1 Chronicles 6:54-81

6:54 These were the areas where Aaron’s descendants lived: ¹ 

The following belonged to the Kohathite clan, for they received the first allotment: ² 

6:55 They were allotted Hebron in the territory of Judah, as well as its surrounding pasturelands. 6:56 (But the city’s land and nearby towns were allotted to Caleb son of Jephunneh.) 6:57 The descendants of Aaron were also allotted as cities ³  of refuge Hebron, Libnah and its pasturelands, Jattir, Eshtemoa and its pasturelands, 6:58 Hilez ⁴  and its pasturelands, Debir and its pasturelands, 6:59 Ashan ⁵  and its pasturelands, ⁶  and Beth Shemesh and its pasturelands.

6:60 Within the territory of the tribe of Benjamin they were allotted ⁷  Geba and its pasturelands, Alemeth and its pasturelands, and Anathoth and its pasturelands. Their clans were allotted thirteen cities in all. 6:61 The rest of Kohath’s descendants were allotted ten cities in the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh. ⁸ 

6:62 The clans of Gershom’s descendants received thirteen cities within the territory of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh (in Bashan). ⁹ 

6:63 The clans of Merari’s descendants were allotted twelve cities within the territory of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun. ¹⁰ 

6:64 So the Israelites gave to the Levites these cities and their pasturelands. 6:65 They allotted these previously named cities from the territory of the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. ¹¹ 

6:66 The clans of Kohath’s descendants also received territory within the tribe of Ephraim. ¹²  6:67 They were allotted as cities ¹³  of refuge Shechem and its pasturelands (in the hill country of Ephraim), Gezer and its pasturelands, 6:68 Jokmeam and its pasturelands, Beth Horon and its pasturelands, 6:69 Aijalon and its pasturelands, and Gath Rimmon and its pasturelands.

6:70 Within the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh, the rest of Kohath’s descendants received Aner and its pasturelands and Bileam and its pasturelands. ¹⁴ 

6:71 The following belonged to Gershom’s descendants: ¹⁵ 

Within the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan and its pasturelands and Ashtaroth and its pasturelands.

6:72 Within the territory of the tribe of Issachar: Kedesh and its pasturelands, Daberath and its pasturelands, 6:73 Ramoth and its pasturelands, and Anem and its pasturelands.

6:74 Within the territory of the tribe of Asher: Mashal and its pasturelands, Abdon and its pasturelands, 6:75 Hukok and its pasturelands, and Rehob and its pasturelands.

6:76 Within the territory of the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee and its pasturelands, Hammon and its pasturelands, and Kiriathaim and its pasturelands.

6:77 The following belonged to the rest of Merari’s descendants: ¹⁶ 

Within the territory of the tribe of Zebulun: Rimmono ¹⁷  and its pasturelands, and Tabor and its pasturelands.

6:78 Within the territory of the tribe of Reuben across the Jordan River east of Jericho: ¹⁸  Bezer in the desert and its pasturelands, Jahzah and its pasturelands, 6:79 Kedemoth and its pasturelands, and Mephaath and its pasturelands.

6:80 Within the territory of the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead and its pasturelands, Mahanaim and its pasturelands, 6:81 Heshbon and its pasturelands, and Jazer and its pasturelands.

Numbers 35:2-9

35:2 “Instruct the Israelites to give ¹⁹  the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites ²⁰  will possess. You must also give the Levites grazing land around the towns. 35:3 Thus they will have towns in which to live, and their grazing lands will be for their cattle, for their possessions, and for all their animals. 35:4 The grazing lands around the towns that you will give to the Levites must extend to a distance of 500 yards ²¹  from the town wall.

35:5 “You must measure ²²  from outside the wall of the town on the east 1,000 yards, ²³  and on the south side 1,000 yards, and on the west side 1,000 yards, and on the north side 1,000 yards, with the town in the middle. ²⁴  This territory must belong to them as grazing land for the towns. 35:6 Now from these towns that you will give to the Levites you must select six towns of refuge to which a person who has killed someone may flee. ²⁵  And you must give them forty-two other towns.

