Numbers 34-36

Names of God Bible

The Boundaries of Israel’s Land

34 Yahweh said to Moses, ² “Give the Israelites these instructions. When you enter Canaan, the land that will be given to you as your inheritance has these borders:

³ “The southern side includes part of the Desert of Zin along the border of Edom. In the east the southern border starts from the end of the Dead Sea ⁴ and turns south of the Akrabbim Pass. It then goes past Zin and ends at Kadesh Barnea. From there it goes to Hazar Addar and on to Azmon. ⁵ From Azmon it turns toward the River of Egypt so that the border ends at the Mediterranean Sea.

⁶ “The western border is the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea.

⁷ “The northern border extends from the Mediterranean Sea to Mount Hor, ⁸ and from Mount Hor to the border of Hamath so that it ends at Zedad. ⁹ From there the border goes to Ziphron and ends at Hazar Enan.

¹⁰ “The eastern border extends from Hazar Enan to Shepham. ¹¹ From Shepham the border goes down to Riblah, east of Ain, and continues along the eastern slope of the Sea of Galilee. ¹² Then the border goes along the Jordan River so that it ends at the Dead Sea.

“This will be your land and the borders around it.”

¹³ Moses commanded the Israelites, “This is the land you will divide by drawing lots. Yahweh has commanded that this land will be given to the nine-and-a-half tribes. ¹⁴ The households from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh have already received their land. ¹⁵ Those two-and-a-half tribes received land east of the Jordan River across from Jericho.”

Men Are Appointed to Divide the Land

¹⁶ Yahweh said to Moses, ¹⁷ “These are the names of the men who will divide the land for you: the priest Eleazar and Joshua, son of Nun. ¹⁸ You must also take one leader from each tribe to divide the land. ¹⁹ These are their names:

Caleb, son of Jephunneh, from the tribe of Judah;

²⁰ Shemuel, son of Ammihud, from the tribe of Simeon;

²¹ Elidad, son of Kislon, from the tribe of Benjamin;

²² Bukki, son of Jogli, the leader of the tribe of Dan;

²³ Hanniel, son of Ephod, the leader of the tribe of Manasseh;

²⁴ Kemuel, son of Shiphtan, the leader of the tribe of Ephraim;

(Manasseh and Ephraim are Joseph’s descendants.)^[a]

²⁵ Elizaphan, son of Parnach, the leader of the tribe of Zebulun;

²⁶ Paltiel, son of Azzan, the leader of the tribe of Issachar;

²⁷ Ahihud, son of Shelomi, the leader of the tribe of Asher;

²⁸ Pedahel, son of Ammihud, the leader of the tribe of Naphtali.”

²⁹ These are the men Yahweh commanded to divide Canaan for the Israelites.

Cities for the Levites

35 Yahweh spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab near the Jordan River across from Jericho. He said, ² “Tell the Israelites to give the Levites some cities from their own property. They must also give the Levites the pastureland around those cities. ³ Then the Levites will have cities to live in and pastureland for their cattle, the flocks they own, and any other animals they have.

⁴ “The land around the cities that you give the Levites will extend 1,500 feet from the city wall. ⁵ Outside the city measure off 3,000 feet on the east side, 3,000 feet on the south side, 3,000 feet on the west side, and 3,000 feet on the north side, with the city in the center. This will be their pastureland around the city.

⁶ “Six of the cities you give the Levites will be cities of refuge. You must allow murderers to escape to these cities. In addition, you must also give the Levites 42 other cities. ⁷ So you will give a total of 48 cities with pastureland to the Levites. ⁸ The cities you give the Levites from the property of the other Israelites must be given based on the amount of land each tribe owns. Take more cities from larger tribes and fewer from smaller tribes.”

Cities of Refuge

⁹ Yahweh said to Moses, ¹⁰ “Tell the Israelites: When you cross the Jordan River and enter Canaan, ¹¹ select certain cities to be places of refuge. Anyone who unintentionally kills another person may run to them. ¹² These cities will be places of refuge from any relative who can avenge the death. So anyone accused of murder will not have to die until he has had a trial in front of the community. ¹³ There will be six cities you select as places of refuge, ¹⁴ three on the east side of the Jordan River and three in Canaan. ¹⁵ These six cities will be places of refuge for Israelites, foreigners, and strangers among you. Anyone who unintentionally kills another person may flee to these cities.

