Leviticus 25:32
in Leviticus 25As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites always have the right to redeem their houses in the cities they possess.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time.
KJV
Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites, and the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time.
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This verse in Leviticus 25
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
A certain portion of the lands surrounding the Levitical cities was appropriated to them for the pasturage of their cattle and flocks (Nu 35:4, 5). This was a permanent endowment for the support of the ministry and could not be alienated for any time.
This site's exposition
Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites
on Leviticus 25:32-34
The tribe holding the least land is given the strongest tenure in the chapter. A Levite may redeem his house at any time and it returns at the jubile even when the buyer is another Israelite, and the pasture around the Levitical cities may never be sold at all. Numbers 35:1 to 35:8 assigns them forty and eight cities in place of a tribal inheritance, and Joshua 21 lists them by name, so this rule keeps the men who serve the sanctuary from losing the little ground they hold.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), because the Levites had no other possessions than cities and their suburbs, and God would show that the Levites were his peculiar care; and it was for the interest of the public that they should not be impoverished, or wormed out of their inheritances.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Notwithstanding, the cities of the Levites,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The cities of the Levites - The law in this and the following verses was also a very wise one. A Levite could not ultimately sell his house: if sold he could redeem it at any time in the interim between the two jubilees; but if not redeemed, it must go out at the following jubilee.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Rather, And concerning the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities of their possession, etc. If one of the Levites redeems a house in the city, etc. The meaning appears to be, if a Levite redeemed a house which had been sold to a person of a different tribe by another Levite, it was to revert in the Jubilee to the latter Levite as its original possessor. The purchaser of a Levite’s house was in fact only in the condition of a tenant at will, while the fields attached to the Levitical cities could never be alienated, even for a time. For the application of the law of Jubilee to lands dedicated to the service of the sanctuary, see Lev 27:16-25.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעָרֵי֙ | vearei | and [the] cities of | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| הַלְוִיִּ֔ם | halviyim | the Levites | H3881 → | 291 times |
| בָּתֵּ֖י | batei | [the] houses of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| עָרֵ֣י | ʾarei | [the] cities of | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| אֲחֻזָּתָ֑ם | ʾachuzatam | possession their | H272 → | 66 times |
| גְּאֻלַּ֥ת | geulat | a right of redemption of | H1353 → | 14 times |
| עוֹלָ֖ם | olam | perpetuity | H5769 → | 438 times |
| תִּהְיֶ֥ה | tihyeh | it will belong | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לַלְוִיִּֽם׃ | lalviyim | to the Levites | H3881 → | 291 times |
וְעָרֵי֙and [the] cities of
veareiH5892 →1090 times
הַלְוִיִּ֔םthe Levites
halviyimH3881 →291 times
בָּתֵּ֖י[the] houses of
bateiH1004 →2046 times
עָרֵ֣י[the] cities of
ʾareiH5892 →1090 times
אֲחֻזָּתָ֑םpossession their
ʾachuzatamH272 →66 times
גְּאֻלַּ֥תa right of redemption of
geulatH1353 →14 times
עוֹלָ֖םperpetuity
olamH5769 →438 times
תִּהְיֶ֥הit will belong
tihyehH1961 →3559 times
לַלְוִיִּֽם׃to the Levites
lalviyimH3881 →291 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
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About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.