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Easy-to-Read Version

Numbers 35:8

The large tribes of Israel will get large pieces of land. The small tribes of Israel will get small pieces of land. So the large tribes will give more cities and the small tribes will give fewer cities to the Levites."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Canaan;   Levites;   Liberality;   Priest;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Cities;   Levites, the;   Priests;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Levites;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Levi;   Levite;   Tribes;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Pentateuch;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Avenger;   Cities of Refuge;   Levites;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Clean and Unclean;   Priests and Levites;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Levites ;   Refuge, Cities of;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Levi;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Pi-Hahi'roth,;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - On to Canaan;   Conquest of Canaan;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Criticism (the Graf-Wellhausen Hypothesis);   Levitical Cities;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Priestly Code;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Concerning the cities which you shall give of the possession of the children of Yisra'el, from the many you shall take many; and from the few you shall take few: everyone according to his inheritance which he inherits shall give of his cities to the Levites.
King James Version
And the cities which ye shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel: from them that have many ye shall give many; but from them that have few ye shall give few: every one shall give of his cities unto the Levites according to his inheritance which he inheriteth.
Lexham English Bible
And the cities that you will give from the property of the Israelites, you will take more from the larger group and less from the smaller group; each of them will give according to the portion of their inheritance according to the portion that he inherits."
English Standard Version
And as for the cities that you shall give from the possession of the people of Israel, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites."
New Century Version
The larger tribes of Israel must give more cities, and the smaller tribes must give fewer cities. Each tribe must give some of its cities to the Levites, but the number of cities they give will depend on the size of their land."
New English Translation
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.
Amplified Bible
"As for the cities which you shall give from the possession of the Israelites, from the larger tribes you shall take many and from the smaller tribes few; each tribe shall give [at least some] of its cities to the Levites in proportion to [the size of] its inheritance which it possesses."
New American Standard Bible
"As for the cities which you shall give them from the possession of the sons of Israel, you shall take more from the larger, and you shall take fewer from the smaller; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to his inheritance which he possesses."
Geneva Bible (1587)
And concerning the cities which yee shall giue, of the possession of the children of Israel: of many ye shall take mo, and of few ye shall take lesse: euery one shall giue of his cities vnto the Leuites, according to his inheritance, which hee inheriteth.
Legacy Standard Bible
Now as for the cities which you shall give from the possession of the sons of Israel, you shall take more from the larger, and you shall take less from the smaller; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to his possession which he inherits."
Contemporary English Version
Since the towns for the Levites must come from Israel's own tribal lands, the larger tribes will give more towns than the smaller ones.
Complete Jewish Bible
As to the cities you will give from those the people of Isra'el possess, from the many you will take many, and from the few you will take few — each tribe will contribute from its cities to the L'vi'im in accordance with the size of its inheritance."
Darby Translation
And the cities which ye shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel: from them that have much ye shall take much, and from them that have little ye shall take little; each one according to his inheritance which he will inherit shall give of his cities to the Levites.
George Lamsa Translation
And with regard to the cities which you shall give of the inheritance of the children of Israel: from those that have many you shall take many; but from those that have few you shall take few; every one shall give of his cities to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance which he inherits.
Good News Translation
The number of Levite cities in each tribe is to be determined according to the size of its territory."
Christian Standard Bible®
Of the cities that you give from the Israelites’ territory, you should take more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one. Each tribe is to give some of its cities to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance it receives.”
Literal Translation
And you shall give the cities from the possession of the sons of Israel. From the many you shall increase, and take away from the few. According to its inheritance which it inherits each tribe shall give of its cities to the Levites.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And of ye same ye shal geue the more, from the yt haue moch in possession amonge the children of Israel: & the lesse from them, that haue litle in possession. Euery one (acordinge to his enheritaunce that is deuyded vnto him) shall geue of his cities vnto the Leuites.
American Standard Version
And concerning the cities which ye shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many ye shall take many; and from the few ye shall take few: every one according to his inheritance which he inheriteth shall give of his cities unto the Levites.
Bible in Basic English
And these towns are to be given out of the heritage of the children of Israel, taking the greater number from those who have much, and a smaller number from those who have little: everyone, in the measure of his heritage, is to give of his property to the Levites.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And these cities whiche ye shall geue, shalbe out of the possession of the chyldren of Israel. They that haue many, shall geue many: but of them that haue fewe, ye shall take fewe. Euery one shal geue of his cities vnto the Leuites, accordyng to the inheritaunce whiche he inheriteth.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And concerning the cities which ye shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many ye shall take many, and from the few ye shall take few; each tribe according to its inheritance which it inheriteth shall give of its cities unto the Levites.'
King James Version (1611)
And the cities which ye shal giue, shalbe of the possession of the children of Israel: from them that haue many ye shall giue many; but from them that haue few, ye shall giue few. Euery one shal giue of his cities vnto the Leuites, according to his inheritance which he inheriteth.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And as for the cities which ye shall give out of the possession of the children of Israel, from those that have much ye shall give much, and from those that have less ye shall give less: they shall give of their cities to the Levites each one according to his inheritance which they shall inherit.
English Revised Version
And concerning the cities which ye shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many ye shall take many; and from the few ye shall take few: every one according to his inheritance which he inheriteth shall give of his cities unto the Levites.
Berean Standard Bible
The cities that you apportion from the territory of the Israelites should be given to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And tho citees that schulen be youun of the possessiouns of sones of Israel, schulen be takun awey, mo fro hem that han more, and fewere `schulen be takun awey fro hem that han lesse, alle bi hem silf schulen yyue bi the mesure of her eritage, citees to dekenes.
Young's Literal Translation
And the cities which ye give [are] of the possession of the sons of Israel, from the many ye multiply, and from the few ye diminish; each, according to his inheritance which they inherit, doth give of his cities to the Levites.'
Update Bible Version
And concerning the cities which you shall give of the possession of the sons of Israel, from the many you shall take many; and from the few you shall take few: every one according to his inheritance which he inherits shall give of his cities to the Levites.
Webster's Bible Translation
And the cities which ye shall give [shall be] of the possession of the children of Israel: from [them that have] many ye shall give many; but from [them that have] few ye shall give few: every one shall give of his cities to the Levites according to his inheritance which he inheriteth.
World English Bible
Concerning the cities which you shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many you shall take many; and from the few you shall take few: everyone according to his inheritance which he inherits shall give of his cities to the Levites.
New King James Version
And the cities which you will give shall be from the possession of the children of Israel; from the larger tribe you shall give many, from the smaller you shall give few. Each shall give some of its cities to the Levites, in proportion to the inheritance that each receives."
New Living Translation
These towns will come from the property of the people of Israel. The larger tribes will give more towns to the Levites, while the smaller tribes will give fewer. Each tribe will give property in proportion to the size of its land."
New Life Bible
Take more cities from the larger families of Israel to give to the Levites. And take less cities from the smaller families. Each should give some of its cities to the Levites by how much land is received."
New Revised Standard
And as for the towns that you shall give from the possession of the Israelites, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it obtains, shall give of its towns to the Levites.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And as touching the cities which ye shall give out of the possession of the sons of Israel from the many, shall ye take many, and from the few, shall ye take few, - each, according to his inheritance, which they shall inherit, shall We of his cities unto the Levites.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And of these cities which shall be given out of the possessions of the children of Israel, from them that have more, more shall be taken: and from them that have less, fewer. Each shall give towns to the Levites according to the extent of their inheritance.
Revised Standard Version
And as for the cities which you shall give from the possession of the people of Israel, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance which it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"As for the cities which you shall give from the possession of the sons of Israel, you shall take more from the larger and you shall take less from the smaller; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to his possession which he inherits."

