'Cities' in the Bible

Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but Lot lived in the cities of the valley and set up his tent near Sodom.

He demolished these cities, the entire plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew on the ground.

So it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham and brought Lot out of the middle of the upheaval when He demolished the cities where Lot had lived.

When they set out, a terror from God came over the cities around them, and they did not pursue Jacob’s sons.

Let them gather all the excess food during these good years that are coming. Under Pharaoh’s authority, store the grain in the cities, so they may preserve it as food.

Joseph gathered all the excess food in the land of Egypt during the seven years and put it in the cities. He put the food in every city from the fields around it.

and Joseph moved the people to the cities from one end of Egypt to the other.

So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh.

“Concerning the Levitical cities, the Levites always have the right to redeem houses in the cities they possess.

Whatever property one of the Levites can redeem—a house sold in a city they possess—must be released at the Jubilee, because the houses in the Levitical cities are their possession among the Israelites.

The open pastureland around their cities may not be sold, for it is their permanent possession.

I will bring a sword against you to execute the vengeance of the covenant. Though you withdraw into your cities, I will send a pestilence among you, and you will be delivered into enemy hands.

I will reduce your cities to ruins and devastate your sanctuaries. I will not smell the pleasing aroma of your sacrifices.

But I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw a sword to chase after you. So your land will become desolate, and your cities will become ruins.

Is the land they live in good or bad? Are the cities they live in encampments or fortifications?

However, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We also saw the descendants of Anak there.

Then Israel made a vow to the Lord, “If You will deliver this people into our hands, we will completely destroy their cities.”

The Lord listened to Israel’s request, the Canaanites were defeated, and Israel completely destroyed them and their cities. So they named the place Hormah.

Israel took all the cities and lived in all these Amorite cities, including Heshbon and all its villages.

Then they burned all the cities where the Midianites lived, as well as all their encampments,

Then they approached him and said, “We want to build sheepfolds here for our livestock and cities for our dependents.

But we will arm ourselves and be ready to go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them into their place. Meanwhile, our dependents will remain in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.

Build cities for your dependents and folds for your flocks, but do what you have promised.”

Our little children, wives, livestock, and all our animals will remain here in the cities of Gilead,

So Moses gave them—the Gadites, Reubenites, and half the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph—the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land including its cities with the territories surrounding them.

Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran as fortified cities, and built sheepfolds.

as well as Nebo and Baal-meon (whose names were changed), and Sibmah. They gave names to the cities they rebuilt.

“Command the Israelites to give cities out of their hereditary property for the Levites to live in and pastureland around the cities.

The cities will be for them to live in, and their pasturelands will be for their herds, flocks, and all their other animals.

The pasturelands of the cities you are to give the Levites will extend from the city wall 500 yards on every side.

Measure 1,000 yards outside the city for the east side, 1,000 yards for the south side, 1,000 yards for the west side, and 1,000 yards for the north side, with the city in the center. This will belong to them as pasturelands for the cities.

“The cities you give the Levites will include six cities of refuge, which you must provide so that the one who kills someone may flee there; in addition to these, give 42 other cities.

The total number of cities you give the Levites will be 48, along with their pasturelands.

Of the cities that you give from the Israelites’ territory, you should take more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one. Each tribe is to give some of its cities to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance it receives.”

designate cities to serve as cities of refuge for you, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there.

You will have the cities as a refuge from the avenger, so that the one who kills someone will not die until he stands trial before the assembly.

The cities you select will be your six cities of refuge.

Select three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan to be cities of refuge.

These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or temporary resident among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.

“Then all of you approached me and said, ‘Let’s send men ahead of us, so that they may explore the land for us and bring us back a report about the route we should go up and the cities we will come to.’

Where can we go? Our brothers have discouraged us, saying: The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, fortified to the heavens. We also saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’

At that time we captured all his cities and completely destroyed the people of every city, including the women and children. We left no survivors.

We took only the livestock and the spoil from the cities we captured as plunder for ourselves.

But you did not go near the Ammonites’ land, all along the bank of the Jabbok River, the cities of the hill country, or any place that the Lord our God had forbidden.

We captured all his cities at that time. There wasn’t a city that we didn’t take from them: 60 cities, the entire region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

But we took all the livestock and the spoil from the cities as plunder for ourselves.

all the cities of the plateau, Gilead, and Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of Og’s kingdom in Bashan.

“At that time we took possession of this land. I gave to the Reubenites and Gadites the area extending from Aroer by the Arnon Valley, and half the hill country of Gilead along with its cities.

But your wives, young children, and livestock—I know that you have a lot of livestock—will remain in the cities I have given you

Then Moses set apart three cities across the Jordan to the east.

