Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them ,.... Now, directly: when ye come over Jordan into the land of Canaan ; as they quickly would, being now very near it, and of which there was the utmost certainty, since the Lord had promised to bring them over that river, and put them in possession of that land. read more
Then ye shall appoint your cities to be cities of refuge for you ,.... And, according to the Jewish writers F9 Maimon. Rotzeach, c. 8. sect. 8. Vid. T. Bab. Maccot, fol. 10. 1. , these were neither to be made large nor little, but middling; and they appointed them where there were markets and fairs, at which goods were to be sold; and where there was plenty of water, and a multitude of people; and where there were but few, they fetched others from other places; and they neither made... read more
And they shall be unto you cities of refuge from the avenger ,.... Or near kinsman; for as the right of redemption of an estate that was mortgaged belonged to such an one, so of revenging the blood of any one that was killed: that the manslayer die not ; by the hand of the avenger, who in the heat of his passion would, could he come at him, fall upon him, and slay him, to avenge the death of his relation on him: until he stand before the congregation in judgment ; before the court of... read more
And of these cities which ye shall give ,.... Of the forty eight cities they were to give to the Levites, Numbers 35:7 , six cities shall ye have for refuge ; which, I think, makes it clear, that not all the forty eight cities were for refuge, only six of them. read more
Ye shall give three cites on this side Jordan ,.... Which were Bezer in the wilderness, out of the tribe of Reuben; and Ramoth in Gilead, out of the tribe of Gad; and Golan in Bashan, out of the tribe of Manasseh, Joshua 20:8 , and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan : which were Kadesh in Galilee, in Mount Naphtali; Shechem in Mount Ephraim; and Kirjatharba, or Hebron, in the mountain of Judah, Joshua 20:7 . which shall be cities of refuge ; the three on the other... read more
These six cities shall be a refuge both for the children of Israel and for the stranger ,.... For an Israelite, and a proselyte of righteousness, one that embraced the Jewish religion, and in all things conformed to it, and to whom there was but one law in things civil and religious: and for the sojourner among you ; the proselyte of the gate, who renounced idolatry, and observed the commands of the sons of Noah, but in other things did not comply with the Jewish ceremonies, yet had the... read more
And the suburbs of the cities - shall reach from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round about. read more
And ye shall measure from without the city - two thousand cubits, etc. - Commentators have been much puzzled with the accounts in these two verses. In Numbers 35:4 ; the measure is said to be 1,000 cubits from the wall; in Numbers 35:5 ; the measure is said to be 2,000 from without the city. It is likely these two measures mean the same thing; at least so it was understood by the Septuagint and Coptic, who have δισχιλιους πηχεις , 2,000 cubits, in the fourth, as well as in the fifth... read more
Ye 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. Cities of refuge among the Hebrews were necessary, because the old patriarchal law... read more
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John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 35:9
And the Lord spake unto Moses ,.... At the same time, or he continued his speech unto him: saying : as follows. read more