2 Command the children of Israel, that of the inheritance of their possession they give unto the Levites cities to dwell in; and a suburb for the cities round about them shall ye give unto the Levites.
For Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half tribe beyond the Jordan, but to the Levites he had given no inheritance among them. For the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim; and they gave no part to the Levites in the land, save cities to dwell in, and their suburbs for their cattle and for their substance.
And by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side, shall be the heave-offering that ye shall offer, five and twenty thousand [cubits] in breadth, and in length as one of the parts from the east side unto the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it.
But as to the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites shall have a perpetual right of redemption. And if any one redeem from one of the Levites, then the house that was sold, in the city of his possession, shall go out in the jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. And the field of the suburbs of their cities shall not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.
and they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, Jehovah commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, and their suburbs for our cattle. And the children of Israel gave to the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the word of Jehovah, these cities and their suburbs. And the lot came forth for the families of the Kohathites. And the children of Aaron the priest, of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of the Simeonites, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities. And the children of Kohath that remained had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, and out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh, ten cities. And the children of Gershon had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities. The children of Merari according to their families had by lot out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities. And the children of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities and their suburbs, as Jehovah commanded through Moses. And they gave out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, these cities which were mentioned by name, and which the children of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites, of the children of Levi had (for theirs was the first lot); and they gave them Kirjath-Arba, [which Arba was] the father of Anak, that is, Hebron, in the mountain of Judah, with its suburbs round about it. But the fields of the city and the hamlets thereof gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession. And they gave to the children of Aaron the priest the city of refuge for the slayer, Hebron and its suburbs; and Libnah and its suburbs, and Jattir and its suburbs, and Eshtemoa and its suburbs, and Holon and its suburbs, and Debir and its suburbs, and Ain and its suburbs, and Juttah and its suburbs, [and] Beth-shemesh and its suburbs: nine cities out of those two tribes; and out of the tribe of Benjamin: Gibeon and its suburbs, Geba and its suburbs, Anathoth and its suburbs, and Almon and its suburbs; four cities. All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities and their suburbs. And to the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites that remained of the children of Kohath, [they gave cities]. And the cities of their lot were out of the tribe of Ephraim, and they gave them the city of refuge for the slayer, Shechem and its suburbs in mount Ephraim; and Gezer and its suburbs, and Kibzaim and its suburbs, and Beth-horon and its suburbs: four cities; and out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh and its suburbs, Gibbethon and its suburbs, Ajalon and its suburbs, Gath-Rimmon and its suburbs: four cities; and out of half the tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and its suburbs and Gath-Rimmon and its suburbs: two cities. All the cities were ten and their suburbs, for the families of the children of Kohath that remained. And to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of half the tribe of Manasseh, [they gave] the city of refuge for the slayer, Golan in Bashan and its suburbs; and Beeshterah and its suburbs: two cities; and out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion and its suburbs, Dabrath and its suburbs, Jarmuth and its suburbs, En-gannim and its suburbs: four cities; and out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal and its suburbs, Abdon and its suburbs, Helkath and its suburbs, and Rehob and its suburbs: four cities; and out of the tribe of Naphtali, the city of refuge for the slayer, Kedesh in Galilee, and its suburbs; and Hammoth-Dor and its suburbs, and Kartan and its suburbs: three cities. All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities and their suburbs. And to the families of the children of Merari, that remained of the Levites, [they gave] out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and its suburbs, Kartah and its suburbs, Dimnah and its suburbs, Nahalal and its suburbs: four cities; and out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer and its suburbs, and Jahzah and its suburbs, Kedemoth and its suburbs, and Mephaath and its suburbs: four cities; and out of the tribe of Gad, the city of refuge for the slayer, Ramoth in Gilead and its suburbs; and Mahanaim and its suburbs, Heshbon and its suburbs, Jaazer and its suburbs: four cities in all. [These were] all the cities of the children of Merari according to their families, which remained of the families of the Levites, and their lot was twelve cities. All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities and their suburbs. Each one of these cities had its suburbs round about it: thus were all these cities.
And when ye shall divide by lot the land for inheritance, ye shall offer a heave-offering unto Jehovah, a holy portion of the land: the length shall be the length of five and twenty thousand [cubits], and the breadth ten thousand. This shall be holy in all the borders thereof round about. Of this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred [reeds] by five hundred, square round about; and fifty cubits round about for the suburbs thereof. And of this measure shalt thou measure the length of five and twenty thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand; and in it shall be the sanctuary, the holy of holies. This is the holy [portion] of the land; it shall be for the priests who do the service of the sanctuary, who draw near to serve Jehovah, and it shall be a place for their houses, and a holy place for the sanctuary. And [a space of] five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth, shall the Levites, who do the service of the house, have for themselves, for a possession, for their habitations. And ye shall appoint the possession of the city five thousand in breadth, and five and twenty thousand in length, alongside of the holy heave-offering: it shall be for the whole house of Israel. And the prince shall have [his portion] on the one side and on the other side of the holy heave-offering and of the possession of the city, over against the holy heave-offering, and over against the possession of the city, from the west side westward, and from the east side eastward; and in length answering to one of the portions [of the tribes] from the west border unto the east border. As land shall it be his for a possession in Israel; and my princes shall no more oppress my people; but they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.
or does he say [it] altogether for our sakes? For for our sakes it has been written, that the plougher should plough in hope, and he that treads out corn, in hope of partaking of [it]. If we have sown to you spiritual things, [is it a] great [thing] if *we* shall reap your carnal things? If others partake of this right over you, should not rather *we*? But we have not used this right, but we bear all things, that we may put no hindrance in the way of the glad tidings of the Christ. Do ye not know that they who labour [at] sacred things eat of the [offerings offered in the] temple; they that attend at the altar partake with the altar? So also the Lord has ordained to those that announce the glad tidings to live of the glad tidings.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Numbers 35
Commentary on Numbers 35 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 35
Nu 35:1-5. Eight and Forty Cities Given to the Levites.
