Numbers 35:1

“And the Lord spake to Moses, etc.] After he had described the borders of the land, and given instructions about the division of it among the several tribes, and named the persons that should be concerned in parting and putting it into the possession of the Israelites, he makes a provision for the Levites; for though they had no inheritance in the land as a tribe, yet it was proper they should have cities and houses to dwell in; for it would not be suitable that they should be always about the tabernacle, as they were in the wilderness; and it is concerning this the Lord is said to speak to Moses, in the plains of Moab by Jordan, near Jericho: where the Israelites now were, and had been for…”

“EIGHT AND FORTY CITIES GIVEN TO THE LEVITES. (Num 35:1-5) give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in--As the Levites were to have no territorial domain allocated to them like the other tribes on the conquest of Canaan, they were to be distributed throughout the land in certain cities appropriated to their use; and these cities were to be surrounded by extensive suburbs. There is an apparent discrepancy between Num 35:4 and Num 35:5, with regard to the extent of these suburbs; but the statements in the two verses refer to totally different things--the one to the extent of the suburbs from the walls of the city, the other to the space of two thousand cubits…”

“35:1-34 The tribe of Levi received no territory, so ch 35 describes their allotment of 48 towns dispersed among the territories of Israel’s other tribes (see Josh 21; see also Lev 25:32-34; 1 Chr 13:2; 2 Chr 11:14). Just as the Levites had lived in the center of the Israelite camp during the wilderness period (cp. Num 2:17), in the Promised Land they were to live among the other tribes and have a leavening influence among them (see Deut 33:9-10; 2 Chr 17:7-9; 19:8-11; 35:3). The cities and their surrounding pastureland were not a “homeland” (cp. Num 18:23; 26:62) but only a tiny fraction of the Canaanite territory dispersed among the other tribes.”

“Num 22:1, Num 26:63, Num 31:12, Num 33:50, Num 36:13 Numbers 35:2”

“Appointment of Towns for the Levites. - As the Levites were to receive no inheritance of their own, i.e., no separate tribe-territory, in the land of Canaan ( Num 18:20 and Num 18:23), Moses commanded the children of Israel, i.e., the rest of the tribes, in accordance with the divine instructions, to give (vacate) towns to the Levites to dwell in of the inheritance that fell to them for a possession, with pasturage by the cities round about them for their cattle. "Towns to dwell in," i.e., not the whole of the towns as their own property, but as many houses in the towns as sufficed for the necessities of the Levites as their hereditary possession, which could be redeemed, if sold at any…”