Numbers 35:3

Summary

The verse specifies the function of the cities and surrounding lands given to the Levites: the cities themselves serve as dwelling places, while the adjoining pasture lands are designated for their livestock, property, and animals in general.

Key words

• ha.Yu ("they will belong", H1961) — qal sequential perfect of the verb "to be," continuing the narrative sequence begun in the preceding verses about the assignment of cities.
• 'a.Rim ("cities", H5892B) — masculine plural noun with the definite article he. ("the"), referring back to the specific cities already mentioned in the passage.
• Sha.vet ("dwell in", H3427) — qal infinitive, expressing purpose: the cities exist "for dwelling."
• mig.re.shei.Hem ("pasture lands...their", H4054 + H9028) — masculine plural noun in construct with a possessive suffix, denoting land surrounding the cities that belongs functionally to the Levites.
• chai.ya.Tam ("animal...their", H2416C + H9028) — feminine singular noun in construct with possessive suffix, used with khol ("every", H3605) to form the phrase "every animal of theirs," a broad category following the more specific v.hem.Tam ("cattle...their") and r.khu.Sham ("property...their").

What the text says

The sentence divides into two parallel clauses joined by the conjunction ve. ("and"). The first clause states that "the cities" (he.'a.Rim) "will belong" (ha.Yu) "to them" (la.Hem) "for dwelling" (la.Sha.vet) — the infinitive construction marking purpose rather than mere description. The second clause shifts the subject to "their pasture lands" (u.mig.re.shei.Hem), using the imperfect verb yih.Yu ("they will be") rather than the perfect form used for the cities, which may reflect a distinct verbal aspect for the ongoing or habitual function of the pasture lands as opposed to the settled state of the cities.

The pasture lands are then assigned to three sequential categories, each introduced by the preposition li/le. ("for"): v.hem.Tam ("their cattle," construct singular), r.khu.Sham ("their property," construct singular), and khol chai.ya.Tam ("all their animal," construct singular with the quantifier khol). Each noun carries the same third-person plural possessive suffix -Hem/-am ("their"), consistently tying all categories back to the Levites as the possessing group. The construct chains here function distributively rather than indicating a single compound entity — the pasture land serves multiple, listed uses.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the three Hebrew categories (v.hem.Tam, r.khu.Sham, khol chai.ya.Tam) as two terms, τοῖς κτήνεσιν ("cattle/livestock") and πᾶσι τοῖς τετράποσιν ("all four-footed animals"), consolidating the Hebrew's three-part list into two Greek categories. The Vulgate similarly reads pecoribus ac jumentis ("for flocks and beasts of burden"), also condensing the threefold Hebrew enumeration into two Latin terms, where the Hebrew text explicitly names cattle, property, and "every animal" as three distinct designations.