3,818. The Outskirts of the Levite Cities

Hilchos Shemittah v’Yoveil 13:2

The obligation of giving the cities’ outskirts to the Leviim is explicit in the Torah as a 3,000-cubit radius extending from the city wall, as per Numbers 35:4: “From the city wall and outward, 1,000 cubits all around.” The next verse continues, “You shall measure from outside the city 2,000 cubits on the east side.” [The verse continues with the other directions.] The first thousand cubits are left open and the 2,000 cubits beyond that are for fields and vineyards.

Hilchos Shemittah v’Yoveil 13:3

Each city is given a cemetery outside its border so that they won’t bury their dead inside their cities. This is derived from Numbers 35:3: “These open areas will be for their animals, for their possessions, and for all their needs of life.” This land was given “for their needs of life,” i.e., to the exclusion of burial.