abyss of His love for sinners ...
//christianbookshelf.org/tozer/the pursuit of god/introduction.htm

The Grey Sisters
... A larger house was taken on the outskirts of Paris; good country girls who were
ready to give their services without payment were encouraged to devote ...
/.../forbes/life of st vincent de paul/chapter 6 the grey sisters.htm

The Social Challenge to the Church
... service. It is usually located on the outskirts of the village, where plenty
of ground may be had for outdoor school games. When ...
/.../vogt/church cooperation in community life/chapter iv the social challenge.htm

Hillis -- God the Unwearied Guide
... The good news went forth on wings of the wind. Making ready for their return to
their homeland, all the captives gathered on the outskirts of the desert. ...
/.../various/the worlds great sermons volume 10/hillis god the unwearied.htm

The Ancestral Home
... from a house at Mill stone, now from a homestead near Somerville, then from Gateville;
then the family ark rested for many years on the outskirts of Somerville ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/fagg/forty years in south china/i the ancestral home.htm

The Church Staff
... Mr. Berry would accept the call to the pastorate, but when that failed, he resigned
his position and went into East New York, then on the outskirts of Brooklyn ...
/.../griswold/sixty years with plymouth church/the church staff.htm

Vanished Hopes
... Nathan, the Christian, stood close to her. From the opposite side, Philadelphus
rounded the outskirts of the mob, searching. He did not see her. ...
/.../miller/the city of delight/chapter xxii vanished hopes.htm

Jesus Healeth a Lunatic
... The picture gives an average representation of the outskirts of a village in Northern
Palestine, with its sordid, untidy, mud-built houses, on the roofs of ...
/.../newton/the life of jesus christ for the young/jesus healeth a lunatic.htm

Thesaurus

Outskirts (38 Occurrences)
...Outskirts (38 Occurrences). Leviticus 25:34 But the land on the outskirts of their
towns may not be exchanged for money, for it is their property for ever. ...
/o/outskirts.htm - 17k

Steppe (2 Occurrences)
... side of Jordan, at Jericho, on the east side of Jordan, were given them, out of
the tribe of Reuben, Bezer in the waste land with its outskirts, and Jahzah ...
/s/steppe.htm - 7k

Towns (450 Occurrences)
... (BBE NIV). Leviticus 25:34 But the land on the outskirts of their towns may not
be exchanged for money, for it is their property for ever. (BBE NIV). ...
/t/towns.htm - 36k

Kindled (83 Occurrences)
... When Yahweh heard it, his anger was kindled; and Yahweh's fire burnt among
them, and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp. ...
/k/kindled.htm - 34k

Outsiders (5 Occurrences)

/o/outsiders.htm - 7k

Outspoken (3 Occurrences)

/o/outspoken.htm - 7k

Outlying (4 Occurrences)
... (See RSV). 1 Chronicles 5:16 and they dwell in Gilead in Bashan, and in her small
towns, and in all suburbs of Sharon, upon their outskirts; (See NIV). ...
/o/outlying.htm - 7k

Jars (28 Occurrences)
... Judges 7:19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts
of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the ...
/j/jars.htm - 14k

Garden (68 Occurrences)
... They are usually situated on the outskirts of a city (compare John 18:1, 26; John
19:41), except in the case of the more pretentious estates of rich pashas or ...
/g/garden.htm - 38k

Whisper (9 Occurrences)
... (WEB JPS ASV DBY NAS RSV NIV). Job 26:14 Behold, these are but the outskirts
of his ways. How small a whisper do we hear of him! ...
/w/whisper.htm - 10k

Resources

What are some biblical examples of dream interpretation? | GotQuestions.org

What is the significance of Damascus in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

What is the significance of Galilee in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

Outskirts: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus

Concordance

Outskirts (38 Occurrences)

Leviticus 25:34
But the land on the outskirts of their towns may not be exchanged for money, for it is their property for ever.
(BBE)

Numbers 11:1
The people were complaining in the ears of Yahweh. When Yahweh heard it, his anger was kindled; and Yahweh's fire burnt among them, and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.
(WEB NAS NIV)

Numbers 23:13
And Balak said to him, Come with me now into another place from which you will not be able to see them all, but only the outskirts of them; and you will send curses on them from there.
(BBE)

Numbers 35:2
Give orders to the children of Israel to give to the Levites, from the heritage which is theirs, towns for themselves, with land on the outskirts of the towns.
(BBE)

Numbers 35:5
The measure of this space of land is to be two thousand cubits outside the town on the east, and two thousand cubits on the south and on the west and on the north, the town being in the middle. This space will be the outskirts of their towns.
(BBE)

Joshua 17:18
For the hill-country of Gilead will be yours ... the woodland and cut down ... its outskirts will be yours ... get the Canaanites out, for they have iron war-carriages ... strong.
(BBE)

