Numbers 35:4

4 The pasturelands around the cities you are to give the Levites will extend a thousand cubits ^[a] from the wall on every side.

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 Israelites to give, from the inheritance they will possess, cities for the Levites to live in and pasturelands around the cities.

3 The cities will be for them to live in, and the pasturelands will be for their herds, their flocks, and all their other livestock.

4 The pasturelands around the cities you are to give the Levites will extend a thousand cubits from the wall on every side.

5 You are also to measure two thousand cubits outside the city on the east, two thousand on the south, two thousand on the west, and two thousand on the north, with the city in the center. These areas will serve as larger pasturelands for the cities.

6 Six of the cities you give the Levites are to be appointed as cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. In addition to these, give the Levites forty-two other cities.

Footnotes

• [a]. 1,000 cubits is approximately 1,500 feet or 457.2 meters.