21:3a

So: The Hebrew conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So indicates the next event in the narrative. Translate this connecting word in a way that is natural in your language.

by the command of the LORD: The Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as by the command of the LORD is more literally, “by the mouth of Yahweh.”

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

Just as Yahweh had commanded
-or-
According to what Yahweh had said

21:3b

the Israelites gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands out of their own inheritance: The phrase their own inheritance refers to the towns and lands that the people of Israel received when Joshua and Eleazar the priest threw lots for them.

Here are some other ways to translate this part of the verse:

The Israel people gave these towns and the lands around them to the clan of Levi from the land that they had been given
-or-
The people of Israel gave to the Levi people some of the towns and pasturelands that they had received

Paragraph: 21:4–7

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