Numbers 35
New English Translation
The Levitical Cities
35 [a] Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the rift valley plains[b] of Moab along the Jordan near Jericho. He said: 2 “Instruct the Israelites to give[c] the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites[d] will possess. You must also give the Levites grazing land around the towns. 3 Thus they will have towns in which to live, and their grazing lands will be for their cattle, for their possessions, and for all their animals. 4 The grazing lands around the towns that you will give to the Levites must extend to a distance of 500 yards[e] from the town wall.
5 “You must measure[f] from outside the wall of the town on the east 1,000 yards,[g] and on the south side 1,000 yards, and on the west side 1,000 yards, and on the north side 1,000 yards, with the town in the middle.[h] This territory must belong to them as grazing land for the towns. 6 Now from these towns that you will give to the Levites you must select six towns of refuge to which a person who has killed someone may flee.[i] And you must give them forty-two other towns.
7 “So the total of the towns you will give the Levites is forty-eight. You must give these together with their grazing lands. 8 The towns you will give must be from the possession of the Israelites. From the larger tribes you must give more; and from the smaller tribes fewer. Each must contribute some of its own towns to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance allocated to each.
The Cities of Refuge
9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you cross over the Jordan River[j] into the land of Canaan, 11 you must then designate some towns as towns of refuge for you, to which a person who has killed someone unintentionally may flee. 12 And they must stand as your towns of refuge from the avenger in order that the killer may not die until he has stood trial before the community. 13 These towns that you must give shall be your six towns for refuge.
14 “‘You must give three towns on this side of the Jordan, and you must give three towns in the land of Canaan; they must be towns of refuge. 15 These six towns will be places of refuge for the Israelites, and for the resident foreigner, and for the settler among them, so that anyone who kills any person accidentally may flee there.
16 “‘But if he hits someone with an iron tool so that he dies,[k] he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. 17 If he strikes him by throwing a stone large enough that he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. 18 Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon so that he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. 19 The avenger[l] of blood himself must kill the murderer; when he meets him, he must kill him.
20 “‘But if he strikes him out of hatred or throws something at him intentionally[m] so that he dies, 21 or with enmity he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death, for he is a murderer. The avenger of blood must kill the murderer when he meets him.
22 “But if he strikes him suddenly, without enmity, or throws anything at him unintentionally, 23 or with any stone large enough that a man could die, without seeing him, and throws it at him, and he dies, even though he was not his enemy nor sought his harm, 24 then the community must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these decisions. 25 The community must deliver the slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the community must restore him to the town of refuge to which he fled, and he must live there[n] until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the consecrated oil. 26 But if the slayer at any time goes outside the boundary of the town to which he had fled, 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the borders of the town of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the slayer, he will not be guilty of blood, 28 because the slayer[o] should have stayed in his town of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the slayer may return to the land of his possessions. 29 So these things must be a statutory ordinance[p] for you throughout your generations, in all the places where you live.
30 “Whoever kills any person, the murderer must be put to death by the testimony[q] of witnesses, but one witness cannot[r] testify against any person to cause him to be put to death. 31 Moreover, you must not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; he must surely be put to death. 32 And you must not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a town of refuge, to allow him to return home and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.[s]
33 “‘You must not pollute the land where you live, for blood defiles the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed there, except by the blood of the person who shed it. 34 Therefore do not defile the land that you will inhabit, in which I live, for I the Lord live among the Israelites.’”
Footnotes
- Numbers 35:1 sn This section has two main parts, the Levitical cities (vv. 1-8) and the Cities of Refuge (vv. 9-34).
- Numbers 35:1 sn This is the area of the rift valley basin to the north of the Dead Sea and east of the Jordan. See the note at Num 21:1.
- Numbers 35:2 tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive: “command…and they will give,” or “that they give.”
- Numbers 35:2 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Numbers 35:4 tn Heb “1,000 cubits.” The standard cubit in the OT is assumed by most authorities to be about 18 inches (45 cm) in length, so this would be a distance of 1,500 feet or 500 yards (457.2 meters).
- Numbers 35:5 tn The verb is the Qal perfect of מָדַד (madad, “to measure”). With its vav (ו) consecutive it carries the same instructional force as the imperfect.
- Numbers 35:5 tn Heb “2,000 cubits” (also three more times in this verse). This would be a distance of 3,000 feet or 1,000 yards (914.4 meters).
- Numbers 35:5 sn The precise nature of the layout described here is not altogether clear. V. 4 speaks of the distance from the wall as being 500 yards; v. 5, however, describes measurements of 1,000 yards. Various proposals have been made in order to harmonize vv. 4 and 5. P. J. Budd, Numbers (WBC), 376, makes the following suggestion: “It may be best to assume that the cubits of the Levitical pasture lands are cubit frontages of land—in other words on each side of the city there was a block of land with a frontage of 2,000 cubits (v 5), and a depth of 1000 cubits (v 4).”
- Numbers 35:6 tn The “manslayer” is the verb “to kill” in a participial form, providing the subject of the clause. The verb means “to kill”; it can mean accidental killing, premeditated killing, or capital punishment. The clause uses the infinitive to express purpose or result: “to flee there the manslayer,” means “so that the manslayer may flee there.”
- Numbers 35:10 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Numbers 35:16 tn the verb is the preterite of “die.” The sentence has: “if…he strikes him and he dies.” The vav (ו) consecutive is showing the natural result of the blow.
- Numbers 35:19 tn The participle גֹּאֵל (goʾel) is the one who protects the family by seeking vengeance for a crime. This is the same verb used for levirate marriages and other related customs.
