Numbers 35:4

Summary

The verse specifies the measurement of the pasture lands (migreshei, H4054) that the Israelites are to give the Levites around their cities: a strip extending one thousand cubits ('elef 'amah, H505G/H520A) outward from the city wall in every direction (saviv, H5439G).

Key words

• migreshei ("pasture lands of", H4054) — masculine plural construct noun, linking this word to "the cities" that follows; it designates open land surrounding a city, not the city itself.
• 'asher ("which", H834A) — relative particle introducing the clause that specifies which cities are meant: those the Israelites will give to the Levites.
• titenu ("you will give", H5414G) — Qal imperfect, second person masculine plural, indicating an action still to be carried out by the addressees (the Israelites as a collective).
• qir ("wall of", H7023) — masculine singular construct, tying the measurement's starting point specifically to the city's wall structure.
• saviv ("all around", H5439G) — common gender singular noun functioning adverbially, indicating that the thousand-cubit extension applies in every direction, not just one side.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence structure builds a construct chain: migreshei he'arim ("pasture lands of the cities") is the subject, modified by a relative clause ('asher titenu la-leviyim, "which you will give to the Levites") that identifies whose cities are in view. The measurement itself is introduced by a second construct phrase, mi-qir ha-'ir ("from the wall of the city"), establishing the starting point, followed by va-chutzah ("and outward", H2351 with directional he, H9011), which marks the direction of measurement — outward from the wall rather than inward.

The numeral phrase 'elef 'amah saviv ("a thousand cubits all around") closes the verse, giving both the distance and its circular application. The construct form of 'elef ("thousand", H505G) syntactically binds it to 'amah ("cubit", H520A), producing a single measurement unit ("a thousand cubits") rather than two separate nouns. The verb titenu (imperfect) frames the entire provision as a future or ongoing obligation of the addressees toward the Levites, rather than a completed or hypothetical act.

Differences between versions

The Septuagint (LXXSWETE) reads δισχιλίους πήχεις ("two thousand cubits"), where the Hebrew text has 'elef ("one thousand", H505G). The Vulgate (VULCLEM) renders the measurement as "mille passuum" ("a thousand paces"), preserving the numeral "one thousand" as in the Hebrew, but using the unit "passus" (pace) instead of "cubit" ('amah, H520A) found in the Hebrew and reflected in the Spanish (RV1909, SBLIBRE) and English (BSB) versions, which retain "cubits."