Numbers 35 · WEB
Levitical Cities and Cities of Refuge
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Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,
2"Command the children of Israel to give to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in. You shall give suburbs for the cities around them to the Levites.
3The cities shall they have to dwell in. Their suburbs shall be for their livestock, for their property, and for all their animals.
4The suburbs of the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be from the wall of the city and outward one thousand cubits around it.
5You shall measure outside of the city on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, with the city in the middle. This shall be the suburbs of their cities.
6The cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge which you shall give for the man slayer to flee to. In addition to them you shall give forty-two cities.
7All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities with their suburbs.
8Concerning the cities which you shall give from the possession of the children of Israel, from the larger tribe you shall give many, and from the smaller tribe you shall give few; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites according to his inheritance which he inherits."
9Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
10"Speak to the children of Israel and tell them, 'When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
11then you shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the man slayer who kills any person accidentally may flee there.
12The cities shall be to you for refuge from the avenger, that the man slayer not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.
13Of the cities which you shall give, there shall be six cities of refuge for you.
14You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan. They shall be cities of refuge.
15These six cities shall be for refuge for the children of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that everyone who kills any person accidentally may flee there.
16But if he struck him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death.
17If he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death.
18Or if he struck him with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death.
19The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death.
20If he thrust him out of hatred, or threw at him lying in wait, so that he died,
21or in enmity struck him with his hand, so that he died; he who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
22But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything at him without lying in wait,
23or with any stone by which a man may die, without seeing him, and threw it at him so that he died, and he was not his enemy and was not seeking his injury;
24then the congregation shall judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances.
25The congregation shall deliver the man slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge where he had fled. He shall dwell in it until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
26But if the man slayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge where he fled,
27and the avenger of blood finds him outside of the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the man slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood,
28because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the man slayer shall return to the land of his possession.
29These things shall be for a statute and ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
30Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the testimony of witnesses; but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.
31Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; but he shall surely be put to death.
32You shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may come home again before the death of the high priest.
33So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land. No expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him who shed it.
34You shall not defile the land which you inhabit, in the middle of which I dwell; for I, Yahweh, dwell in the middle of the children of Israel.' "
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Summary
God commands Israel to give the Levites 48 cities distributed throughout all the tribal territories (since they have no tribal land), with surrounding pasture land for their livestock. Six of these cities are designated as "cities of refuge" — three on each side of the Jordan — where someone who accidentally kills another person can flee from blood vengeance until a fair trial. The chapter carefully distinguishes between premeditated murder (for which death is the only penalty) and accidental manslaughter (for which the city of refuge provides protection until the high priest's death).
Themes
- Justice that distinguishes between intentional and unintentional acts
- Mercy as a structural feature of Israel's legal system
- The high priest's death as a source of release — typologically pointing to Christ
- God's dwelling in the land requiring the land to be kept holy
- The Levites as a distributed priestly presence across all Israel
Key verses
- Num 35:11-12 — “You shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the man slayer who kills any person accidentally may flee there. The cities shall be to you for refuge from the avenger, that the man slayer not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.”
- Num 35:25 — “The congregation shall deliver the man slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge where he had fled. He shall dwell in it until the death of the high priest.”
- Num 35:34 — “You shall not defile the land which you inhabit, in the middle of which I dwell; for I, Yahweh, dwell in the middle of the children of Israel.”
Context & background
The 48 Levitical cities, distributed across all twelve tribal territories of Canaan (modern Israel/Palestine) and Transjordan (modern Jordan), ensured that priests and Levites were never far from any Israelite community. The six cities of refuge represented a remarkable legal innovation in the ancient world: a formal asylum system that interrupted the cycle of blood vengeance and ensured due process. The provision that an accidental killer is freed when the high priest dies is theologically profound — early Christian interpreters saw the high priest's death as bearing a substitutionary release, directly anticipating Christ as the high priest whose death sets the captive free (Heb 6:18-20). The requirement for two or more witnesses to convict reflects the seriousness of capital punishment and anticipates the later Deuteronomic law (Deut 17:6).
Cross-references
- Deut 19:1-13 — The cities of refuge repeated for life in Canaan, with further regulations
- Heb 6:18-20 — Christ as our refuge: "We who have fled for refuge might have a strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us... as an anchor of the soul"
- Josh 20 — The six cities of refuge are identified and established as commanded here
- Ps 46:1 — "God is our refuge and strength" — the theological principle behind the cities of refuge
- Rom 8:1 — "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus" — the ultimate refuge from judgment