וַיִּתְּנ֨וּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֧ל לַלְוִיִּ֛ם מִנַּחֲלָתָ֖ם אֶל־פִּ֣י יְהוָ֑ה אֶת־הֶעָרִ֥ים הָאֵ֖לֶּה וְאֶת־מִגְרְשֵׁיהֶֽן׃
Et les enfants d’Israël, se conformant à l’ordre du Seigneur, donnèrent aux Lévites, sur leurs parts de possession, les villes suivantes avec leurs ban-lieues.
Tur HaArokh
מאת הרב תרבו ומאת המעט תמעיטו, “from the many (numerous) you shall increase, and from the few (in number) you shall decrease;” Nachmanides, quoting our sages who claim that all the tribes received territorially equal amounts of land, writes that we need to explain what is written here in terms of the number of families per tribe. A family who had received a large allocation of land (within its tribe) would have to cede relatively many cities of refuge from its territory, whereas a family that had received a relatively small parcel of land would not have to cede proportionately as much for the purpose of providing cities of refuge (including the cities of the Levites). This was so in spite of the fact that when these cities are listed by name and the tribal territory they were in, you will find that the tribes did not all contribute equal numbers. (Joshua chapter 21. [According to verse 3 in that chapter the distribution or allocation of these cities may have proceeded upon divine command after consultation with the urim vetumim. Ed.]