Bible Strands
Numbers 35:5
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God commands Moses and the Israelite leadership to establish precise boundaries for the Levitical cities during the wilderness-to-Canaan transition.
The words — מַדֹּתֶ֞ם (ma.do.Tem) = you will measure; אַלְפַּ֪יִם ('al.Pa.yim) = two thousand.
The thread — The verse extends the pastureland boundary from the one thousand cubits in Numbers 35:4 to two thousand cubits, mirroring the land allotment pattern in Joshua 21:27-28.
Why it lands — The text demands exact surveying of the eastern, southern, western, and northern limits around the city center, establishing a fixed perimeter for agricultural use.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And ye shall measure from without 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; and the city shall be in the midst: this shall be to them the suburbs of the cities.