¹⁶ “But if any of you uses an iron weapon to kill another person, you are a murderer. Murderers must be put to death. ¹⁷ If any of you picks up a stone as a weapon and uses it to kill another person, you are a murderer. Murderers must be put to death. ¹⁸ Or if any of you picks up a piece of wood as a weapon and uses it to kill another person, you are a murderer. Murderers must be put to death. ¹⁹ The relative who can avenge the death must make sure a murderer is put to death. When he catches up with the murderer, he must kill him. ²⁰ If any of you kills someone you hate by shoving him or by deliberately throwing something at him, ²¹ or if you beat your enemy to death with your bare hands, you must be put to death. You are a murderer. The relative who can avenge the death must kill you when he catches up with you, because you are a murderer.

²² “But suppose you accidentally kill someone who wasn’t your enemy. Maybe you shoved him or threw something at him but didn’t mean to kill him. ²³ Or suppose you drop a big stone, and someone is killed. However, you didn’t know the person was there, he wasn’t your enemy, and you weren’t trying to harm him. ²⁴ Then the community must use these rules in order to decide if you are innocent or if the dead person’s relative can avenge the death. ²⁵ If you are innocent, the community must protect you from that relative. They must take you back to the city of refuge you fled to. You must live there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.

²⁶ “But don’t go outside the city of refuge you fled to. ²⁷ If the relative who can avenge the death finds you outside the city of refuge and kills you, the relative is not guilty of murder. ²⁸ Accused murderers must stay in their city of refuge until the death of the high priest. They may go back to their own property only after his death.

²⁹ “These will be the rules for future generations wherever you live.

³⁰ “Whoever kills another person will be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of more than one witness. No one can be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.

³¹ “Never accept a cash payment in exchange for the life of a convicted murderer who has been given the death penalty. Murderers must be put to death.

³² “An accused murderer who has fled to a city of refuge must never go back and live on his own land before the death of the high priest. Don’t accept a cash payment to allow him to do this.

³³ “You must not pollute the land where you live. Murder is what pollutes the land. The land where a murder was committed can never make peace with the Lord except through the death of the murderer. ³⁴ Never make the land where you and I live unclean.^[b] I, Yahweh, live among the Israelites.”

The Rights of Women to Inherit Land

36 The heads of the households whose families were descended from Gilead, son of Machir and grandson of Manasseh, (families of Joseph’s descendants) came and spoke to Moses and the leaders of the other Israelite households. ² They said, “Sir, Yahweh commanded you to give the Israelites their land by drawing lots. Yahweh also commanded you to give the land of our relative Zelophehad to his daughters. ³ Suppose they marry men from the other tribes of Israel. Their land will be taken away from that of our ancestors and added to the land of the tribe they marry into. Then we will have lost part of our land. ⁴ When the Israelites’ jubilee year comes, their land will be added to that of the tribe they married into. Then part of the land of our ancestors’ tribe will be gone.”

⁵ So Moses gave the Israelites a command from Yahweh. “The tribe of Joseph’s descendants is right. ⁶ This is what Yahweh commands for Zelophehad’s daughters: They may marry anyone they want to, but only within a family of their ancestor’s tribe. ⁷ In this way no land of the Israelites will pass from one tribe to another. Every Israelite must keep the tribal land inherited from his ancestors. ⁸ A woman who inherits land in any of the tribes of Israel may marry a man from any family in her ancestor’s tribe. In this way every Israelite keeps the land inherited from his ancestors. ⁹ No land may pass from one tribe to another. Each Israelite tribe must keep the land it inherits.”

¹⁰ Zelophehad’s daughters did as Yahweh commanded Moses. ¹¹ Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah married their cousins on their father’s side of the family. ¹² They married within the families of the descendants of Manasseh, son of Joseph. So their land stayed in the tribe of their father’s family.

¹³ These are the commands and rules Yahweh gave the Israelites through Moses on the plains of Moab near the Jordan River across from Jericho.