35:7 “So the total of the towns you will give the Levites is forty-eight. You must give these together with their grazing lands. 35:8 The towns you will give must be from the possession of the Israelites. From the larger tribes you must give more; and from the smaller tribes fewer. Each must contribute some of its own towns to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance allocated to each.

The Cities of Refuge

35:9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses:

[6:54]  ¹ tn Heb “and these were their dwelling places according to their encampments in their territory to the sons of Aaron.”

[6:54]  ² tn Heb “to the clan of the Kohathites for to them was the lot.”

[6:57]  ³ tn The parallel account in Josh 21:13 has the singular “city,” which apparently refers only to Hebron.

[6:58]  ⁴ tc The MT reads “Hilez” here; the place name appears as “Holon” in Josh 21:15.

[6:59]  ⁵ tc The MT reads “Ashan” here; the place name appears as “Ain” in Josh 21:16.

[6:59]  ⁶ tc The LXX and Syriac (following the parallel list in Josh 21:16) add “Juttah and its pasturelands” here. Cf. NAB “Jetta”; also NIV, NCV, NLT “Juttah.”

[6:60]  ⁷ tn The parallel passage in Josh 21:17 adds “Gibeon and its pasturelands” (cf. NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT). The words “they were allotted” are supplied in the translation for both clarity and stylistic reasons.

[6:61]  ⁸ tn Heb “to the sons of Kohath who were left from the clan of the tribe, from the half of the tribe of the half of Manasseh by lot ten cities.”

[6:62]  ⁹ tn Heb “and to the sons of Gershom by their clans from the tribe of Issachar, and from the tribe of Asher, and from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.”

[6:63]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and to the sons of Merari by their clans from the tribe of Reuben, and from the tribe of Gad, and from the tribe of Zebulun by lot, twelve cities.”

[6:65]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and they gave by lot from the tribe of the sons of Judah, and from the tribe of the sons of Simeon, and from the tribe of the sons of Benjamin these cities, which they called them by names.”

[6:66]  ¹² tn Heb “and from [it is probably preferable to read “to” here] the clans of the sons of Kohath and there were the cities of their territory from the tribe of Ephraim.”

[6:67]  ¹³ tn The parallel account in Josh 21:21 has the singular “city,” referring only to Shechem.

[6:70]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and from the half of the tribe of Manasseh, Aner and its pasturelands and Bileam and its pasturelands to the clan, to the sons of Kohath who were left.”

[6:71]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to the sons of Gershom.”

[6:77]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to the sons of Merari, who were left.”

[6:77]  ¹⁷ tc Before “Rimmono” the LXX (following the parallel passage in Josh 21:34) adds “Jokneam and its pasturelands, Kartah and its pasturelands.” This addition is included in some English versions (e.g., NAB, NIV, NCV, NLT).

[6:78]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and from across the Jordan at Jericho, on the east of the Jordan, from the tribe of Reuben.” The word “River” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[35:2]  ¹⁹ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive: “command…and they will give,” or “that they give.”

[35:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[35:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “one thousand cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) in length, so this would be a distance of 1,500 feet or 500 yards (675 meters).

[35:5]  ²² tn The verb is the Qal perfect of מָדַד (madad, “to measure”). With its vav (ו) consecutive it carries the same instructional force as the imperfect.

[35:5]  ²³ tn Heb “two thousand cubits” (also three more times in this verse). This would be a distance of 3,000 feet or 1,000 yards (1,350 meters).

[35:5]  ²⁴ sn The precise nature of the layout described here is not altogether clear. V. 4 speaks of the distance from the wall as being 500 yards; v. 5, however, describes measurements of 1,000 yards. Various proposals have been made in order to harmonize vv. 4 and 5. P. J. Budd, Numbers (WBC), 376, makes the following suggestion: “It may be best to assume that the cubits of the Levitical pasture lands are cubit frontages of land – in other words on each side of the city there was a block of land with a frontage of two thousand cubits (v 5), and a depth of 1000 cubits (v 4).”

[35:6]  ²⁵ tn The “manslayer” is the verb “to kill” in a participial form, providing the subject of the clause. The verb means “to kill”; it can mean accidental killing, premeditated killing, or capital punishment. The clause uses the infinitive to express purpose or result: “to flee there the manslayer,” means “so that the manslayer may flee there.”