Leviticus 25:34
in Leviticus 25But the open pastureland around their cities may not be sold, for this is their permanent possession.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.
KJV
But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.
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This verse in Leviticus 25
Commentary
4 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
Even the Egyptians took care to preserve the land of the priests, Gen. xlvii. And there is no less reason for the taking of the maintenance of the gospel ministry under the special protection of Christian governments. A law for the relief of the poor, and the tender usage of poor debtors, and these are of more general and perpetual obligation than the former.
But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold,....
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּֽשְׂדֵ֛ה | usedeh | and [the] field of | H7704 → | 334 times |
| מִגְרַ֥שׁ | migrash | [the] pasture land of | H4054 → | |
| עָרֵיהֶ֖ם | ʾareihem | cities their | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִמָּכֵ֑ר | yimakher | it will be sold | H4376 → | 80 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֲחֻזַּ֥ת | ʾachuzat | [is] a possession of | H272 → | 66 times |
| עוֹלָ֛ם | olam | perpetuity | H5769 → | 438 times |
| ה֖וּא | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לָהֶֽם׃ ס | lahem | to <the> them |
וּֽשְׂדֵ֛הand [the] field of
usedehH7704 →334 times
מִגְרַ֥שׁ[the] pasture land of
migrashH4054 →
עָרֵיהֶ֖םcities their
ʾareihemH5892 →1090 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יִמָּכֵ֑רit will be sold
yimakherH4376 →80 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אֲחֻזַּ֥ת[is] a possession of
ʾachuzatH272 →66 times
עוֹלָ֛םperpetuity
olamH5769 →438 times
ה֖וּאit
hu'H1931 →1879 times
לָהֶֽם׃ סto <the> them
lahem
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Leviticus 25:23The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and residents with Me.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:11
Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
- Ezekiel 48:14
They must not sell or exchange any of it, and they must not transfer this best part of the land, for it is holy to the LORD.
- Psalms 39:12
Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers.
- 1 Chronicles 29:15
For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.
- Psalms 24:1
The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.
- 1 Peter 2:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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On this verse
About Leviticus

This page draws on 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.
