Forty-Eight Cities for the Levites
(Joshua 21:1–45; 1 Chronicles 6:54–81)
The tribe of Levi received no territory, so...
The tribe of Levi received no territory, so ch 35 describes their allotment of 48 towns dispersed among the territories of Israel’s other tribes (see Josh 21; see also Lev 25:32–34; 1 Chr 13:2; 2 Chr 11:14). Just as the Levites had lived in the center of the Israelite camp during the wilderness period (cp. Num 2:17), in the Promised Land they were to live among the other tribes and have a leavening influence among them (see Deut 33:9–10; 2 Chr 17:7–9; 19:8–11; 35:3). The cities and their surrounding pastureland were not a “homeland” (cp. Num 18:23; 26:62) but only a tiny fraction of the Canaanite territory dispersed among the other tribes.
1Again the LORD spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho: 2“Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance they will possess, cities for the Levites to live in and pasturelands around the cities. 3The cities will be for them to live in, and the pasturelands will be for their herds, their flocks, and all their other livestock.
Readers have long attempted to explain the alleged...
Readers have long attempted to explain the alleged contradiction between the 1,500 feet and the 3,000 feet. If the Hebrews conceived of a town as a fixed point, then the square of territory around each town would measure 3,000 feet on each side. Another solution is to see a distinction between pastureland (35:4) and larger pastureland (35:5) around the town. On the basis of this text, some Jewish interpreters restricted the distance that one could walk on the Sabbath to 3,000 feet (2,000 cubits) from home.
4The pasturelands around the cities you are to give the Levites will extend a thousand cubits† from the wall on every side. 5You are also to measure two thousand cubits† outside the city on the east, two thousand on the south, two thousand on the west, and two thousand on the north, with the city in the center. These areas will serve as larger pasturelands for the cities.
Six of the Levites’ towns had a special...
Six of the Levites’ towns had a special purpose as cities of refuge, places where a person who has accidentally killed someone can flee for safety. This unusual institution illustrates the humanitarian aspect of Hebrew law (see also Deut 4:41–43; 19:1–13; Josh 20). These six Levitical towns provided a safe haven in cases of accidental or involuntary manslaughter (cp. Exod 21:12–14). Just as the forty-eight Levite towns were widely distributed across Israel’s territories, the six cities of refuge were dispersed so they would be widely accessible (see Josh 20:7–8). These designated settlements supplemented the role of the altar as a temporary place of asylum (e.g., 1 Kgs 1:50–53; 2:28–34; cp. Exod 21:14). Other ancient peoples provided special places of asylum or refuge, often at the altar (see Exod 21:12–14; 1 Kgs 2:28–34), but only ancient Israel established whole settlements as places of sanctuary, reflecting a special interest in social justice.
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. 7The total number of cities you give the Levites will be forty-eight, with their corresponding pasturelands. 8The cities that you apportion from the territory of the Israelites should be given to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one.”
Six Cities of Refuge
(Deuteronomy 4:41–43; Deuteronomy 19:1–14; Joshua 20:1–9)
9Then the LORD said to Moses, 10“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11designate cities to serve as your cities of refuge, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there. 12You are to have these cities as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer will not die until he stands trial before the assembly.
13The cities you select will be your six cities of refuge. 14Select three cities across the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan as cities of refuge.
The Old Testament makes a clear distinction between...
- The Old Testament makes a clear distinction between deliberate murder and involuntary manslaughter (35:11, 22–23; Exod 21:12–14; cp. Num 15:22–31). Murder required a penalty of execution, but an accidental death did not. The cities of refuge provided protection only for those who killed another person by accident.
- The use of a weapon was proof of malicious intent.
15These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or stranger among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.
16If, however, anyone strikes a person with an iron object and kills him, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death. 17Or if anyone has in his hand a stone of deadly size, and he strikes and kills another, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death. 18If anyone has in his hand a deadly object of wood, and he strikes and kills another, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death.
19The avenger of blood is to put the murderer to death; when he finds him, he is to kill him.
20Likewise, if anyone maliciously pushes another or intentionally throws an object at him and kills him, 21or if in hostility he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death; he is a murderer. When the avenger of blood finds the murderer, he is to kill him.
Here are some instances in which a victim...
Here are some instances in which a victim died but was not murdered through an intentional act of violence. The cities of refuge were created as places of safety for people who were responsible for such accidental deaths.
22But if anyone pushes a person suddenly, without hostility, or throws an object at him unintentionally, 23or without looking drops a heavy stone that kills him, but he was not an enemy and did not intend to harm him,
If the slayer was cleared of the murder...
- If the slayer was cleared of the murder charge in his trial or hearing before the community (cp. Deut 19:11–12), he had to remain in the city of refuge to which he fled, and the avenger was not supposed to seek revenge, because the slayer was not guilty of murder.
- until the death of the high priest: The priest’s death probably provided a kind of expiation for the blood that had been shed; even though the slayer was innocent of murder, human bloodshed had polluted the land (Num 35:33; cp. Gen 4:10–11).
24then the congregation must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. 25The assembly is to protect the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge to which he fled, and he must live there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
The killer (manslayer) had to stay in a...
The killer (manslayer) had to stay in a special city (called a "city of refuge") as a consequence for the death he had caused. He had to stay in a city of refuge until he or the high priest died. After the high priest's death, the manslayer could return home, and the avenger of blood could not take revenge.
26But if the manslayer ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he fled 27and the avenger of blood finds him outside of his city of refuge and kills him, then the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed, 28because the manslayer must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Only after the death of the high priest may he return to the land he owns. 29This will be a statutory ordinance for you for the generations to come, wherever you live.
30If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death on the testimony of the witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of a lone witness.
The payment of a ransom (monetary compensation) to...
The payment of a ransom (monetary compensation) to free a convicted murderer from execution was prohibited, since the death penalty was required (cp. 2 Sam 21:2–9). Similarly, the slayer in an involuntary manslaughter could not pay a ransom to get around his confinement in a city of refuge.
31You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who deserves to die; he must surely be put to death. 32Nor should you accept a ransom for the person who flees to a city of refuge and allow him to return and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.
33Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. 34Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell. For I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.”