Numbers 35:4

4 The pasturelands of the cities you are to give the Levites [will extend] from the city wall 500 yards^[a] 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 cities out of their hereditary property for the Levites to live in and pastureland around the cities.

3 The cities will be for them to live in, and their pasturelands will be for their herds, flocks, and all their [other] animals.

4 The pasturelands of the cities you are to give the Levites [will extend] from the city wall 500 yards on every side.

5 Measure 1,000 yards outside the city for the east side, 1,000 yards for the south side, 1,000 yards for the west side, and 1,000 yards for the north side, with the city in the center. This will belong to them as pasturelands for the cities.

6 "The cities you give the Levites will include six cities of refuge, which you must provide so that the one who kills someone may flee there; in addition to these, give 42 [other] cities.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit 1,000 cubits