Numbers 35

The LORD spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan River across from Jericho. He said:

1And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,

NoteThe plains of Moab were the flat land east of the Jordan River, opposite Jericho. Israel is camped there at the end of the wilderness years, about to cross the river westward into Canaan. Everything in this chapter is instruction given in advance, for a land the people do not yet occupy.

2"Command the Israelites to give the Levites cities to live in, taken from the land the people will receive as their own. Also give the Levites open land around those cities."

2Command 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.

NoteThe Levites were one of Israel's twelve tribes, set apart to serve at the sanctuary. Unlike the other tribes they received no block of territory of their own, so they had to be housed inside land belonging to the others, hence this list of cities. "Suburbs" in the King James does not mean outlying housing; the Hebrew word means open grazing ground, unbuilt pasture ringing the town where animals were kept.

3The cities will be theirs to live in, and the open land around them will be for their cattle, their goods, and all their animals.

3And 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.

4The open land you give the Levites around each city is to reach out from the city wall a thousand cubits on every side.

4And 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.

NoteA cubit was roughly eighteen inches (about 45 cm), the length of a forearm from elbow to fingertip. A thousand cubits is therefore something like a quarter of a mile, or 450 meters.

5You are also to measure, starting outside the city, two thousand cubits on the east side, two thousand on the south, two thousand on the west, and two thousand on the north, with the city in the middle. This is the open land that goes with the cities.

5And 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.

NoteVerse 4 gives a belt of a thousand cubits out from the wall; verse 5 gives two thousand cubits on each side. The two figures are not reconciled in the text and ancient and modern readers have understood them differently, some take verse 5 as measuring the full width of the square (city plus pasture on both sides), others as a second, larger outer zone. The ambiguity is in the original.

6Six of the cities you give the Levites are to be cities of refuge, where a person who has killed someone can run for safety. Besides those six, give the Levites forty-two more cities.

6And 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.

NoteA city of refuge was a designated town a killer could run to and be safe from the dead person's relatives until his case was heard. The Hebrew word rendered "manslayer" or "slayer" covers any killing of a person, deliberate or accidental alike, the same word is used of the murderer and of the man who kills by accident. That is why the following verses have to spell out how to tell the two apart.

7So the total number of cities you give the Levites will be forty-eight, each with its open land around it.

7So all the cities which ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty and eight cities: them shall ye give with their suburbs.

8The cities you give come out of the land the Israelites hold. Tribes with much land give more cities, tribes with little give fewer. Each tribe gives cities to the Levites in proportion to the land it receives.

8And 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.

9The LORD spoke to Moses and said:

9And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

10"Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan River into the land of Canaan,

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

11then choose cities to be cities of refuge for you. A person who kills someone without meaning to can run there for safety.

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

12These cities will keep him safe from the avenger of blood, the relative of the dead person who is expected to pay back the killing. The one who killed will not be put to death before he has stood trial in front of the assembly.

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

NoteThe "avenger of blood" (Hebrew go'el ha-dam) was not a vigilante but a recognized legal figure: the nearest male relative of the dead person, whose family duty it was to see the death answered for. The same word go'el covers a relative's other duties, buying back land a poor kinsman had sold, or buying a kinsman out of debt-slavery. "Redeemer" is the same idea: the family member who acts on your behalf when you cannot. The "congregation" or "assembly" here is the community acting as a court, in practice its elders and representatives, not a religious gathering.

13Of the cities you set aside, six are to be your cities of refuge.

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

14Give three cities on this side of the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan. These will be the cities of refuge.

14Ye 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.

Note"This side Jordan" means the east side, where Moses is speaking, the land already taken by Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh. Canaan means the land west of the river, not yet entered. So the six cities are split evenly across the water, three in each region.

15These six cities will be a place of safety for the Israelites, and also for the foreigner and the person staying among them. Anyone who kills a person without meaning to may run there.

15These 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.

