Numbers 35

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Numbers chapter 35 details the allocation of cities to the Levites, including the establishment of cities of refuge. These cities provided sanctuary for individuals who unintentionally caused another's death, protecting them from the revenger of blood. The chapter clearly distinguishes between intentional murder, which warranted the death penalty, and accidental manslaughter, which allowed for refuge until the high priest's death. It also emphasizes the necessity of capital punishment for murderers to prevent the defilement of the land.

The Levites' Cities and Pasturelands 1–8

And Jehovah spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,

Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and suburbs for the cities round about them shall ye give unto the Levites.

And the cities shall they have to dwell in; and their suburbs shall be for their cattle, and for their substance, and for all their beasts.

And the suburbs of the cities, which ye shall give unto the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round about.

And ye shall measure without the city for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the midst. This shall be to them the suburbs of the cities.

And the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which ye shall give for the manslayer to flee unto: and besides them ye shall give forty and two cities.

All the cities which ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty and eight cities; them shall ye give with their suburbs.

And concerning the cities which ye shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many ye shall take many; and from the few ye shall take few: every one according to his inheritance which he inheriteth shall give of his cities unto the Levites.

Establishing the Cities of Refuge 9–15

And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer that killeth any person unwittingly may flee thither.

And the cities shall be unto you for refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation for judgment.

And the cities which ye shall give shall be for you six cities of refuge.

Ye shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan; they shall be cities of refuge.

For the children of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, shall these six cities be for refuge; that every one that killeth any person unwittingly may flee thither.

Defining Murder and Manslaughter 16–29

But if he smote him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.

And if he smote him with a stone in the hand, whereby a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.

Or if he smote him with a weapon of wood in the hand, whereby a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.

The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death: when he meeteth him, he shall put him to death.

And if he thrust him of hatred, or hurled at him, lying in wait, so that he died,

or in enmity smote him with his hand, so that he died; he that smote him shall surely be put to death; he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meeteth him.

But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or hurled upon him anything without lying in wait,

or with any stone, whereby a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, so that he died, and he was not his enemy, neither sought his harm;

then the congregation shall judge between the smiter and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances;

and the congregation shall deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge, whither he fleeth,

and the avenger of blood find him without the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood slay the manslayer; he shall not be guilty of blood,

because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return into the land of his possession.

And these things shall be for a statuteandordinance unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

Judicial Procedures and Land Purity 30–34

Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be slain at the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person that he die.

Moreover ye shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer, that is guilty of death; but he shall surely be put to death.

And ye shall take no ransom for him that is fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest.

So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood, it polluteth the land; and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.

And thou shalt not defile the land which ye inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell: for I, Jehovah, dwell in the midst of the children of Israel.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Numbers 35

Verse 1

in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho — Israel had pitched here since Num 22:1, and the last commands of the book are given at this place: the census (Num 26:63), the order to divide the land (Num 33:50), the Levites' cities here, and the closing line of the book (Num 36:13).

Verse 2

cities to dwell in — The Levites had no share of the land, since Moses 'gave none inheritance among them' (Josh 14:3); the other tribes gave 'cities to dwell in, with their suburbs for their cattle and for their substance' (Josh 14:4). Lev 25:32 lets the Levites redeem their houses 'at any time'.

Verse 4

a thousand cubits round about — The suburbs (migrash, open pasture land) are measured from the wall of the city outward, a belt 'a thousand cubits round about'. V.5 then gives two thousand cubits on each of the four sides, with 'the city … in the midst'. V.3 says what the land was for: 'their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their beasts'.

Verse 6

six cities for refuge — Miqlat is the noun for refuge, a place to which the slayer 'may flee thither'. The six were named in Josh 20:7–8: Kedesh, Shechem and Hebron west of the Jordan, and Bezer, Ramoth in Gilead and Golan east of it, the last three set apart by Moses (Deut 4:41–43). They were counted among the forty-eight Levite cities (v.7; Josh 21:41).

