'Cities' in the Bible

Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—12 cities, with their villages;

Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath—14 cities, with their villages.This was the inheritance for Benjamin’s descendants by their clans.

Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen—13 cities, with their villages;

Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four cities, with their villages;

and all the villages surrounding these cities as far as Baalath-beer (Ramah of the south).This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon’s descendants by their clans.

along with Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem—12 cities, with their villages.

This was the inheritance of Zebulun’s descendants by their clans, these cities, with their villages.

The border reached Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and ended at the Jordan—16 cities, with their villages.

This was the inheritance of the tribe of Issachar’s descendants by their clans, the cities, with their villages.

Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob—22 cities, with their villages.

This was the inheritance of the tribe of Asher’s descendants by their clans, these cities with their villages.

The fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth,

Iron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh—19 cities, with their villages.

This was the inheritance of the tribe of Naphtali’s descendants by their clans, the cities with their villages.

This was the inheritance of the Danite tribe by its clans, these cities with their villages.

“Tell the Israelites: Select your cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses,

When someone flees to one of these cities, stands at the entrance of the city gate, and states his case before the elders of that city, they are to bring him into the city and give him a place to live among them.

These are the cities appointed for all the Israelites and foreigners among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there and not die at the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the assembly.

At Shiloh, in the land of Canaan, they told them, “The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities to live in, with their pasturelands for our livestock.”

So the Israelites, by the Lord’s command, gave the Levites these cities with their pasturelands from their inheritance.

The lot came out for the Kohathite clans: The Levites who were the descendants of Aaron the priest received 13 cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

The remaining descendants of Kohath received 10 cities by lot from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and half the tribe of Manasseh.

Gershon’s descendants received 13 cities by lot from the clans of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and half the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

Merari’s descendants received 12 cities for their clans from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

The Israelites gave these cities with their pasturelands around them to the Levites by lot, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

The Israelites gave these cities by name from the tribes of the descendants of Judah and Simeon

Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands—nine cities from these two tribes.

Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its pasturelands—four cities.

All 13 cities with their pasturelands were for the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

The allotted cities to the remaining clans of Kohath’s descendants, who were Levites, came from the tribe of Ephraim.

Kibzaim with its pasturelands, and Beth-horon with its pasturelands—four cities.

Aijalon with its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—four cities.

From half the tribe of Manasseh they gave:Taanach with its pasturelands and Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—two cities.

All 10 cities with their pasturelands were for the clans of Kohath’s other descendants.

From half the tribe of Manasseh, they gave to the descendants of Gershon, who were one of the Levite clans:Golan, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands in Bashan, and Beeshterah with its pasturelands—two cities.

Jarmuth with its pasturelands, and En-gannim with its pasturelands—four cities.

Helkath with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands—four cities.

From the tribe of Naphtali they gave:Kedesh in Galilee, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands, Hammoth-dor with its pasturelands, and Kartan with its pasturelands—three cities.

All 13 cities with their pasturelands were for the Gershonites by their clans.

Dimnah with its pasturelands, and Nahalal with its pasturelands—four cities.

Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands—four cities.

Heshbon with its pasturelands, and Jazer with its pasturelands—four cities in all.

All 12 cities were allotted to the clans of Merari’s descendants, the remaining Levite clans.

Within the Israelite possession there were 48 cities in all with their pasturelands for the Levites.

Each of these cities had its own surrounding pasturelands; this was true for all the cities.

I gave you a land you did not labor for, and cities you did not build, though you live in them; you are eating from vineyards and olive groves you did not plant.’

While Israel lived 300 years in Heshbon and its villages, in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, why didn’t you take them back at that time?

He defeated 20 of their cities with a great slaughter from Aroer all the way to the entrance of Minnith and to Abel-keramim. So the Ammonites were subdued before the Israelites.

Jephthah judged Israel six years, and when he died, he was buried in one of the cities of Gilead.

Instead, the Benjaminites gathered together from their cities to Gibeah to go out and fight against the Israelites.

On that day the Benjaminites rallied 26,000 armed men from their cities, besides 700 choice men rallied by the inhabitants of Gibeah.

They retreated before the men of Israel toward the wilderness, but the battle overtook them, and those who came out of the cities slaughtered those between them.

The men of Israel turned back against the other Benjaminites and killed them with their swords—the entire city, the animals, and everything that remained. They also burned down all the cities that remained.

The Benjaminites did this and took the number of women they needed from the dancers they caught. They went back to their own inheritance, rebuilt their cities, and lived in them.

The number of gold mice also corresponded to the number of Philistine cities of the five rulers, the fortified cities and the outlying villages. The large rock on which the ark of the Lord was placed is in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh to this day.

The cities from Ekron to Gath, which they had taken from Israel, were restored; Israel even rescued their surrounding territories from Philistine control. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites.

As the troops were coming back, when David was returning from killing the Philistine, the women came out from all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul, singing and dancing with tambourines, with shouts of joy, and with three-stringed instruments.

When the men of Israel on the other side of the valley and on the other side of the Jordan saw that Israel’s men had run away and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned the cities and fled. So the Philistines came and settled in them.

