All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the sons of Israel were forty-eight cities with their pasture lands.
Parallel translations
- WEB All the cities of the Levites among the possessions of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their suburbs.
- KJV All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty and eight cities with their suburbs.
- BSB For the Levites, then, there were forty-eight cities in all, together with their pasturelands, within the territory of the Israelites.
- NKJV All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their common-lands.
- NLT The total number of towns and pasturelands within Israelite territory given to the Levites came to forty-eight.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Altogether the Levites received forty-eight cities with their pasturelands. It records the full extent of God's provision for the priestly tribe.
Overview
This grand total fulfills the command given through Moses in Numbers 35 that the Levites receive forty-eight cities. Scattered throughout Israel, these cities placed teachers of God's law within reach of every tribe. The fulfillment shows that God's word, once spoken, surely comes to pass.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Num 35:1–8Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,
- Deut 33:10They shall teach Jacob your ordinances, and Israel your law. They shall put incense before you, and whole burnt offering on your altar.
- Gen 49:7Cursed 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.
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Christ at the center
Joshua — the same name as Jesus, 'the LORD saves' — leads God's people into their inheritance, a shadow of the greater Joshua who brings us into the true rest and the promised land that remains.
How Joshua 21:41 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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