Verse 8

from them that have many ye shall give many — The rule matches the division of the land itself: 'To many thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to few thou shalt give the less inheritance' (Num 26:54). Every tribe gave Levite cities in proportion to its inheritance, and Josh 21 lists them, totalling 'forty and eight cities with their suburbs' (Josh 21:41).

Verse 11

at unawares — Shegagah is an error or inadvertence, the word rendered 'it is ignorance' in Num 15:25. Ex 21:13 had already promised 'a place whither he shall flee' where a man 'lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand'. Moses set apart the first three cities 'That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares' (Deut 4:42).

Verse 12

the avenger — Go'el is the near kinsman, the word that Ruth uses of Boaz, 'thou art a near kinsman' (Ruth 3:9), and Job of his 'redeemer' (Job 19:25). In a killing he is the family's representative against the slayer. The manslayer is protected 'until he stand before the congregation in judgment'.

Verse 15

the stranger, and for the sojourner — Ger, a foreigner living in the land, and toshav, a settler, are the pair of Lev 25:23, 'ye are strangers and sojourners with me'. The refuge is open to them as to Israel, in line with 'One law and one manner shall be for you, and for the stranger that sojourneth with you' (Num 15:16; Josh 20:9).

Verse 16

an instrument of iron — Three weapons are named in vv.16–18, of iron, stone and wood, and in each case if the man dies the striker is a 'murderer'. The Hebrew word for murderer, ratsach, is also the word for the 'manslayer' of v.6 and the verb of the commandment in Ex 20:13; intent decides which. The ground is Gen 9:6, 'for in the image of God made he man'.

Verse 19

The revenger of blood — This is the go'el called 'the avenger' in v.12; the KJV uses both English words for the same Hebrew in this chapter (vv.12, 19, 21, 24, 25, 27). He may slay the murderer 'when he meeteth him', but the verses that follow confine this to the case of hatred, ambush and enmity (vv.20–21).

Verse 25

the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil — The congregation delivers the slayer from the avenger and restores him to the refuge city, where he stays until the high priest's death. The high priest is the one 'upon whose head the anointing oil was poured' (Lev 21:10; Ex 29:7). Josh 20:6 repeats the term: 'until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days'.

Verse 28

until the death of the high priest — The term is stated in vv.25, 28 and 32. If the slayer left the city's border and the avenger found him, the avenger 'shall not be guilty of blood' (v.27). After the high priest's death 'the slayer shall return into the land of his possession', as Josh 20:6 puts it, 'unto his own house'.

Verse 30

by the mouth of witnesses — The Hebrew says 'by the mouth', the phrase of Deut 19:15, 'at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established'. One witness 'shall not testify against any person to cause him to die'. Christ and Paul cite the rule (Matt 18:16; John 8:17; 2 Cor 13:1).

Verse 31

no satisfaction for the life of a murderer — 'Satisfaction' is kopher, the ransom, the word of the 'ransom for his soul' paid at the census (Ex 30:12). Ex 21:30 allowed a ransom in another case of death, where an ox killed a man, but here none may be taken. Life for life was settled in Gen 9:6; v.32 bars it also for returning early.

Verse 33

cannot be cleansed — The verb is kaphar, to make atonement, the verb of the sacrifices (Num 29:5). For blood shed in the land the atonement named is 'the blood of him that shed it'. Ps 106:38 shows the stain: 'the land was polluted with blood'. 'Pollute' is chanaph, to defile.

Verse 34

I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel — Shakan, to settle or tabernacle, is the verb behind mishkan, the tabernacle. The promise is that of Ex 29:45, 'I will dwell among the children of Israel', and Num 5:3 uses it for putting the unclean out of the camp, 'in the midst whereof I dwell'. Paul applies it to believers (2 Cor 6:16).

Numbers 35

The Levites' Cities and Pasturelands 1–8

Establishing the Cities of Refuge 9–15

Defining Murder and Manslaughter 16–29

Judicial Procedures and Land Purity 30–34

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