But the fields and the villages thereof he had given to Caleb the son of Jephone for his possession.

But the fields of the city and the hamlets thereof gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession.

and the field of the city and its villages they have given to Caleb son of Jephunneh for his possession.

But the open country round the town, and its unwalled places, they gave to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, as his property.

Agrum vero ejus urbis et villas ejus dederunt Caleb filio Jephune in possessionem ejus.

The fields of the city - gave they to Caleb - This was an exclusive privilege to him and his family, with which the grant to the Levites did not interfere. See the notes on Joshua 14:14.

But the fields of the city, and the villages thereof,.... Which lay beyond the two thousand cubits:
gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh, for his possession; as Moses had promised, and Joshua had confirmed to him; and now the children of Israel gave them to him, and put him in the possession of, Joshua 14:6; and the same is to be observed of all the other cities given to the Levites, that they and their suburbs, extending to such a distance only, were given to them; but the fields and villages, which belonged to them, continued the inheritance of the tribes in which they were.

The fields and villages - That is, all beyond the two thousand cubits expressed, Numbers 35:5. This is here mentioned, not as his peculiar case, but as one eminent instance, to shew, that it was so in all the rest of the cities here named; that the fields and villages thereof still belonged to the several tribes from whom the cities and their suburbs were taken; and to make the rest of the Israelites more chearfully resign part of their possessions to the Levites, because even Caleb did so, though his possession had been long before promised, and now actually given to him by God's special command, as a mark of honour and compensation for his long and faithful service.