Someone could flee there who committed manslaughter, killing his neighbor accidentally without previously hating him. He could flee to one of these cities and stay alive:

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would give you—a land with large and beautiful cities that you did not build,

“Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan to go and drive out nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities fortified to the heavens.

“If you hear it said about one of your cities the Lord your God is giving you to live in,

“When the Lord your God annihilates the nations whose land He is giving you, so that you drive them out and live in their cities and houses,

you are to set apart three cities for yourselves within the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

You are to determine the distances and divide the land the Lord your God is granting you as an inheritance into three regions, so that anyone who commits manslaughter can flee to these cities.

If he goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut timber, and his hand swings the ax to chop down a tree, but the blade flies off the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies, that person may flee to one of these cities and live.

This is why I am commanding you to set apart three cities for yourselves.

provided you keep every one of these commands I am giving you today and follow them, loving the Lord your God and walking in His ways at all times—you are to add three more cities to these three.

But if someone hates his neighbor, lies in ambush for him, attacks him, and strikes him fatally, and flees to one of these cities,

This is how you are to treat all the cities that are far away from you and are not among the cities of these nations.

However, you must not let any living thing survive among the cities of these people the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

your elders and judges must come out and measure the distance from the victim to the nearby cities.

So the Israelites set out and reached the Gibeonite cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim.

So Adoni-zedek and his people were greatly alarmed because Gibeon was a large city like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were warriors.

But as for the rest of you, don’t stay there. Pursue your enemies and attack them from behind. Don’t let them enter their cities, for the Lord your God has handed them over to you.”

So Joshua and the Israelites finished inflicting a terrible slaughter on them until they were destroyed, although a few survivors ran away to the fortified cities.

Joshua captured all these kings and their cities and struck them down with the sword. He completely destroyed them, as Moses the Lord’s servant had commanded.

However, Israel did not burn any of the cities that stood on their mounds except Hazor, which Joshua burned.

The Israelites plundered all the spoils and cattle of these cities for themselves. But they struck down every person with the sword until they had annihilated them, leaving no one alive.

At that time Joshua proceeded to exterminate the Anakim from the hill country—Hebron, Debir, Anab—all the hill country of Judah and of Israel. Joshua completely destroyed them with their cities.

and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, to the border of the Ammonites;

with Heshbon and all its cities on the plateau—Dibon, Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon,

all the cities of the plateau, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon. Moses had killed him and the chiefs of Midian—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—the princes of Sihon who lived in the land.

The border of the Reubenites was the Jordan and its plain. This was the inheritance of the Reubenites by their clans, with the cities and their villages.

this as their territory:Jazer and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites to Aroer, near Rabbah;

This was the inheritance of the Gadites by their clans, with the cities and their villages.

this as their territory:From Mahanaim through all Bashan—all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, including all of Jair’s Villages that are in Bashan—60 cities.

But half of Gilead, and Og’s royal cities in Bashan—Ashtaroth and Edrei—are for the descendants of Machir son of Manasseh, that is, half the descendants of Machir by their clans.

The descendants of Joseph became two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. No portion of the land was given to the Levites except cities to live in, along with pasturelands for their cattle and livestock.

Now give me this hill country the Lord promised me on that day, because you heard then that the Anakim are there, as well as large fortified cities. Perhaps the Lord will be with me and I will drive them out as the Lord promised.”

From the top of the hill the border curved to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah, went to the cities of Mount Ephron, and then curved to Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim).

These were the outermost cities of the tribe of the descendants of Judah toward the border of Edom in the Negev: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur,

Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon—29 cities in all, with their villages.

Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, and Gederothaim—14 cities, with their villages;

Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah—16 cities, with their villages;

Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah—nine cities, with their villages;

from Ekron to the sea, all the cities near Ashdod, with their villages;

Goshen, Holon, and Giloh—11 cities, with their villages;

Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior—nine cities, with their villages;

Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah—10 cities, with their villages;

Maarath, Beth-anoth, and Eltekon—six cities, with their villages;

Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah—two cities, with their villages.

Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En-gedi—six cities, with their villages.

the cities set apart for the descendants of Ephraim within the inheritance of the descendants of Manasseh—all these cities with their villages.

From there the border descended to the Brook of Kanah; south of the brook, cities belonged to Ephraim among Manasseh’s cities. Manasseh’s border was on the north side of the brook and ended at the Mediterranean Sea.

Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh had Beth-shean with its towns, Ibleam with its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor with its towns; the inhabitants of En-dor with its towns, the inhabitants of Taanach with its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo with its towns—the three cities of Naphath.

The descendants of Manasseh could not possess these cities, because the Canaanites were determined to stay in this land.

These were the cities of the tribe of Benjamin’s descendants by their clans:Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,