Chapter Thirty-Five

The assignment of forty-eight cities for the dwelling of the Levites, of which six cities are for the refuge of involuntary manslayers. The signs of moral and juridical accountability for murder. Capital punishment for willful murderers. The right of blood vengeance of the involuntary slayer by the goel (the one appointed by the relatives of the slain). The inadmissibility of redemption for either willful or involuntary murder.

Numbers 35:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying: Numbers 35:2. Command the children of Israel that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and you shall also give to the Levites common-land around these cities: Numbers 35:3. The cities shall be for them to dwell in; and their common-land shall be for their cattle, for their herds, and for all their animals. See Joshua (Josh 21).

Numbers 35:4. Now the common-land of the cities which you give to the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all around. Numbers 35:5. And you shall measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, on the south side two thousand cubits, on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, with the city in the middle. This shall be your common-land for the cities. In order to prevent the Levites from deviating from their direct duties toward the predominant exploitation of land holdings, the law limits the boundaries of their landed property to the amount necessary only for modest economic needs.

Numbers 35:9. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Numbers 35:10. Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, Numbers 35:11. Then you shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person unintentionally may flee there. Numbers 35:12. And these cities shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood, so that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment. Numbers 35:13. And of the cities which you give, you shall have six cities of refuge. Numbers 35:14. You shall appoint three cities on this side of the Jordan, and three cities you shall appoint in the land of Canaan; they shall be cities of refuge. Numbers 35:15. These six cities shall be a refuge for the children of Israel, for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there. Numbers 35:16. But if he strikes him with an iron implement, so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. Numbers 35:17. And if he strikes him with a stone in the hand, by which one could die, and he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. Numbers 35:18. Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon, by which one could die, and he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. Numbers 35:19. The avenger of blood himself shall put the murderer to death; when he encounters him, he shall put him to death. Numbers 35:20. If he pushes him out of hatred, or hurls something at him intentionally, so that he dies, Numbers 35:21. Or in hostility strikes him with his hand, so that he dies, then the one who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he encounters him. Numbers 35:22. But if he pushes him suddenly without hostility, or hurls any object at him unintentionally, Numbers 35:23. Or with any stone, by which he could die, throwing it without seeing, so that he dies, and he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm, Numbers 35:24. Then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments. Numbers 35:25. So the congregation shall deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where he had fled, and he shall remain there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil; Numbers 35:26. But if the manslayer at any time goes outside the limits of the city of refuge where he fled, Numbers 35:27. And the avenger of blood finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of bloodshed, Numbers 35:28. 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 may return to the land of his possession. Numbers 35:29. And these things shall be a statute and ordinance for you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. Numbers 35:30. Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient to testify against a person for the death penalty. Numbers 35:31. Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death; Numbers 35:32. And you shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the [high] priest. Numbers 35:33. So you shall not pollute the land in which you are dwelling; for blood pollutes the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed on it except by the blood of him who shed it. Numbers 35:34. Do not defile the land where you dwell, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel. The custom of blood vengeance against murderers by relatives or those close to the slain, widespread in the ancient East, is acknowledged in the law of Moses (v. 19) as a principle to restrain the passions of the feuding parties—though in its application to the framework of Hebrew life, it underwent certain essential modifications that safeguarded society from the injustice and cruelty of an enraged avenger. Every murder (both intentional and unintentional) was first of all subject to formal judicial investigation (vv. 16-24, 30). A murder found to be intentional resulted in capital punishment (vv. 16-21, 30) without the right of redemption (vv. 31-34). A murder found to be unintentional gave the slayer the opportunity to escape the bloody revenge of the goel by taking refuge in one of the six cities of refuge and remaining there until the death of the high priest. With the death of the high priest, the avenger lost the right of blood vengeance, and the involuntary slayer received full restoration of his rights as a free citizen (vv. 9-15, 22-29). “Redemption for him who has fled to the city of refuge, to allow him to dwell in his land before the death of the high priest” (v. 32) was not permitted. The fear of punishment and the restrictive conditions in many respects of residence in the city of refuge were meant to accustom the Hebrews to carefulness in dealing with the life of their neighbor. The redemptive significance in this case of the death of the Old Testament high priest foreshadowed, according to the teaching of Theodoret, the atoning fruits of the death of the high priest according to the order of Melchizedek (Commentary on Numbers, question 50). Regarding the names and locations of the cities of refuge for involuntary manslayers see Deut 4:41-43; Deut 19:1-10; Josh 20-21.