The 13 Kohanic Cities are the 13 cities/villages and their respective peripheral territory listed in the

Book of Joshua The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian captivity, Babylonian exile. It tells of the ...

() as having been allocated by

Elazar Eleazar (; ) or Elazar was a priest in the Hebrew Bible, the second High Priest, succeeding his father Aaron after he died. He was a nephew of Moses. Biblical narrative Eleazar played a number of roles during the course of the Exodus, from crea ...

and

Joshua Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...

to the

kohanim Kohen (, ; , ، Arabic كاهن , Kahen) is the Hebrew word for "priest", used in reference to the Aaronic priesthood, also called Aaronites or Aaronides. They are traditionally believed, and halakhically required, to be of direct patriline ...

(Israelite priesthood) and their families. The Kohanic cities are a sub-set of the 48 Levitical cities allocated to sections of the

Tribe of Levi According to the Bible, the Tribe of Levi is one of the tribes of Israel, traditionally descended from Levi, son of Jacob. The descendants of Aaron, who was the first High Priest of Israel, were designated as the priestly class, the Kohanim. ...

Biblical references

The Kohanic cities all come along with the detail ואת מגרשה ("the peripheral land around the city") - presumably, this amount is 2000 amah in all directions. These 13 cities are the primary land allotments for kohanim in the Land of Israel and were in use from the initial entry of the

children of Israel Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanite populations and other peoples.Mark Smit ...

into the

land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

up until they were depopulated by

Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar II, also Nebuchadrezzar II, meaning "Nabu, watch over my heir", was the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from the death of his father Nabopolassar in 605 BC to his own death in 562 BC. Often titled Nebuchadnezzar ...

. According to the Books of

Ezra Ezra ( fl. fifth or fourth century BCE) is the main character of the Book of Ezra. According to the Hebrew Bible, he was an important Jewish scribe (''sofer'') and priest (''kohen'') in the early Second Temple period. In the Greek Septuagint, t ...

and

Nehemiah Nehemiah (; ''Nəḥemyā'', "Yahweh, Yah comforts") is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding Jerusalem during the Second Temple period as the governor of Yehud Medinata, Persian Judea under Artaxer ...

, these 13 cities where re-inhabited by the kohanim upon their return from the 70-year term of the

Babylonian exile The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile was the period in Jewish history during which a large number of Judeans from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were forcibly relocated to Babylonia by the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The deportations occurre ...

Land lists

The areas listed: #אֶת חֶבְרוֹן וְאֶת מִגְרָשֶׁהָ

Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...

and its periphery #וְאֶת לִבְנָה וְאֶת מִגְרָשֶׁהָ Livna and its periphery #וְאֶת יַתִּר וְאֶת מִגְרָשֶׁהָ Yatir and its periphery #וְאֶת אֶשְׁתְּמֹעַ וְאֶת מִגְרָשֶׁהָ Eshtemoa and its periphery #וְאֶת חֹלֹן וְאֶת מִגְרָשֶׁהָ

Holon Holon (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. In , it had a population of , making it the List of cities in Israel, tenth most populous city in Isra ...

and its periphery #וְאֶת דְּבִר וְאֶת מִגְרָשֶׁהָ Devir and its periphery #וְאֶת עַיִן וְאֶת מִגְרָשֶׁהָ

Ayin ''Ayin'' (also ''ayn'' or ''ain''; transliterated ) is the sixteenth letter of the Semitic scripts, including Phoenician ''ʿayin'' 𐤏, Hebrew ''ʿayin'' , Aramaic ''ʿē'' 𐡏, Syriac ''ʿē'' ܥ, and Arabic ''ʿayn'' (where it is si ...

and its periphery #וְאֶת יֻטָּה וְאֶת מִגְרָשֶׁהָ Yutah and its periphery #אֶת בֵּית שֶׁמֶשׁ וְאֶת מִגְרָשֶׁהָ Bet Shemesh and its periphery #אֶת גִּבְעוֹן וְאֶת מִגְרָשֶׁהָ Giv’on and its periphery #אֶת גֶּבַע וְאֶת מִגְרָשֶׁהָ

Geva Geva (, ''lit.'' Hill) is a kibbutz in the Jezreel Valley in Israel. Located near the city of Afula, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gilboa Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Geva was founded in 1921 by Jewish immigrants f ...

and its periphery #אֶת עֲנָתוֹת וְאֶת מִגְרָשֶׁהָ Anatot and its periphery #וְאֶת עַלְמוֹן וְאֶת מִגְרָשֶׁהָ Almon and its periphery

References

{{Reflist

External links

kehuna.org - Cities and territories of Kohanim in the Land of Israel
Priesthood (Judaism) Levitical cities