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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Numbers 35:1 - 35:8
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The Cities of the Levites
v. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses in the Plains of Moab by Jordan, near Jericho, saying,
v. 2. Command the children of Israel that they give unto the Levites of the Inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in, for the Levites, as a tribe, received no special territory in the land of Canaan, Num_18:20-23; and ye shall give also unto the Levites suburbs for the cities round about them, meadows, pasture-land for their herds and flocks, fields which could not be sold, but remained the permanent and inalienable property of the Levites, Lev_25:34. This does not hold true of the cities themselves, for in these it was only the houses that were given to the Levites, in regard to which the Lord had provided that they could be redeemed at any time after being sold and should always be returned to the original owners or their heirs in the Year of Jubilee, Lev_25:32-33.
v. 3. And the cities shall they have to dwell in; and the suburbs, the meadows, the pasture-land, of them shall be for their cattle and for their goods and tor all their beasts.
v. 4. And the suburbs of the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites shall reach from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round about, that is, measuring directly from the city wall in a straight line.
v. 5. And ye shall measure from without the city, from its wall or boundary, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits; and the city shall be in the midst, and the place occupied by it should not enter into the calculations; this shall be to them the suburbs of the cities.
v. 6. And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites there shall be six cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, to the man who unintentionally takes his neighbor's life, that he may flee thither; and to them ye shall add forty and two cities, making a total of forty-eight.
v. 7. So all the cities which ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty and eight cities; them shall ye give with their suburbs.
v. 8. And the cities which ye shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel, selected from the territory apportioned to the tribes; 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. As the plan worked out afterward, Joshua 21, there were ten cities of the Levites in the country east of the Jordan and thirty-eight in Canaan proper. By living in the midst of all the tribes, the Levites were to be an example to the entire nation, continually reminding them of their divine call and of the covenant of Jehovah, so that the fear of the Lord might be maintained in Israel.