King David also took huge quantities of bronze from Betah and Berothai, Hadadezer’s cities.

Be strong! We must prove ourselves strong for our people and for the cities of our God. May the Lord’s will be done.”

He removed the people who were in the city and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and to labor at brickmaking. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then he and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

So David said to Abishai, “Sheba son of Bichri will do more harm to us than Absalom. Take your lord’s soldiers and pursue him, or he will find fortified cities and elude us.”

They went to the fortress of Tyre and all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites. Afterward, they went to the Negev of Judah at Beer-sheba.

Ben-geber, in Ramoth-gilead (he had the villages of Jair son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead, and he had the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, 60 great cities with walls and bronze bars);

When there is famine on the earth,when there is pestilence,when there is blight, mildew, locust, or grasshopper,when their enemy besieges themin the region of their fortified cities,when there is any plague or illness,

all the storage cities that belonged to Solomon, the chariot cities, the cavalry cities, and whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or anywhere else in the land of his dominion.

Solomon accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen and stationed them in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

but Rehoboam reigned over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah.

for the word that he cried out by a revelation from the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines of the high places in the cities of Samaria is certain to happen.”

Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel. He attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, all Chinnereth, and the whole land of Naphtali.

The rest of all the events of Asa’s reign, along with all his might, all his accomplishments, and the cities he built, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings. But in his old age he developed a disease in his feet.

Then Ben-hadad said to him, “I restore to you the cities that my father took from your father, and you may set up marketplaces for yourself in Damascus, like my father set up in Samaria.”Ahab responded, “On the basis of this treaty, I release you.” So he made a treaty with him and released him.

The rest of the events of Ahab’s reign, along with all his accomplishments, including the ivory palace he built, and all the cities he built, are written in the Historical Record of Israel’s Kings.

They destroyed the cities, and each of them threw stones to cover every good piece of land. They stopped up every spring of water and cut down every good tree. In the end, only the buildings of Kir-hareseth were left. Then men with slings surrounded the city and attacked it.

Then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz took back from Ben-hadad son of Hazael the cities that Hazael had taken in war from Jehoash’s father Jehoahaz. Jehoash defeated Ben-hadad three times and recovered the cities of Israel.

In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria. He deported the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah and by the Habor, Gozan’s river, and in the cities of the Medes.

Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in place of the Israelites in the cities of Samaria. The settlers took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities.

The settlers spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations that you have deported and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the requirements of the God of the land. Therefore He has sent lions among them that are killing them because the people don’t know the requirements of the God of the land.”

But the people of each nation were still making their own gods in the cities where they lived and putting them in the shrines of the high places that the people of Samaria had made.

The king of Assyria deported the Israelites to Assyria and put them in Halah and by the Habor, Gozan’s river, and in the cities of the Medes,

In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them.

Have you not heard?I designed it long ago;I planned it in days gone by.I have now brought it to pass,and you have crushed fortified citiesinto piles of rubble.

Then he did away with the idolatrous priests the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense at the high places in the cities of Judah and in the areas surrounding Jerusalem. They had burned incense to Baal, and to the sun, moon, constellations, and the whole heavenly host.

Then Josiah brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and he defiled the high places from Geba to Beer-sheba, where the priests had burned incense. He tore down the high places of the gates at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city (on the left at the city gate).

Josiah also removed all the shrines of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord. Josiah did the same things to them that he had done at Bethel.

Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susim, Beth-biri, and Shaaraim. These were their cities until David became king.

Their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan—five cities,

When all the men of Israel in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. So the Philistines came and settled in them.

Then he said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if this is from the Lord our God, let us spread out and send the message to the rest of our relatives in all the districts of Israel, including the priests and Levites in their cities with pasturelands, that they should gather together with us.

From Tibhath and Cun, Hadadezer’s cities, David also took huge quantities of bronze, from which Solomon made the bronze reservoir, the pillars, and the bronze articles.

They hired 32,000 chariots and the king of Maacah with his army, who came and camped near Medeba. The Ammonites also came together from their cities for the battle.

Be strong! We must prove ourselves strong for our people and for the cities of our God. May the Lord’s will be done.”

He brought out the people who were in it and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. David did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then he and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

Azmaveth son of Adiel was in charge of the king’s storehouses.Jonathan son of Uzziah was in charge of the storehouses in the country, in the cities, in the villages, and in the fortresses.

Solomon accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, which he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem.

When there is famine on the earth,when there is pestilence,when there is blight, mildew, locust, or grasshopper,when their enemies besiege themin the region of their fortified cities,when there is any plague or illness,

Solomon had rebuilt the cities Hiram gave him and settled Israelites there—

He built Tadmor in the wilderness along with all the storage cities that he built in Hamath.

He built Upper Beth-horon and Lower Beth-horon—fortified cities with walls, gates, and bars—

Baalath, all the storage cities that belonged to Solomon, all the chariot cities, the cavalry cities, and everything Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, or anywhere else in the land of his dominion.