According to the author of the book of Numbers, God told the people to give 48 cities to the Levites, who were special helpers in the church. These cities would have little towns around them for the Levites to live and work in.
Numbers 35:7: [So] all the cities which ye shall give to the Levites [shall be] forty and eight cities: them [shall ye give] with their suburbs.
This verse mentions a different total number of Levitical cities, which contradicts the 48 cities mentioned in Numbers 35:7.
Joshua 21:41: All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel [were] forty and eight cities with their suburbs.