Numbers 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.