two cubits
Diagram II.
•2IXXI cokita
Diagram III.
Levitical City.
objection to this is that the 1000 cubits were to be measured " from the wall of the city," and not from the centre. 3.' The 1000 cubits were measured perpendicu- larly to the wall of the city, and then perpendicular to these distances, i. e. parallel to the walls of the city, the 2000 cubits were measured on the north, south, east, and west sides, as shown in diagram III. This, however, is obviously incorrect, because the sides would not be 2000 cubits long if the city were of finite dimensions, but plainly longer. 4. It is assumed that the city was built in a circular form, with a radius of 1500 cubits, that a circle was then described with a radius of 2500 cubits from the centre of the city, i. e. at a distance of 1000 cubits from the walls of the citj', and that the suburbs were inclosed between the circumferences of the two circles, and that the corner of the circumscribed square was 1000 cubits from the circumference of the outer cir- cle. Compare diagram IV. But the objection to this
Levitical City.— Diagram IV.
is that by Euclid, i, 47, the square of the diagonal equals the sum of the stpiare of the sides, whereas in this figure 3.500= does n'jt equal 2500= -|- 2500\ The assigned length
LEVITE
395
LEVITE
of the diagonal varies about 35 cubits from its actual value. 5. The city is supposed to be of a circular form ; round it a circle is described at a distance of 1000 cubits from its walls; tlien from the walls 2000 cubits are measured to the north, south, east, and west corners — the whole forming a starliice hgure, as exliibited in dia- gram V. This view, which is somewhat fanciful, strict-
Levitical Citj'.— Diagram V.
ly meets the requirements of the Hebrew text. 6. The 1000 cubits are measured from the centre in four direc- tions at right angles to one auotlier, and perpendicular to each of these a side of 2000 cubits long is drawn, the ■whole forming a square. But in this case the condition of- 1000 cubits round about" is not fulfilled, the distance of the centre from the corners of the square being plain- ly more than 1000 cubits. 7. The '• 1000 cubits round about" is equivalent to 1000 cubits square, or 305 Eng- lish acres. 8. The city is supposed to be square, each side measuring 1000 or 500 cubits, and then, at a dis- tance of 1000 cubits in all directions from the square, another square is descril)e(l, as represented in diagrams VI, (I, and VI, b. But this incurs the objection urged
•2(100 cuWts
2000 cuWIS
-
N
w
S
E
Levitical City— Di:ii:;iain VI,
:d;
against (i, that the 1000 cubits can- not be said to be measured " round about," the distance from the corner of the city to the corner of the pre- cincts being plainly more than 1000 cubits. Upon a review of all these theories, we incline to the ancient Jewish view, which is stated first, Leviiiial City.— Di- and against which nothing can be agmm VI, b. g^iti^ if wq take " on the south, east," etc., simply to mean, as it often does, in all dii-ections, instead of fuur distinct points. It presupposes that the cities were built in a circular form, which was usual in the cities of antiquity, botli because the circle of all fig- ures comprises the largest area witliin the smallest per- iphery, and because the inhabitants could reach every part of the walls in the shortest time from all directions, if necessarj-, for purposes of defence.
These revenues have been thought exorbitant beyond
all bounds; for, discarding the unjustifiable conclusion of bishop Colenso, that " forty-four people [ Levites ], with the two priests, and their families, had forty-eight cit- ies assigned to them" (The Pentateuch, etc., i, 112), and adhering to the scriptural numbers, we still have a tribe which, at the second census, numbered 23,000 males, with no more than 12,000 arrived at man's estate, re- ceiving the tithes of 000,000 people; "consequently," it is thought " that each individual Levite, without having to deduct seed and the charges of husbandry, had as much as five Israelites reaped from their fields or gain- ed on their cattle" (Michaelis, Laics of Moses, i, 252). Add to this that, though so small in number, the Le- vites received forty-eight cities, while other tribes which consisted of more than doidile the number of men re- ceived less cities, and some did not get more than twelve cities. But in all these calculations the following facts are ignored : 1. The tithes were not a regular tax, but a religious duty, which was greatly neglected by the peo- ple ; 2. Even from these irregular tithes the Levites had to give a tithe to the priests ; 3. The tithes never in- creased, whereas the Levites did increase. 4. Thirteen of the forty-eight cities were assigned to the priests, and six were cities of refuge ; and, 5. Of the remaining twen- ty-nine cities, the Levites were by no means the sole occupants or proprietors ; they were simply to have in them those houses which they required as dwellings, and the fields necessary for the pasture of their cattle. This is evident from the fact that the Levites -were al- lowed to sell their houses, and that a special clause bear- ing on this subject was inserted in the Jubilee law [see Jcdilee] ; inasmuch as Lev. xxv, 32-34, woidd have no meaning unless it is presumed that other IsraeUtes lived together with the Levites.