Numbers 35: Towns for the Levites, and the cities of refuge

In plain English: Yahweh spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho, saying,

In plain English: "Command the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the land they inherit. Give the Levites pasture land around the towns as well.

The Hebrew word: "Pasture lands" is migrash, which the dictionary gives as "open country whither flocks are driven from pasture", the open land around a town. This Bible says "pasture" in 68 of its 69 verses. Older Bibles say "suburbs".

In plain English: The towns will be theirs to live in, and the pasture land will be for their livestock, their goods, and all their animals.

In plain English: "The pasture land of the towns that you give to the Levites is to reach out 1,000 cubits from the town wall, all around.

In plain English: Measure outside the town 2,000 cubits on the east side, 2,000 cubits on the south side, 2,000 cubits on the west side, and 2,000 cubits on the north side, with the town in the middle. This will be the pasture land of their towns.

Good to know: Verse 4 gives 1,000 cubits out from the wall, and this verse gives 2,000 cubits on each side. The text does not explain how the two measures fit together, and readers explain it in different ways. A cubit is a length measure: the dictionary gives it as "the fore-arm (below the elbow)".

In plain English: "The towns you give to the Levites are to include the six cities of refuge, which you are to give so that someone who has killed a person (this Bible: the man slayer) can flee there. Besides these, give them 42 towns.

The Hebrew word: "Refuge" is miqlat, which the dictionary gives as "an asylum (as a receptacle)": a place that takes a person in. This Bible says "refuge" in all 20 verses that use it.

Good to know: Joshua 20:7 and 20:8 name the six cities: Kedesh, Shechem and Hebron west of the Jordan, and Bezer, Ramoth in Gilead and Golan east of it.

In plain English: In all you are to give the Levites 48 towns, with their pasture land.

In plain English: The towns you give from the land of the Israelites are to be taken from each tribe by its size: many from a large tribe, few from a small one. Each tribe is to give some of its towns to the Levites, in keeping with the inheritance it receives."

In plain English: Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

In plain English: "Speak to the Israelites and tell them, 'When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

In plain English: choose towns to be cities of refuge for you, so that someone who kills a person by accident (this Bible: unwittingly) can flee there.

The Hebrew word: "Unwittingly" is shegagah, which the dictionary gives as "a mistake or inadvertent transgression". It is the same word used for wrongs done by mistake in Leviticus 4:2. This Bible says "unwittingly" in 11 of the 18 verses that use it.

In plain English: The towns will be a refuge for you from the avenger (or: the next of kin), so that the one who has killed does not die before he stands trial before the community.

The Hebrew word: "Avenger" is go'el, from the verb ga'al, which the dictionary gives as "to be the next of kin (and as such to buy back a relative's property, marry his widow, etc.)".

How it is translated: In Numbers this Bible says "avenger" in 6 of the 7 verses that use the word, and "kinsman" in 1 (5:8). In the whole Bible it says a form of "redeem" in 60 of its 84 verses and "avenger" in 12. The same word is used for the kinsman who buys back a poor relative's land in Leviticus 25:25, and for Boaz in Ruth 3:12.

What changes: Read as "avenger", the word names what this man does here. Read as "next of kin" (or: redeemer), it names who he is: a close relative of the one who died. The text does not say which relative it is.

In plain English: The towns you give will be six cities of refuge for you.

In plain English: Give three towns across the Jordan and three towns in the land of Canaan. They will be cities of refuge.

In plain English: These six towns will be a refuge for the Israelites, and for the foreigner and the settler living among them, so that anyone who kills a person by accident can flee there.

In plain English: "'But if he struck him with something made of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer must be put to death.

The Hebrew word: "Murderer" is rotseach, from ratsach, which the dictionary gives as "properly, to dash in pieces, i.e. kill (a human being), especially to murder". It is the word in "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13).

How it is translated: In Numbers the word is in 14 verses, all in this chapter. This Bible says "man slayer" in 7 of them and "murderer" in the other 7. The Hebrew uses one word for both, and the verses decide the case by how the killing was done.

In plain English: If he struck him with a stone in the hand that could kill a man, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer must be put to death.

In plain English: Or if he struck him with a wooden weapon in the hand that could kill a man, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer must be put to death.

In plain English: The avenger of blood himself is to put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he is to put him to death.

In plain English: If he pushed him out of hatred, or threw something at him while lying in wait, so that he died,

In plain English: or struck him with his hand out of hostility, so that he died, the one who struck him must be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood is to put the murderer to death when he meets him.

In plain English: "'But if he pushed him suddenly, with no hostility, or threw anything at him without lying in wait,

In plain English: or, without seeing him, dropped on him a stone that could kill a man, so that he died, and he was not his enemy and did not mean to harm him,

In plain English: then the community is to judge between the one who struck him and the avenger of blood, by these rules.

In plain English: The community is to rescue the one who killed from the hand of the avenger of blood and send him back to the city of refuge he fled to. He is to live there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

Good to know: The text does not say why the one who killed by accident may go home at the death of the high priest. Jewish and Christian readers have explained it in different ways.

In plain English: "'But if the one who killed ever goes outside the border of the city of refuge he fled to,

In plain English: and the avenger of blood finds him outside the border of his city of refuge and kills him, the avenger will not be guilty of blood (literally: there will be no blood for him),

In plain English: because he should have stayed in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. After the death of the high priest, the one who killed may go back to the land he owns.

In plain English: "'These things will be a rule of law for you through all your generations, wherever you live.

In plain English: "'If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death on the word of witnesses. But one witness alone may not give evidence against anyone to put him to death.

Good to know: The rule that one witness is not enough comes again in Deuteronomy 17:6 and 19:15, and in Matthew 18:16 Jesus says "at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established".

In plain English: "'Do not take a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty and deserves to die. He must be put to death.

The Hebrew word: "Ransom" is kofer, which the dictionary gives as "properly, a cover", and "figuratively, a redemption-price".

In plain English: "'Do not take a ransom for someone who has fled to his city of refuge, to let him go back and live in the land before the death of the priest.

In plain English: "'Do not pollute the land where you live, because blood pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

The Hebrew word: "No atonement can be made" uses kaphar, the word for "make atonement" in Leviticus. The dictionary gives it as "to cover", and also "to expiate" (make up for a wrong) or "to cancel" (see Leviticus 1:4). Read either way, the verse says only the blood of the killer covers (or: cancels) the blood shed in the land.

In plain English: Do not make unclean the land where you live, where I live, because I, Yahweh, live among the Israelites.'"