Numbers 35
35
The Levitical Cities
1#sn This section has two main parts, the Levitical cities (vv. 1-8) and the Cities of Refuge (vv. 9-34). Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the Moabite plains by the Jordan near Jericho.#map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1. He said: 2 “Instruct the Israelites to give#tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive: “command…and they will give,” or “that they give.” the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites#tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity. will possess. You must also give the Levites grazing land around the towns. 3 Thus they will have towns in which to live, and their grazing lands will be for their cattle, for their possessions, and for all their animals. 4 The grazing lands around the towns that you will give to the Levites must extend to a distance of 500 yards#tn Heb “one thousand cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about eighteen inches (45 cm) in length, so this would be a distance of 1,500 feet or 500 yards (675 meters). from the town wall.
5 “You must measure#tn The verb is the Qal perfect of מָדַד (madad, “to measure”). With its vav (ו) consecutive it carries the same instructional force as the imperfect. from outside the wall of the town on the east 1,000 yards,#tn Heb “two thousand cubits” (also three more times in this verse). This would be a distance of 3,000 feet or 1,000 yards (1,350 meters). and on the south side 1,000 yards, and on the west side 1,000 yards, and on the north side 1,000 yards, with the town in the middle.#sn The precise nature of the layout described here is not altogether clear. V. 4 speaks of the distance from the wall as being 500 yards; v. 5, however, describes measurements of 1,000 yards. Various proposals have been made in order to harmonize vv. 4 and 5. P. J. Budd, Numbers (WBC), 376, makes the following suggestion: “It may be best to assume that the cubits of the Levitical pasture lands are cubit frontages of land – in other words on each side of the city there was a block of land with a frontage of two thousand cubits (v 5), and a depth of 1000 cubits (v 4).” This territory must belong to them as grazing land for the towns. 6 Now from these towns that you will give to the Levites you must select six towns of refuge to which a person who has killed someone may flee.#tn The “manslayer” is the verb “to kill” in a participial form, providing the subject of the clause. The verb means “to kill”; it can mean accidental killing, premeditated killing, or capital punishment. The clause uses the infinitive to express purpose or result: “to flee there the manslayer,” means “so that the manslayer may flee there.” And you must give them forty-two other towns.
7 “So the total of the towns you will give the Levites is forty-eight. You must give these together with their grazing lands. 8 The towns you will give must be from the possession of the Israelites. From the larger tribes you must give more; and from the smaller tribes fewer. Each must contribute some of its own towns to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance allocated to each.
The Cities of Refuge
9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you cross over the Jordan River#tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity. into the land of Canaan, 11 you must then designate some towns as towns of refuge for you, to which a person who has killed someone unintentionally may flee. 12 And they must stand as your towns of refuge from the avenger in order that the killer may not die until he has stood trial before the community. 13 These towns that you must give shall be your six towns for refuge.
14 “You must give three towns on this side of the Jordan, and you must give three towns in the land of Canaan; they must be towns of refuge. 15 These six towns will be places of refuge for the Israelites, and for the foreigner, and for the settler among them, so that anyone who kills any person accidentally may flee there.
16 “But if he hits someone with an iron tool so that he dies,#tn the verb is the preterite of “die.” The sentence has :“if…he strikes him and he dies.” The vav (ו) consecutive is showing the natural result of the blow. he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. 17 If he strikes him by throwing a stone large enough that he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. 18 Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon so that he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. 19 The avenger#tn The participle גֹּאֵל (go’el) is the one who protects the family by seeking vengeance for a crime. This is the same verb used for levirate marriages and other related customs. of blood himself must kill the murderer; when he meets him, he must kill him.
20 “But if he strikes him out of hatred or throws something at him intentionally#tn The Hebrew text is more vivid: “by lying in wait.” so that he dies, 21 or with enmity he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death, for he is a murderer. The avenger of blood must kill the murderer when he meets him.
22 “But if he strikes him suddenly, without enmity, or throws anything at him unintentionally, 23 or with any stone large enough that a man could die, without seeing him, and throws it at him, and he dies, even though he was not his enemy nor sought his harm, 24 then the community must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these decisions. 25 The community must deliver the slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the community must restore him to the town of refuge to which he fled, and he must live there#tn Heb “in it.” until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the consecrated oil. 26 But if the slayer at any time goes outside the boundary of the town to which he had fled, 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the borders of the town of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the slayer, he will not be guilty of blood, 28 because the slayer#tn Heb “he.” should have stayed in his town of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the slayer may return to the land of his possessions. 29 So these things must be a statutory ordinance#tn Heb “a statute of judgment” (so KJV). for you throughout your generations, in all the places where you live.
