Numbers 35:11
in Numbers 35designate cities to serve as your cities of refuge, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer that killeth any person unwittingly may flee thither.
KJV
Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares.
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This verse in Numbers 35
Commentary
6 notes on this verseYe shall appoint - cities of refuge - The cities of refuge among the Israelites were widely different from the asyla among the Greeks and Romans, as also from the privileged altars among the Roman Catholics. Those among the Hebrews were for the protection of such only as had slain a person involuntarily. The temples and altars among the latter often served for the protection of the most profligate characters.
This site's exposition
the Lord spake unto Moses, saying
on Numbers 35:9-11
A second speech opens and it legislates for a country Israel has not entered, when ye be come over Jordan into the land of Canaan. The protection is fenced by two words, at unawares, which is the category of the sin of ignorance at Leviticus 4:2, so the city covers the accident and never the deed. Adam Clarke sets this beside the Greek and Roman asylum and the sanctuary altars of later centuries, which sheltered whoever reached them, and marks that difference as what makes these six cities a law rather than a hiding place.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Then ye shall appoint your cities to be cities of refuge for you,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2621: “The Sinner's Refuge” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
YOU are aware that the principle of blood-revenge is a deep-seated one in the Eastern mind. From the earliest ages it was always the custom with the Orientals, when a man was murdered, or slain without malice aforethought, for the nearest relative, his heir, or any person related to him, to take revenge for him upon the person who, either intentionally or unintentionally, was the means of his death. This revenge was a very special thing to the Oriental mind.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2621: “The Sinner's Refuge” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
YOU are aware that the principle of blood-revenge is a deep-seated one in the Eastern mind. From the earliest ages it was always the custom with the Orientals, when a man was murdered, or slain without malice aforethought, for the nearest relative, his heir, or any person related to him, to take revenge for him upon the person who, either intentionally or unintentionally, was the means of his death. This revenge was a very special thing to the Oriental mind. The avenger of blood would hunt his victim for 40 years—yes, until he died, if he was not able to reach him before—and would be on his trail all his life, that he might slay him. It was not necessary that the manslayer should have any trial before a judge— his victim was dead and if the one who killed him was not put to death, it was reckoned among some tribes to be legitimate to kill his father, or indeed any member of his tribe—and until someone in that tribe was put to death, as a revenge for the man who had been slain, by accident or otherwise, a deadly feud existed between the two clans which never could be quenched except by blood. Now, when the Lord gave to the Jews this Law concerning the cities of refuge, he took advantage of their deep-rooted love towards the system of the revenge of blood by the nearest relative. God acted wisely in this, as He has done in all things. There are two matters mentioned in Scripture which I do not believe God ever approved, but which, finding they were deep-seated, He did not forbid to the Jews. One was polygamy, the practice of marrying many wives had become so established that, though God abhorred it, yet He permitted it to the Jews because He foresaw that they would inevitably have broken the commandment if He had made an ordinance that they should have but one wife.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
מגאל — [AND THE CITIES SHALL BE UNTO YOU AS A REFUGE] מגאל — i.e. as a refuge on account of the avenger of blood, — he who is the near relative of the murdered man.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהִקְרִיתֶ֤ם | vehikritem | and you will make happen | H7136 → | 27 times |
| לָכֶם֙ | lakhem | to <the> yourselves | ||
| עָרִ֔ים | ʾarim | cities | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| עָרֵ֥י | ʾarei | cities of | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| מִקְלָ֖ט | miklat | refuge | H4733 → | 20 times |
| תִּהְיֶ֣ינָה | tihyeinah | they will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לָכֶ֑ם | lakhem | for <the> you | ||
| וְנָ֥ס | venas | and he will flee | H5127 → | 159 times |
| שָׁ֙מָּה֙ | shamah | there towards | H8033 → | 834 times |
| רֹצֵ֔חַ | rotzeach | a killer | H7523 → | 47 times |
| מַכֵּה־ | makeh- | [who] has struck down | H5221 → | 499 times |
| נֶ֖פֶשׁ | nefesh | <of> a person | H5315 → | 754 times |
| בִּשְׁגָגָֽה׃ | bishgagah | by inadvertence | H7684 → | 19 times |
וְהִקְרִיתֶ֤םand you will make happen
vehikritemH7136 →27 times
לָכֶם֙to <the> yourselves
lakhem
עָרִ֔יםcities
ʾarimH5892 →1090 times
עָרֵ֥יcities of
ʾareiH5892 →1090 times
מִקְלָ֖טrefuge
miklatH4733 →20 times
תִּהְיֶ֣ינָהthey will be
tihyeinahH1961 →3559 times
לָכֶ֑םfor <the> you
lakhem
וְנָ֥סand he will flee
venasH5127 →159 times
שָׁ֙מָּה֙there towards
shamahH8033 →834 times
רֹצֵ֔חַa killer
rotzeachH7523 →47 times
מַכֵּה־[who] has struck down
makeh-H5221 →499 times
נֶ֖פֶשׁ<of> a person
nefeshH5315 →754 times
בִּשְׁגָגָֽה׃by inadvertence
bishgagahH7684 →19 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Joshua 20:2“Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses,
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:41–43
Then Moses set aside three cities across the Jordan to the east
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 19:2–13
then you are to set apart for yourselves three cities within the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.
- Numbers 35:6
Six of the cities you give the Levites are to be appointed as cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. In addition to these, give the Levites forty-two other cities.
- Numbers 35:11–24
designate cities to serve as your cities of refuge, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there.
- Deuteronomy 4:41–43
Through
Exodus 21:13If, however, he did not lie in wait, but God allowed it to happen, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.
it leads to
- Joshua 20:2–9
“Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses,
- 1 Samuel 24:18
And you have shown this day how well you have dealt with me; for when the LORD delivered me into your hand, you did not kill me.
- 1 Samuel 24:10
Behold, this day you have seen with your own eyes that the LORD delivered you into my hand in the cave. I was told to kill you, but I spared you and said, ‘I…
- Joshua 20:2–9
Through
Numbers 35:6Six of the cities you give the Levites are to be appointed as cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. In addition to these, give the Levites forty-two other cities.
it leads to
- Joshua 21:3
So by the command of the LORD, the Israelites gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands out of their own inheritance:
- Joshua 21:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2621: “The Sinner's Refuge” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.