Numbers 35:1-8
New English Translation
The Levitical Cities
35 [a] Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the rift valley plains[b] of Moab along the Jordan near Jericho. He said: 2 “Instruct the Israelites to give[c] the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites[d] will possess. You must also give the Levites grazing land around the towns. 3 Thus they will have towns in which to live, and their grazing lands will be for their cattle, for their possessions, and for all their animals. 4 The grazing lands around the towns that you will give to the Levites must extend to a distance of 500 yards[e] from the town wall.
5 “You must measure[f] from outside the wall of the town on the east 1,000 yards,[g] and on the south side 1,000 yards, and on the west side 1,000 yards, and on the north side 1,000 yards, with the town in the middle.[h] This territory must belong to them as grazing land for the towns. 6 Now from these towns that you will give to the Levites you must select six towns of refuge to which a person who has killed someone may flee.[i] And you must give them forty-two other towns.
7 “So the total of the towns you will give the Levites is forty-eight. You must give these together with their grazing lands. 8 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.
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- Numbers 35:1 sn This section has two main parts, the Levitical cities (vv. 1-8) and the Cities of Refuge (vv. 9-34).
- Numbers 35:1 sn This is the area of the rift valley basin to the north of the Dead Sea and east of the Jordan. See the note at Num 21:1.
- Numbers 35:2 tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive: “command…and they will give,” or “that they give.”
- Numbers 35:2 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Numbers 35:4 tn Heb “1,000 cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about 18 inches (45 cm) in length, so this would be a distance of 1,500 feet or 500 yards (457.2 meters).
- Numbers 35:5 tn The verb is the Qal perfect of מָדַד (madad, “to measure”). With its vav (ו) consecutive it carries the same instructional force as the imperfect.
- Numbers 35:5 tn Heb “2,000 cubits” (also three more times in this verse). This would be a distance of 3,000 feet or 1,000 yards (914.4 meters).
- Numbers 35:5 sn The precise nature of the layout described here is not altogether clear. V. 4 speaks of the distance from the wall as being 500 yards; v. 5, however, describes measurements of 1,000 yards. Various proposals have been made in order to harmonize vv. 4 and 5. P. J. Budd, Numbers (WBC), 376, makes the following suggestion: “It may be best to assume that the cubits of the Levitical pasture lands are cubit frontages of land—in other words on each side of the city there was a block of land with a frontage of 2,000 cubits (v 5), and a depth of 1000 cubits (v 4).”
- Numbers 35:6 tn The “manslayer” is the verb “to kill” in a participial form, providing the subject of the clause. The verb means “to kill”; it can mean accidental killing, premeditated killing, or capital punishment. The clause uses the infinitive to express purpose or result: “to flee there the manslayer,” means “so that the manslayer may flee there.”
Numbers 35:1-8
New Living Translation
Towns for the Levites
35 While Israel was camped beside the Jordan on the plains of Moab across from Jericho, the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites from their property certain towns to live in, along with the surrounding pasturelands. 3 These towns will be for the Levites to live in, and the surrounding lands will provide pasture for their cattle, flocks, and other livestock. 4 The pastureland assigned to the Levites around these towns will extend 1,500 feet[a] from the town walls in every direction. 5 Measure off 3,000 feet[b] outside the town walls in every direction—east, south, west, north—with the town at the center. This area will serve as the larger pastureland for the towns.
6 “Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, where a person who has accidentally killed someone can flee for safety. In addition, give them forty-two other towns. 7 In all, forty-eight towns with the surrounding pastureland will be given to the Levites. 8 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.”
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