Contextual Overview

1 The Lord spoke to Moses. This was in the Jordan Valley in Moab, near the Jordan River, across from Jericho. He said, 2 "Tell the Israelites that they should give some of the cities in their part of the land to the Levites. The Israelites should give these cities and the pastures around them to the Levites. 3 The Levites will be able to live in them. And all the cattle and other animals that belong to the Levites will be able to eat from the pastures around these cities. 4 How much of your land should you give to the Levites? From the walls of the cities, go out 1500 feet—all of that land will belong to the Levites. 5 Measure off an area around the city for the Levites. Start at the northeast corner and measure 3000 feet to the south. Then from this corner, measure 3000 feet to the west. From there measure 3000 feet to the north and from that corner, 3000 feet to the east. The city will be in the center of this area. 6 Six of those cities will be cities of safety. If a person accidentally kills someone, that person can run to those towns for safety. In addition to those six cities, you will also give 42 more cities to the Levites. 7 So you will give a total of 48 cities to the Levites. You will also give them the land around those cities. 8 The large tribes of Israel will get large pieces of land. The small tribes of Israel will get small pieces of land. So the large tribes will give more cities and the small tribes will give fewer cities to the Levites."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

possession: Genesis 49:7, Exodus 32:28, Exodus 32:29, Deuteronomy 33:8-11, Joshua 21:3

from them: Numbers 26:54, Numbers 33:54, Exodus 16:18, 2 Corinthians 8:13, 2 Corinthians 8:14

he inheriteth: Heb. they inherit

Reciprocal: Joshua 21:4 - the tribe

Cross-References

Genesis 24:59
So they allowed Rebekah to go with Abraham's servant and his men. Her nurse also went with them.
Judges 2:1
The angel of the Lord went up to the city of Bokim from the city of Gilgal. The angel spoke this message from the Lord to the Israelites: "I brought you out of Egypt and led you to the land that I promised to give to your ancestors. I told you I would never break my agreement with you.
Judges 2:5
So they named the place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord .
1 Samuel 31:13
Later, they buried the bones of Saul and his three sons under the big tree in Jabesh. Then the people of Jabesh showed their sadness—they did not eat for seven days.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the cities which ye shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel,.... What shall fall by lot for their inheritance, and they shall be possessed of; and though they are, shall not refuse, nor grudge to give them, according to the direction of God, whose the land is, they holding it under him:

from [them that have] many ye shall give many, but from [them that have] few ye shall give few; which rule was observed; for out of Judah, whose lot was large, and out of Simeon, whose inheritance was within that of Judah, because it was so large, nine cities were given, whereas out of the other tribes only four cities out of each were given, and out of one of them but three, see Joshua 21:1,

everyone shall give of his cities unto the Levites, according to his inheritance which he inheriteth; and the Levites, being thus dispersed among the several tribes, were of great advantage to them, to instruct them in the knowledge of divine things; so that though hereby Jacob's curse on this tribe had its fulfilment, that it should be divided in Jacob, and scattered in Israel, yet that became a blessing to the rest of the tribes; see Genesis 49:7.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Nine cities were eventually given to the Levites from the large joint inheritance of Judah and Simeon; three were taken from the territory of Naphtali, and the other tribes gave each four apiece.


 
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