no satisfaction = no ransom. Compare Psalms 49:7 . Only God can redeem (Numbers 35:15 ). life = soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13 . which is guilty of death = if he has unlawfully caused death: "guilty" being put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Effect), App-6 , for the crime which has caused it. Hebrew "wicked, to die". read more
priest: i.e. the high priest. Some codices, with Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, and Syriac, read it so, as in Numbers 35:28 . read more
wherein ye are. Some codices, with Samaritan Pentateuch, Syriac, and Vulgate, read "wherein ye are dwelling". blood: i.e. blood unlawfully shed. him that shed it. Compare Genesis 9:6 . read more
Numbers 35:31. Ye shall take no satisfaction, &c.— See Gen 9:6 and Leviticus 24:20. Lord Clarendon, upon this and the 33rd verse, observes, that there is no established government in Christendom where the pardon of murder is not against the law. read more
Cities of refuge 35:9-34Six of these Levitical towns were also cities of refuge.The appointment of cities of refuge was a divine provision for the safety of a killer who was not guilty of premeditated murder (cf. Deuteronomy 19:1-13; Joshua 20). God had told the Israelites not to murder (Exodus 20:13). The right and duty of man to execute murderers was ancient (Genesis 4:15; Genesis 9:5-6). Ancient Near Easterners practiced capital punishment widely as part of the law of retaliation. The Mosaic... read more
The Levitical Cities. The Cities of Refugie1-8. The Levitical Cities.The tribe of Levi received no part of the land of Canaan as their inheritance (Numbers 18:20-24; Numbers 26:62). By way of compensation they received the tithes for their support (Numbers 18:21). It is here further provided that 48 cities with their suburbs be allotted to them out of the inheritance of the other tribes, for the maintenance of themselves and their herds. The carrying out of this injunction is recorded in Joshua... read more
(31, 32) Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer . . . —The Israelites were not allowed to make terms with the relatives of the man who had been slain, as is not unfrequently the case at the present time; nor were they permitted to allow the man who had slain any one unintentionally to return home from the city of refuge before the death of the high priest, on the payment of a sum of money by way of compensation. read more
Jesus Christ Our Refuge Numbers 35:6 I. The Cities of Refuge were so placed, three on either side of Jordan, that they provided the greatest possible readiness of access. The devout imagination has always pictured for the cities conditions almost ideal in character. The gates of the cities, like those of the New Jerusalem, were to be kept always open, both day and night. The refugee, whether an Israelite or a stranger, was safe the moment he entered the gate of the city of refuge. This... read more
THE CITIES OF REFUGENumbers 35:1-34; Numbers 36:1-131. THE INHERITANCE OF THE LEVITESThe order relating to the Levitical cities may be said to describe an ideal settlement. We have, at all events, no evidence that the command was ever fully carried out. It was to the effect that in forty-eight cities, scattered throughout the whole of the tribes in proportion to their population, dwellings were to be allotted to the Levites, who were also to have the suburbs of those cities; that is to say, the... read more
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Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Numbers 35:1-34
Cities for the Levites (35:1-34)Levi had no tribal area of its own, but received cities, with surrounding pasture lands, in each of the other tribes. There were forty-eight Levitical cities, the number in each tribe being in proportion to the size of the tribe. This ensured that those responsible for teaching God’s law to the people were evenly scattered throughout Israel (35:1-8).Among these forty-eight cities were six cities of refuge, three west of Jordan and three east. These were cities... read more