1 Eight and forty cities for the Levites, with their suburbs, and measure thereof
6 Six of them are to be cities of refuge
9 The laws of murder and manslaughter
31 No satisfaction for murder

Nu 22:1 26:63 31:12 33:50 36:13

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

Le 25:32,33 Jos 14:3,4 21:2 Eze 45:1-8 48:8,22 1Co 9:10-14

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

Jos 21:11 2Ch 11:14 Eze 45:2

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

thousand cubits. The Septuagint reads two thousand cubits, as in the following verse; but this reading is not acknowledged by any other ancient version, except the Coptic, nor by any of the MSS. collated by Kennicott and De Rossi. Various modes have been proposed for reconciling the accounts in these two verses, which appear in general to require full as much explanation as the text itself. The explanation of Maimonides is the only one that is intelligible, and appears perfectly satisfactory. The suburbs, says he, of the cities are expressed in the law to be 3000 cubits on every side, from the wall of the city and outwards. the first 1000 cubits are the suburbs; and the 2000, which they measured without the suburbs, were for fields and vineyards. The whole therefore, of the city, suburbs, fields, and vineyards, may be represented by the following diagram:--- Fields and vineyards.

Suburbs

City

1000 Cubits

2000 Cubits

5 And ye shall measure from without the city on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits; and the city shall be in the midst: this shall be to them the suburbs of the cities.

6 And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites there shall be six cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither: and to them ye shall add forty and two cities.

six cities for refuge Nu 35:13,14 De 4:41-43 Jos 20:2-9 21:3,13,21,27,32,36,38 Ps 9:9 62:7,8 142:4,5 Isa 4:6 Mt 11:28 Heb 6:18

to them ye shall add. Heb. above them ye shall give.

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.

Jos 21:3-42 1Ch 6:54-81

8 And the cities which ye shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel: from them that have many ye shall give many; but from them that have few ye shall give few: every one shall give of his cities unto the Levites according to his inheritance which he inheriteth.

possession Ge 49:7 Ex 32:28,29 De 33:8-11 Jos 21:3

from them Nu 26:54 33:54 Ex 16:18 2Co 8:13,14

he inheriteth. Heb. they inherit

9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come over Jordan into the land of Canaan;

Nu 34:2 Le 14:34 25:2 De 12:9 19:1,2

11 Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares.

ye shall appoint. As the goel, or kinsman, had a right to avenge the death of his relation, by slaying the murderer wherever he found him, the appointment of these cities was a humane institution for the protection of the involuntary homicide; for they were designed only for the protection of such. Nu 35:6 Jos 20:2

unawares. Heb. by error Nu 35:22,23 Ex 21:13 De 4:42 19:4,5

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

from the avenger Nu 35:19,25-27 De 19:6 Jos 20:3-6,9 2Sa 14:7

until he stand Nu 35:24 De 19:11,12 Jos 20:4-6

13 And of these cities which ye shall give six cities shall ye have for refuge.

six cities Nu 35:6

14 Ye shall give three cities on this side Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge.

three cities De 4:41-43 19:8-10 Jos 20:7-9

15 These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither.

Nu 15:16 Ex 12:49 Le 24:22 Ro 3:29 Ga 3:28

16 And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.

if he smite Nu 35:22-24 De 19:11-13

the Nu 35:30-33 Ge 9:5,6 Ex 21:12-14 Le 24:17

17 And if he smite him with throwing a stone, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.

throwing a stone. Heb. a stone of the hand Ex 21:18

18 Or if he smite him with an hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.

19 The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him.

Nu 35:12,21,24,27 De 19:6,12 Jos 20:3,5

20 But if he thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying of wait, that he die;

if he thrust Ge 4:5,8 2Sa 3:27 13:22,28,29 20:10 1Ki 2:5,6,31-33 Pr 26:24 28:17 Lu 4:29

by laying Ex 21:14 De 19:11 1Sa 18:10,11,25 19:9-12 20:1 23:7-9 24:11 Ps 10:7-10 11:2 35:7,8 57:4-6 Pr 1:18,19 Mr 6:19,24-26 Ac 20:3 23:21

21 Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him.

