Numbers 35:4

4 The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits^[a] all around.

Numbers 35:4 Meaning and 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 any size, as it is certain that some of them given them at least were.

Numbers 35:4 In-Context

2 "Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities.

3 The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts.

4 The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all around.

5 And you shall measure, outside the city, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities.

6 "The cities that you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities.

Footnotes

• [a]. A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters