Numbers 35:4-5 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Numbers 35:1-8

The laws about the tithes and offerings had provided very plentifully for the maintenance of the Levites, but it was not to be thought, nor indeed was it for the public good, that when they came to Canaan they should all live about the tabernacle, as they had done in the wilderness, and therefore care must be taken to provide habitations for them, in which they might live comfortably and usefully. It is this which is here taken care of. I. Cities were allotted them, with their suburbs, Num.... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 35:4

And the suburbs of the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites ,.... The dimensions and bounds of them were not left to the Israelites, to give what ground they pleased for this purpose, but were fixed to what length they should be: these shall reach from the walls of the city, and outward, a thousand cubits round about ; which was half a sabbath day's journey, and pretty near half a mile, which all around a city must contain a considerable quantity of ground, if the city was of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 35:5

And ye shall measure from without the city on the east side two thousand cubits ,.... Before only 1000 cubits were ordered to bemeasured, and now 2000, even 2000 more, which were to be added to the other, and to begin where they ended. The first 1000 were for their cattle and goods, these 2000 for their gardens, orchards, fields, and vineyards; and so the Jewish writers understand it. Jarchi observes, that 1000 cubits are ordered, and after that 2000; and asks, how is this? or how is it to... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 35:4

And the suburbs of the cities - shall reach from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round about. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 35:5

And ye shall measure from without the city - two thousand cubits, etc. - Commentators have been much puzzled with the accounts in these two verses. In Numbers 35:4 ; the measure is said to be 1,000 cubits from the wall; in Numbers 35:5 ; the measure is said to be 2,000 from without the city. It is likely these two measures mean the same thing; at least so it was understood by the Septuagint and Coptic, who have δισχιλιους πηχεις , 2,000 cubits, in the fourth, as well as in the fifth... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 35:4

Verse 4 4.And the suburbs of the cities. A discrepancy here appears, from whence a question arises; for Moses first limits the suburbs to a thousand cubits from the city in every direction; and then seems to extend them to two thousand. Some thus explain the difficulty, viz., that the parts nearest to the city were destined for cottages and gardens; and that then there was another space of a thousand cubits left free for their flocks and herds; but this seems only to be invented, in order to... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Numbers 35:5

From without the city - Omit “from.” The demarcation here intended would run parallel to the wall of the city, outside which it was made. To guard against any restrictions of area, due to such causes as the irregular forms of the cities or the physical obstacles of the ground, it was ordained that the suburb should, alike on north, south, east, and west, present, at a distance of one thousand cubits (or, nearly one-third of a mile) from the wall, a front not less than two thousand cubits in... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Numbers 35:4-5

Numbers 35:4-5. From the wall of the city a thousand cubits It appears, by comparing these two verses together, that there were three thousand cubits allowed them from the wall of the city; the first thousand, properly called the suburbs, probably for outhouses, gardens, vineyards, and olive-yards; and the other two for pasturage, which are therefore called the field of the suburbs, (Leviticus 25:34,) by way of distinction from the suburbs themselves. read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Numbers 35:1-34

Cities for the Levites (35:1-34)Levi had no tribal area of its own, but received cities, with surrounding pasture lands, in each of the other tribes. There were forty-eight Levitical cities, the number in each tribe being in proportion to the size of the tribe. This ensured that those responsible for teaching God’s law to the people were evenly scattered throughout Israel (35:1-8).Among these forty-eight cities were six cities of refuge, three west of Jordan and three east. These were cities... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Numbers 35:4

cubits. See App-51 . read more