NoteThe King James uses two words for two overlapping groups: the "stranger" (ger) is a foreigner who has settled permanently among the Israelites, and the "sojourner" (toshav) is one staying temporarily. The point of naming both is that the protection is not limited to Israelites.

16But if a man strikes someone with an iron object and the person dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must be put to death.

16And 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.

NoteVerses 16 to 21 work by evidence, not by categories of weapon for their own sake. Striking someone with iron, or with a stone or piece of wood large enough to kill, shows the blow was meant to kill; so does shoving out of hatred, ambush, or hostility. The object and the circumstances are how a court reads intent when it cannot read a mind.

17If a man has a stone in his hand big enough to kill, and he strikes someone with it and the person dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must be put to death.

17And 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.

18Or if a man has a wooden object in his hand that can kill, and he strikes someone with it and the person dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must be put to death.

18Or 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.

19The avenger of blood is the one who puts the murderer to death. When he meets him, he is to kill him.

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

20The same is true if a man shoves someone because he hates him, or lies in wait and throws something at him, and the person dies.

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

21Or if he is hostile toward him and hits him with his hand, and the person dies, the one who struck him must be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood is to kill him when he meets him.

21Or 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.

22But suppose a man shoves someone suddenly, with no hostility toward him, or throws something at him without lying in wait.

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

23Or suppose he drops a stone that is big enough to kill, without seeing the person, and it lands on him and he dies. The dead man was not his enemy, and he was not trying to harm him.

23Or 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:

24In that case the assembly is to judge between the one who killed and the avenger of blood, following these rules.

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

25The assembly is to rescue the one who killed from the hand of the avenger of blood and send him back to the city of refuge he ran to. He must stay there until the death of the high priest, the priest who was anointed with the holy oil.

25And 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.

NoteThe high priest was the chief of the priests, the one who entered the innermost part of the sanctuary. "Anointed" means oil was poured over his head to mark him as installed in the office; the oil was a specially compounded perfumed mixture reserved for that use. His death is used here as a fixed public endpoint, the accidental killer's confinement lasts an unpredictable length of time, ending only when that one man dies.

26But suppose the one who killed ever goes outside the boundary of the city of refuge he ran to.

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

27If the avenger of blood finds him outside the city's boundaries and kills him, the avenger is not guilty of murder.

27And 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:

28This is because the one who killed should have stayed in his city of refuge until the high priest died. After the high priest's death, he may go back to the land he owns.

28Because 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.

29These rules are to be the law for you and for all your descendants, wherever you live.

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

30Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death only on the word of witnesses. But the word of a single witness is not enough to have someone put to death.

30Whoso 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.

Note"By the mouth of witnesses" is a Hebrew idiom for "on the testimony of witnesses." The plural is the point, and the second half of the verse makes it explicit: no execution on one person's word alone.

31Also, you must not accept a payment to spare the life of a murderer who deserves to die. He must be put to death.

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

Note"Satisfaction" translates kopher, a ransom or buy-off payment. In the surrounding legal systems of the ancient Near East a killer's family could commonly settle a death by paying compensation to the victim's family. This verse rules that out for deliberate murder, and verse 32 rules out buying an accidental killer an early release from his city of refuge.

32And you must not accept a payment for someone who has run to a city of refuge, letting him come back and live on his own land before the high priest dies.

32And 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.

33Do not pollute the land where you live. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and nothing can clear the land of blood shed in it except the blood of the one who shed it.

33So 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.

NoteThe language of blood "polluting" and "defiling" the land is not figurative in the way a modern reader might assume. Unanswered killing is spoken of as a physical stain on the territory itself, which no ritual can wash out; the word behind "cleansed" is the ordinary word for making atonement. The land, not just the household, is treated as the injured party.

34So do not defile the land you will live in, the land where I live too. For I, the LORD, live among the Israelites.

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

Note"Wherein I dwell" uses a verb meaning to settle or pitch a tent, the same root behind the word for the tabernacle, the portable sanctuary carried in the middle of the camp. The claim is one of location: God is described as living in the same territory as the people, which is why what happens to the ground matters.