2. give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in—As the Levites were to have no territorial domain allocated to them like the other tribes on the conquest of Canaan, they were to be distributed throughout the land in certain cities appropriated to their use; and these cities were to be surrounded by extensive suburbs. There is an apparent discrepancy between Nu 35:4 and Nu 35:5, with regard to the extent of these suburbs; but the statements in the two verses refer to totally different things—the one to the extent of the suburbs from the walls of the city, the other to the space of two thousand cubits from their extremity. In point of fact, there was an extent of ground, amounting to three thousand cubits, measured from the wall of the city. One thousand were most probably occupied with outhouses for the accommodation of shepherds and other servants, with gardens, vineyards, or oliveyards. And these which were portioned out to different families (1Ch 6:60) might be sold by one Levite to another, but not to any individual of another tribe (Jer 32:7). The other two thousand cubits remained a common for the pasturing of cattle (Le 25:34) and, considering their number, that space would be fully required.
Nu 35:6-8. Cities of Refuge.
6. there shall be six cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer—The establishment of those privileged sanctuaries among the cities of the Levites is probably traceable to the idea, that they would be the most suitable and impartial judges—that their presence and counsels might calm or restrain the stormy passions of the blood avenger—and that, from their being invested with the sacred character, they might be types of Christ, in whom sinners find a refuge from the destroyer (see De 4:43; Jos 20:8).
8. the cities which ye shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel—The burden of furnishing those places for the residence and support of the Levitical order was to fall in equitable proportions upon the different tribes (see Nu 33:54; Jos 20:7).
Nu 35:9-34. The Blood Avenger.
11. that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares—The practice of Goelism, that is, of the nearest relation of an individual who was killed being bound to demand satisfaction from the author of his death, existed from a very remote antiquity (Ge 4:14; 27:45). It seems to have been an established usage in the age of Moses; and although in a rude and imperfect state of society, it is a natural and intelligible principle of criminal jurisprudence, it is liable to many great abuses; the chief of the evils inseparable from it is that the kinsman, who is bound in duty and honor to execute justice, will often be precipitate—little disposed, in the heat of passion or under the impulse of revenge, to examine into the circumstances of the case, to discriminate between the premeditated purpose of the assassin and the misfortune of the unintentional homicide. Moreover, it had a tendency, not only to foster a vindictive spirit, but in case of the Goel being unsuccessful in finding his victim, to transmit animosities and feuds against his descendants from one generation to another. This is exemplified among the Arabs in the present day. Should an Arab of one tribe happen to kill one of another tribe, there is "blood" between the tribes, and the stain can only be wiped out by the death of some individual of the tribe with which the offense originated. Sometimes the penalty is commuted by the payment of a stipulated number of sheep or camels. But such an equivalent, though offered, is as often refused, and blood has to be repaid only by blood. This practice of Goelism obtained among the Hebrews to such an extent that it was not perhaps expedient to abolish it; and Moses, while sanctioning its continuance, was directed, by divine authority, to make some special regulations, which tended both to prevent the unhappy consequences of sudden and personal vengeance, and, at the same time, to afford an accused person time and means of proving his innocence. This was the humane and equitable end contemplated in the institution of cities of refuge. There were to be six of these legalized asyla, three on the east of Jordan, both because the territory there was equal in length, though not in breadth, to Canaan, and because it might be more convenient for some to take refuge across the border. They were appointed for the benefit, not of the native Israelites only, but of all resident strangers.
16-21. If he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, &c.—Various cases are here enumerated in which the Goel or avenger was at liberty to take the life of the murderer; and every one of them proves a premeditated purpose.
22-28. But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without laying of wait, &c.—Under the excitement of a sudden provocation, or violent passion, an injury might be inflicted issuing in death; and for a person who had thus undesignedly committed slaughter, the Levitical cities offered the benefit of full protection. Once having reached the nearest, for one or other of them was within a day's journey of all parts of the land, he was secure. But he had to "abide in it." His confinement within its walls was a wise and salutary rule, designed to show the sanctity of human blood in God's sight, as well as to protect the manslayer himself, whose presence and intercourse in society might have provoked the passions of the deceased's relatives. But the period of his release from this confinement was not until the death of the high priest. That was a season of public affliction, when private sorrows were sunk or overlooked under a sense of the national calamity, and when the death of so eminent a servant of God naturally led all to serious consideration about their own mortality. The moment, however, that the refugee broke through the restraints of his confinement and ventured beyond the precincts of the asylum, he forfeited the privilege, and, if he was discovered by his pursuer, he might be slain with impunity.
29-34. these things shall be for a statute of judgment unto you throughout your generations—The law of the blood-avenger, as thus established by divine authority, was a vast improvement on the ancient practice of Goelism. By the appointment of cities of refuge, the manslayer was saved, in the meantime, from the blind and impetuous fury of vindictive relatives; but he might be tried by the local court, and, if proved guilty on sufficient evidence, condemned and punished as a murderer, without the possibility of deliverance by any pecuniary satisfaction. The enactment of Moses, which was an adaptation to the character and usages of the Hebrew people, secured the double advantage of promoting the ends both of humanity and of justice.