- Numbers 35:20 tn The Hebrew text is more vivid: “by lying in wait.”
- Numbers 35:25 tn Heb “in it.”
- Numbers 35:28 tn Heb “he.”
- Numbers 35:29 tn Heb “a statute of judgment” (so KJV).
- Numbers 35:30 tn Heb “at the mouth of”; the metonymy stresses it is at their report.
- Numbers 35:30 tn The verb should be given the nuance of imperfect of potentiality.
- Numbers 35:32 tn Heb “the priest.” The Greek and the Syriac have “high priest.” The present translation, along with many English versions, uses “high priest” as a clarification.
Numbers 35
Expanded Bible
The Levites’ Towns
35 The Lord spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab across from Jericho by the Jordan River. He said, 2 “Command the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] to give the Levites cities to live in from the ·land [L possession] they ·receive [L inherit]. Also give the Levites the pastureland around these cities. 3 Then the Levites will have cities where they may live and pastureland for their cattle, flocks, and other animals. 4 The pastureland you give the Levites will extend ·fifteen hundred feet [L a thousand cubits] from the city wall. 5 Also measure ·three thousand feet [L two thousand cubits] in each direction outside the city wall—·three thousand feet [L two thousand cubits] east of the city, ·three thousand feet [L two thousand cubits] south of the city, ·three thousand feet [L two thousand cubits] west of the city, and ·three thousand feet [L two thousand cubits] north of the city, with the city in the center. This will be pastureland for the Levites’ cities.
Cities of Safety
6 “Six of the cities you give the Levites will be cities of ·safety [refuge]. A person who accidentally kills someone may run to one of those cities for ·safety [refuge]. You must also give forty-two other cities to the Levites; 7 give the Levites a total of forty-eight cities and their pastures. 8 The larger tribes of ·Israel [L the sons/T children of Israel] must give more cities, and the smaller tribes must give fewer cities. Each tribe must give some of its cities to the Levites, but the number of cities they give will depend on the size of their land.”
9 Then the Lord said to Moses, 10 “Tell the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] these things: ‘When you cross the Jordan River and go into Canaan, 11 you must choose cities to be cities of ·safety [refuge], so that a person who ·accidentally [unintentionally] kills someone may run to them for ·safety [refuge]. 12 There the person will be safe from the dead person’s ·relative who has the duty of punishing the killer [avenger; near-kinsman]. He will not die before he ·receives a fair trial in court [L stands before the community/assembly/congregation for judgment]. 13 The six cities you give will be cities of ·safety [refuge]. 14 Give three cities ·east of [L beyond] the Jordan River and three cities in Canaan as cities of ·safety [refuge]. 15 These six cities will be places of ·safety [refuge] for ·citizens [L sons; T children] of Israel, as well as for ·foreigners [resident aliens] and ·other people living with you [tenants]. Any of these people who ·accidentally [unintentionally] kills someone may run to one of these cities.
16 “‘Anyone who uses an iron weapon to ·kill [L strike] someone is a murderer. He must be put to death. 17 Anyone who takes a rock and ·kills [L strikes] a person with it is a murderer. He must be put to death. 18 Anyone who picks up a piece of wood and ·kills [L strikes] someone with it is a murderer. He must be put to death. 19 A ·relative of the dead person [near-relative; avenger of blood] must put the murderer to death; when they meet, the relative must kill the murderer. 20 A person might shove someone out of hatred or throw something at someone while lying in wait and cause death. 21 Or a person might ·hit [L strike] someone with his hand and cause death. If it were done from hate, the person is a murderer and must be put to death. A ·relative of the dead person [near-relative; avenger of blood] must kill the murderer when they meet.
22 “‘But a person might suddenly shove someone, and not from hatred. Or a person might ·accidentally [without lying in wait] throw something and ·hit [L strike] someone. 23 Or a person might drop a rock on someone he couldn’t see and kill that person. There was no plan to hurt anyone and ·no hatred for the one who was killed [L they were not enemies]. 24 If that happens, the ·community [assembly; congregation] must judge between the ·relative of the dead person [near-relative; avenger of blood] and the ·killer [L striker], according to these rules. 25 ·They [L The community/assembly/congregation] must protect the killer from the ·dead person’s relative [near-relative; avenger of blood], sending the killer back to the original city of ·safety [refuge], to stay there until the high priest dies (the high priest ·had the holy oil poured on him [was anointed with holy oil]).
26 “‘Such a person must never go outside the limits of the city of ·safety [refuge]. 27 If a ·relative of the dead person [near-relative; avenger of blood] finds the killer outside the city, the ·relative [near-relative; avenger of blood] may kill that person and ·not be guilty of murder [L there will be no bloodguilt]. 28 The killer must stay in the city of ·safety [refuge] until the high priest dies. After the high priest dies, the killer may ·go home [L return to the land of his possession].
29 “‘These ·laws [L statutes/ordinances/requirements and judgments] are for you ·from now on [L throughout your generations], wherever you live.
30 “‘If anyone ·kills [L strikes] a person, the murderer may be put to death only if there are witnesses. No one may be put to death with only one witness.
31 “‘Don’t take ·money to spare the life of [ransom for] a murderer who should be put to death. A murderer must be put to death.
32 “‘If someone has run to a city of ·safety [refuge], don’t take money to let the person go back home before the high priest dies.
33 “‘Don’t let murder ·spoil [pollute; defile] your land. The only way to ·remove the sin [atone for] of killing an innocent person is for the murderer to be put to death. 34 I am the Lord, and I live among the Israelites. I live in that land with you, so do not ·spoil [pollute; defile] it with murder.’”
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.