22 But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without laying of wait,

Nu 35:11 Ex 21:13 De 19:5 Jos 20:3,5

23 Or with any stone, wherewith a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm:

24 Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments:

Nu 35:12 Jos 20:6

25 And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil.

abide in it Nu 35:28 Jos 20:6 Ro 3:24-26 Eph 2:16-18 Heb 4:14-16 7:25-28 9:12-15 10:19-22

anointed Ex 29:7 Le 4:3 8:12 21:10

26 But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he was fled;

After the manslayer had been received into the city of refuge, the avenger of blood could only act as prosecutor; and the magistrates, in the presence of the people, were appointed to decide the cause according to the rules here laid down. Probably the accused person was tried at or near the place where the deceased had been slain, and where evidence could most easily be brought; and in case he was acquitted by the decision of the judges, and with the approbation of the people, he was conveyed back to the city of refuge, where he was protected as a king of prisoner at large, till the death of the high priest; when the public loss, and the grief occasioned by it, might be supposed to swallow up all personal regrets and resentments; and then he was permitted to return to his house and estate. But if, in the mean while, he ventured to leave the city, and the avenger met him and slew him, he was supposed to merit his doom by thus neglecting the appointment of God for his preservation, and the avenger must not be punished. This shows that in other cases, if the avenger slew an innocent man on surmise, he was liable to the punishment of a murderer; but if, by the testimony of two credible witnesses, the man who had fled to the city of refuge was adjudged guilty, he must without fail be put to death.

27 And the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood:

he shall not be guilty of blood. Heb. no blood shall be to him Ex 22:2 De 19:6,10

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

he should Joh 15:4-6 Ac 11:23 27:31 Heb 3:14 6:4-8 10:26-30,39

after the death Heb 9:11,12,15-17

29 So these things shall be for a statute of judgment unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

Nu 27:1,11

30 Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.

De 17:6,7 19:15 Mt 18:16 Joh 8:17,18 2Co 13:1 1Ti 5:19 Heb 10:28 Re 11:3

31 Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death.

moreover Ge 9:5,6 Ex 21:14 De 19:11-13 2Sa 12:13 1Ki 2:28-34 Ps 51:14

guilty of death. Heb. faulty to die

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

Ac 4:12 Ga 2:21 3:10-13,22 Re 5:9

The region east of Jordan was nearly as long as that on the west, and therefore three cities were appointed in each division. One or other of these cities would be within half a day's journey of every part of the land; and as it would rarely happen that the avenger of blood would be on the spot, and none had a right to assault or detain the manslayer, at least if no malicious intention was manifest, the unhappy men would, therefore, get the start of their adversaries, and very few of them be overtaken before they gained the place of refuge. But then they must forsake their families, employments, most important interests, and dearest comforts; and they must neither loiter nor yield to weariness, nor regard difficulties, nor slacken their pace, till they had got safe within the walls of the city. The Jewish writers inform us, that to afford every facility to those who thus fled for their life, the road to these cities was always preserved in good repair; and way-posts, upon which was inscribed refuge, were placed wherever needful, that they might not so much as hesitate for a moment.

33 So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.

it defileth Le 18:25 De 21:1-8,23 2Ki 23:26 24:4 Ps 106:28 Isa 26:21 Eze 22:24-27 Ho 4:2,3 Mic 4:11 Mt 23:31-35 Lu 11:50,51

the land cannot be cleansed. Heb. there can be no expiation for the land

34 Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.

defile not Nu 5:3 Le 20:24-26

I dwell Ps 135:21 Isa 57:15 Ho 9:3 2Co 6:16,17 Re 21:3,27

dwell among Nu 5:3 Ex 25:8 29:45,46 1Ki 6:13 Ps 132:14 Isa 8:12