Joshua 18:15
And the south side was from the uttermost part of Kiriath-jearim, and the border went out westward, and went out to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah.
(See RSV NIV)

Judges 7:17
And he said to them, "Look at me, and do likewise; when I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do.
(DBY NAS RSV)

Judges 7:19
So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands.
(DBY NAS RSV)

1 Samuel 9:27
As they were going down at the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, "Tell the servant pass on before us" (and he passed on), "but stand still first, that I may cause you to hear the word of God."
(See RSV)

1 Samuel 14:2
And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate-tree which is in Migron; and the people that were with him were about six hundred men,
(See NAS RSV NIV)

2 Kings 7:5
And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Arameans; and when they were come to the outermost part of the camp of the Arameans, behold, there was no man there.
(See NAS)

2 Kings 7:8
And when these lepers came to the outermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it; and they came back, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it.
(See NAS)

2 Kings 23:5
And he put an end to the false priests, who had been put in their positions by the kings of Judah to see to the burning of offerings in the high places in the towns of Judah and the outskirts of Jerusalem, and all those who made offerings to Baal and to the sun and the moon and the twelve signs and all the stars of heaven.
(BBE)

1 Chronicles 5:16
and they dwell in Gilead in Bashan, and in her small towns, and in all suburbs of Sharon, upon their outskirts;
(YLT)

1 Chronicles 6:55
To them they gave Hebron and its outskirts in the land of Judah;
(BBE)

1 Chronicles 6:57
And to the sons of Aaron they gave Hebron, the town to which men might go in flight and be safe, and Libnah with its outskirts, and Jattir, and Eshtemoa with its outskirts,
(BBE)

1 Chronicles 6:58
And Hilen with its outskirts, Debir with its outskirts,
(BBE)

1 Chronicles 6:59
And Ashan with its outskirts, and Beth-shemesh with its outskirts;
(BBE)

1 Chronicles 6:64
And the children of Israel gave to the Levites the towns with their outskirts.
(BBE)

1 Chronicles 6:67
And they gave them the town to which men might go in flight and be safe, Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim with its outskirts, and Gezer with its outskirts,
(BBE)

1 Chronicles 6:68
And Jokmeam with its outskirts, and Beth-horon with its outskirts,
(BBE)

1 Chronicles 6:69
And Aijalon with its outskirts, and Gath-rimmon with its outskirts;
(BBE)

1 Chronicles 6:70
And out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Aner with its outskirts, and Bileam with its outskirts, for the rest of the family of the sons of Kohath.
(BBE)

1 Chronicles 6:71
To the sons of Gershom were given, out of the family of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its outskirts, and Ashtaroth with its outskirts;
(BBE)

1 Chronicles 6:72
And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kedesh with its outskirts, and Daberath with its outskirts,
(BBE)

1 Chronicles 6:73
And Ramoth with its outskirts, and Anem with its outskirts;
(BBE)

1 Chronicles 6:74
And out of the tribe of Asher, Mashal with its outskirts, and Abdon with its outskirts,
(BBE)

1 Chronicles 6:75
And Hukok with its outskirts, and Rehob with its outskirts;
(BBE)

1 Chronicles 6:76
And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its outskirts, and Hammon with its outskirts, and Kiriathaim with its outskirts.
(BBE)

1 Chronicles 6:77
To the rest of the Levites, the sons of Merari, were given, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Rimmono with its outskirts, Tabor with its outskirts;
(BBE)

1 Chronicles 6:78
And on the other side of Jordan, at Jericho, on the east side of Jordan, were given them, out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer in the waste land with its outskirts, and Jahzah with its outskirts,
(BBE)

1 Chronicles 6:79
And Kedemoth with its outskirts, and Mephaath with its outskirts;
(BBE)

1 Chronicles 6:80
And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its outskirts, and Mahanaim with its outskirts,
(BBE)

1 Chronicles 6:81
And Heshbon with its outskirts, and Jazer with its outskirts.
(BBE)

2 Chronicles 31:19
And as for the sons of Aaron, the priests, living in the country on the outskirts of their towns, every different town there were men, marked out by name, to give their part of the goods to all the males among the priests, and to all who were listed among the Levites.
(BBE)

Job 26:14
Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways. How small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?"
(WEB JPS ASV BBE RSV)

Ezekiel 48:30
And these are the outskirts of the town: on the north side, four thousand five hundred by measure;
(BBE)

Subtopics

Outskirts

Related Terms

Fearlessly (10 Occurrences)

Outskirts (38 Occurrences)

Untrained (3 Occurrences)

Outspread (2 Occurrences)

Imposing (8 Occurrences)

Illiterate (2 Occurrences)

Fearless (3 Occurrences)

Truths (15 Occurrences)