30 “Whoever kills any person, the murderer must be put to death by the testimony#tn Heb “ at the mouth of”; the metonymy stresses it is at their report. of witnesses; but one witness cannot#tn The verb should be given the nuance of imperfect of potentiality. testify against any person to cause him to be put to death. 31 Moreover, you must not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; he must surely be put to death. 32 And you must not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a town of refuge, to allow him to return home and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.#tn Heb “the priest.” The Greek and the Syriac have “high priest.” The present translation, along with many English versions, uses “high priest” as a clarification.
33 “You must not pollute the land where you live, for blood defiles the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed there, except by the blood of the person who shed it. 34 Therefore do not defile the land that you will inhabit, in which I live, for I the Lord live among the Israelites.”
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Numbers 35
35
Cities for the Levites
1Yahweh spoke to Moses on the desert plains of Moab beyond the Jordan across Jericho, saying, 2“Command the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their property cities to live in; and you will give to the Levites pastureland all around the cities.#Hebrew “them” 3The cities will be theirs to live in, and their pasturelands will be for their domestic animals, for their possessions, and their animals.#Hebrew “animal”
4“The pasturelands of the cities that you will give to the Levites will extend from the wall of the city to a distance of a thousand cubits all around. 5You will measure outside the city the eastern edge two thousand cubits, for the southern edge two thousand cubits, for the western edge two thousand cubits, and for the northern edge two thousand cubits, with the city in the middle; this will be for them the pasturelands of the cities.
6“All the cities that you will give the Levites will be six cities of refuge, to which the killer can flee; in addition to them you will give forty-two cities. 7All the cities that you will give to the Levites will be forty-eight cities, them with their pasturelands. 8And the cities that you will give from the property of the Israelites,#Literally “sons/children of Israel” you will take more from the larger group and less from the smaller group; each of them will give according to the portion of their inheritance according to the portion that he inherits.”
Cities of Refuge
9Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 10“Speak to the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11you will select for yourselves cities for your cities of refuge, that a killer who has killed a person unintentionally can flee there. 12The cities will be to you a refuge from a redeemer, so that the killer will not die until he stands before the community for judgment. 13The cities that you are to give will be your six cities of refuge. 14You will give three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan; they will be cities of refuge. 15To the Israelites,#Literally “sons/children of Israel” to the alien, and to the temporary resident in their midst there will be these six cities as a refuge to which anyone who unintentionally kills a person may flee.
16“ ‘But if he hit him with an object of iron, so that he dies, the killer must surely be put to death. 17And if he hit him with a stone in the hand, by which he will die, and he does die, he is a killer; the killer must surely be put to death. 18Or if he hit him with a wooden object, by which he will die, and he does die, he is a killer; the killer must surely be put to death. 19The blood avenger himself will put the killer to death; he must put him to death when meeting him. 20If he shoves him in hatred, or he throws something at him with intention, and he dies, 21or if he hits him in hostility with his hand, and he dies, the one that struck him will put to death the killer when meeting him.
22“ ‘Or if in an instant he shoved him, not in hostility, or threw something at him without intention, 23or with any stone, without seeing it dropped on him so that he dies, while he was not seeking his injury, 24then the community will judge between the striker and between the blood avenger according to these ordinances. 25The community will deliver the killer from the hand of the blood avenger, and the community will restore him to the city of his refuge to which he fled; and he will live there in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with holy oil. 26But if the killer surely goes out of the territory of the city of his refuge to which he fled, 27and the blood avenger finds him outside the territory of the city of his refuge, and the blood avenger kills the killer, he will not be guilty of blood#Literally “there will not be blood for him” 28because he must live in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the killer will return to the land of his property. 29These things will be as a decree of justice for you for your generations in all your dwellings.
30“ ‘If anyone kills a person, the killer will be put to death according to the testimony#Literally “according to the mouth” of witnesses, but someone cannot die on testimony of one person. 31Also, you will not take a ransom payment for the life of a killer who is guilty of death; indeed, he must surely be put to death. 32You will not take a ransom payment for the one that flees to the city of his refuge, so that he may return to live in the land before the death of the priest. 33So you will not pollute the land in which you are; because blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is poured out on it except with the blood of the one who poured it out. 34You will not defile the land on which you are living because I am living in the midst of it; I am Yahweh; I am living in the midst of the Israelites.’ ”#Literally “sons/children of Israel”
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