נחמיה, פרק י״א, פסוק ל״ו

After organizing the residential areas for the people returning to their homeland, the focus shifts to how the Levites settled. Rather than gathering in a single, concentrated location, they spread out across the territories of the two central tribes surrounding Jerusalem. These groups of Levites divided into smaller sections and scattered throughout the region.

Commentators agree that this division resulted in some Levites living in the land of Judah and others in the land of Benjamin. There are different ways to understand the exact layout of this settlement. Some explain it as a continuous, unbroken stretch of Levite communities spanning all the way from the territory of Judah into the territory of Benjamin [אבן עזרא ומצודת דוד]. Others view it simply as a distribution between the two tribes, with groups assigned to both areas [מלבי״ם].

The necessity for this scattered settlement stems from the historical boundaries of the tribal lands [מלבי״ם]. During the original division of the land, the cities set aside within the territories of Judah and Benjamin were given exclusively to the Priests. The Levites, on the other hand, received their designated cities from the other tribes. However, during the era of the return to Zion, the original Levite cities were located too far from Jerusalem. Because their duties required them to be close to the Temple, they could no longer return to their historical homes. Instead, they adapted by settling among the people of Judah and Benjamin, building new communities and courtyards in the areas immediately surrounding Jerusalem.