Principle
The Levites were not given a land inheritance.
Explanation
GOD provided special blessings for the Levites, who ministered to Israel in the prescribed service of GOD. In so doing, however, the Levites did not receive an inheritance of land in the division of Canaan.
20 Moreover the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance in the midst of the children of Israel.
(Numbers 18:20 OSB)
Instead, GOD gave the Levites 48 specific cities where they could live and farm.
1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses west of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, 2 “Order the children of Israel to give the Levites cities to dwell in from the allotment of their possession, and to give the Levites the grazing lands around their cities. 3 They shall have cities to dwell in and grazing lands for their cattle and for all their four-footed animals. 4 The grazing lands of the cities which you shall give the Levites shall extend from the walls of the city outward two thousand cubits all around. 5 So you shall measure outside the city: on the east side two thousand cubits, on the south side two thousand cubits, on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits; and the city in the middle of this shall be for you, and the contiguous areas of the cities. 6 You shall also give the Levites six cities of refuge, which you will give them for a manslayer to flee there; and you shall also give them forty-two cities in addition to these. 7 So all the cities you shall give the Levites shall be forty-eight, along with their grazing lands. 8 Now concerning the cities you shall give the Levites from the possession of the children of Israel: from the larger tribes you shall give many cities, and from the smaller ones you shall give fewer. In proportion to its inheritance, each tribe shall give from its inheritance some of its cities to the Levites.”
(Numbers 35:1-8 OSB)
