The pasturelands around the cities you are to give the Levites will extend a thousand cubits from the wall on every side.
Parallel translations
- WEB “The suburbs of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outward one thousand cubits around it.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV The common-land of the cities which you will give the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all around.
- NASB “The pasture lands of the cities which you are to give to the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits around.
- NLT The pastureland assigned to the Levites around these towns will extend 1,500 feet from the town walls in every direction.
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 pasturelands of the Levites' cities are to extend a thousand cubits outward from the city wall. This sets the inner measure of their surrounding land.
Overview
The defined measurement gave the Levites a clear and protected zone of pasture around each city. Precise instructions guarded their provision from encroachment by the surrounding tribes. The care for exact boundaries reflects God's orderly and fair provision for those who served Him.
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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 35:4 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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