הבא למדוד אלפים אמה של תחום העיר אם היתה העיר אריכא וקטינא או שהיתה מרובעת לא לרבוע העולם הואיל ויש לה ארבע זויות שוות מניחים אותה כמות שהיא ומודדים לה אלפים אמה לכל רוח מארבע רוחותיה:

When one comes to measure the 2000 amot teḥum of a city, if the city was long and narrow, or if it was square but not aligned with the square of the earth [i.e. the cardinal directions], but it has four square corners, we leave the size of the city as it is and measure 2000 amot in every direction from its four sides.

If the city was round, we make corners for it and view it as if it was inscribed in a rectangle, and measure 2000 amot in every direction from the sides of the rectangle. It is thus found that the corners [of the circumscribed rectangle] increase the size of the city. So too, if the city was triangular or if it had many sides, we circumscribe a rectangle around it and afterwards extend 2000 amot in every direction from outside the rectangle.

When one circumscribes a rectangle [around a city], one circumscribes it according to the cardinal directions, so that each of its sides extends according to one of the cardinal directions and is parallel to it.

If a city was wide on one end and narrow on another end, we view it as if it was entirely the maximal width. If it was shaped like the letter gamma (Γ) or like an archer's bow, if there were less than 4000 amot between the tips of the arc, we measure the teḥum from the chord of the arc and view it as if all the space between the chord and arc were full of houses. If there were [at least] 4000 amot between the tips of the arc, we measure the teḥum only from the arc itself. Rema: Some say that [in this case where the tips of the arc are at least 4000 amot apart] we measure the teḥum from the place at which the chord would be less than 4000 amot long. This is only when there is at least 2000 amot between the apex of the arc and the chord, however if there is less than 2000 amot, we measure in any case from the chord, and it is acceptable to be lenient (Hagahot Maimoniot chapter 25 from the laws of Shabbat, and the Rosh and the Tur).

Every apartment that is located outside the city, if there is a distance of seven and two-thirds cubits between it and the city, which is equivalent to the side of two square cubits or less, then it is considered part of the city, and when measuring the city's boundaries, it is included, except for this apartment. Rema: Some say that one should not start measuring immediately from the apartment, but rather stretch a string across the width of the city opposite the apartment and move it seventy cubits and two-thirds away from there, and start measuring from that point. This is done in every place where measuring is done (Tur). This is my opinion to be lenient.

A house that is close to a city within 70 amot (cubits), and a second house is close to the first house within 70 amot, and a third house is close to the second house within 70 amot, and so on for however many days' travel, all of them are considered as one city. And when measuring, one measures from outside the last house, provided that this house is a minimum of four cubits wide, or more. Similarly, a synagogue that has an apartment for the cantor, or a bathhouse that has an apartment for the attendant, or a treasury that has an apartment, and a bridge or a grave that has an apartment, and three walls that do not have a ceiling above them and have overlapping spaces, and also a house built in the sea, and two walls that have a ceiling above them, and a tower or a cave, all of these are considered as part of the city if they are within 70 amot and a bit from the last house. From this last house, it appears as if a thread is stretched across the entire city, and measuring is done outside of that thread at a distance of 2,000 amot in every direction except for that house. Rema: If there are two such houses opposite the city, they are considered as a city that is built like an arch. (Tur) However, two walls that do not have a ceiling above them, even if they are adjacent, and a bridge or a grave, and a synagogue or a bathhouse or a treasury that do not have an apartment, and a well, and a bush, and a cave, and a dovecote that is in a ship, and the like, are not considered as part of the city.

There were two towns, one adjacent to the other, with a distance of one hundred and thirty-one cubits between them, so that there were sixty-one and a half cubits to one town and seventy-one and a half cubits to the other town: They are considered as one city, and each one is considered as extending the entire other city, except for a distance of two thousand cubits outside the last house of each town. RAMA: If there were two houses like this facing each other, their law is like that of a city made like an arch. However, two walls without a roof between them, even if they are close to each other up to one hundred and thirty-one cubits, are considered like an enclosed area. (Tur). But a single house, even if it is very large, does not have the status of a city, and it cannot be given a distance of seventy-one and a half cubits. (Tosafot and Rosh in Chapter "Keitzad Ma'avrin" and Tur)

There were three triangular villages, if there is a distance of 1,000 cubits or less between the middle one and each of the outer ones, and between the two outer villages, the distance is less than 3,000 cubits (excluding the width of the middle village) (Tur), in order that each one of them, together with the middle one, appears as a 2,000-cubit square. Therefore, the three villages are considered as one city-state, and a 2,000-cubit measurement is taken for each direction outside the three villages (although some say that the measurement is taken only from their walls and not from the middle one). (Tosafot, Rosh in Chapter "Keitzad Ma'avrin" and Tur)

A city that sits on the bank of a river that is dry most of the time, and people use it only when it is filled with water during rainy season: If there is a platform of four cubits width on the bank of the river, people can stand on it and use the river. The river is considered part of the city, and it is measured two thousand cubits from the second bank of the river. The entire river is considered part of the city because of the platform built on its side. If there is no platform, only the area of the houses adjacent to the river is measured, and the river is measured from the thousands of cubits of theirs.

Those who dwell in huts, meaning those who dwell in tents made of wood and reeds, do not have the law of a city. Therefore, they are not measured in thousands of cubits from the outskirts of the city, but rather from the threshold of their tents. (However, if they have a kind of enclosure of a wall or ditch that is ten cubits high around their homes). ( Beis Yosef in the name of the Shibulei Leket) If they have three courtyards of two houses each, made of stones or beams, they are all considered permanent structures, and they are measured like any other city, with a city boundary of a thousand cubits in every direction.

If a city was surrounded by a wall and then it was inbaited, its measurement is taken from the place where its settlement was located, and afterwards its wall is measured.