The cities will be for them to live in, and the pasturelands will be for their herds, their flocks, and all their other livestock.
Parallel translations
- WEB They shall have the cities to dwell in. Their suburbs shall be for their livestock, and for their possessions, and for all their animals.
- KJV And the cities shall they have to dwell in; and the suburbs of them shall be for their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their beasts.
- NKJV They shall have the cities to dwell in; and their common-land shall be for their cattle, for their herds, and for all their animals.
- NASB The cities shall be theirs to live in; and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle and for their equipment and for all their other animals.
- NLT These towns will be for the Levites to live in, and the surrounding lands will provide pasture for their cattle, flocks, and other livestock.
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
The Levites are to have the cities for dwelling and the surrounding lands for their livestock and possessions. Their cities come with pasture for their needs.
Overview
The pasturelands ensured the Levites could sustain their households while devoting themselves to sacred service. This balanced provision met both their dwelling and economic needs without granting them a tribal territory. It reflects God's wisdom in caring for His servants so they could give themselves to His work.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Josh 21:11They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pasturelands, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.)
- 2 Chr 11:14For the Levites left their pasturelands and their possessions and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the LORD.
- Ezek 45:2Within this area there is to be a section for the sanctuary 500 cubits square, with 50 cubits around it for open land.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 35:3 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.