Numbers 35 · Kingdoms of Scripture

1Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan of Jericho, saying,

2Command the sons of Israel, and they shall give to the Levites, from the inheritance of their holding, cities to live in. Open land around the cities you shall give to the Levites.

Notes (1)

Translation
Migrash is the open land around a city, as in Leviticus 25. Achuzzah is a holding.

3The cities shall be theirs to live in, and their open lands shall be for their livestock, for their goods, and for all their animals.

4The open lands of the cities that you give to the Levites shall be, from the wall of the city and outward, a thousand cubits all around.

5You shall measure outside the city the east side, two thousand cubits, the south side, two thousand cubits, the west side, two thousand cubits, and the north side, two thousand cubits, with the city in the middle. This shall be the open lands of the cities for them.

Notes (1)

Text
Verse 4 says one thousand cubits around, from the city wall outward. This verse says two thousand cubits on each of the four sides, the city in the middle. Both measures are printed. Neither is changed to match the other. A cubit is not converted.

6The cities that you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the killer to flee there, and besides them you shall give forty-two cities.

7All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities, them and their open lands.

8The cities that you give from the holding of the sons of Israel, from the many you shall give more, and from the few you shall give fewer. Each, according to his inheritance that they inherit, shall give from his cities to the Levites.

9Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

10Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

11you shall appoint cities for yourselves. They shall be cities of refuge for you, and a killer who strikes a person by mistake shall flee there.

Notes (1)

Translation
Ir miqlat is a city of refuge. Bishgagah is by mistake. Nefesh here is a person.

12The cities shall be a refuge for you from the redeemer, and the killer shall not die until he stands before the congregation for the judgment.

Notes (1)

Translation
Goel is the redeemer, the relative who takes up the blood. This verse does not add “of the blood.” Verse 19 does. See the glossary.

13The cities that you give, six cities of refuge shall they be for you.

14Three of the cities you shall give across the Jordan, and three of the cities you shall give in the land of Canaan. They shall be cities of refuge.

15For the sons of Israel, for the sojourner, and for the settler among them, these six cities shall be for refuge, so that anyone who strikes a person by mistake may flee there.

Notes (1)

Translation
Ger is a sojourner. Toshav is a settler, one living among them.

16If he struck him with an iron tool and he died, he is a killer. The killer shall surely be put to death.

17If with a stone in the hand, by which a person may die, he struck him and he died, he is a killer. The killer shall surely be put to death.

18Or if with a wooden tool in the hand, by which a person may die, he struck him and he died, he is a killer. The killer shall surely be put to death.

19The redeemer of the blood, he shall put the killer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death.

20If in hatred he pushed him, or threw something on him from ambush, and he died,

Notes (1)

Translation
Tzediyyah is an ambush, a lying in wait. The same word is in verses 21 and 22.

21or in enmity he struck him with his hand and he died, the one who struck shall surely be put to death. He is a killer. The redeemer of the blood shall put the killer to death when he meets him.

22But if suddenly, without enmity, he pushed him, or threw any tool on him without ambush,

23or with any stone by which a person may die, without seeing, and he made it fall on him and he died, and he was not his enemy and was not seeking his harm,

24the congregation shall judge between the one who struck and the redeemer of the blood, by these rules.

25The congregation shall rescue the killer from the hand of the redeemer of the blood, and the congregation shall return him to his city of refuge, where he had fled. He shall live in it until the death of the great priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

Notes (1)

Translation
Mashach is the verb, anointed. The noun Messiah is not in this verse. The holy oil is the oil of the sanctuary.

26If the killer does go out beyond the border of his city of refuge, where he flees,

27and the redeemer of the blood finds him outside the border of his city of refuge, and the redeemer of the blood kills the killer, he has no blood.

Notes (1)

Translation
Ein lo dam is “there is no blood for him.” Blood-guilt is not charged to the redeemer in that case. The phrase is printed as “he has no blood.”

28For he shall live in his city of refuge until the death of the great priest. After the death of the great priest the killer shall return to the land of his holding.

29These shall be for you a statute of judgment through your generations, in all your settlements.

30Anyone who strikes a person, by the mouth of witnesses one shall kill the killer. One witness shall not answer against a person for death.

Notes (1)

Translation
The verb for killing the killer is the same verb the line uses of the killer. One witness is not enough for a death.

31You shall not take a ransom for the life of a killer who is guilty of death, for he shall surely be put to death.

Notes (1)

Translation
Kofer is a ransom, a payment that would buy the life.

32You shall not take a ransom for one who has fled to his city of refuge, letting him return to live in the land before the death of the priest.

33You shall not corrupt the land in which you are, for the blood corrupts the land, and the land is not given atonement for the blood that was shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

Notes (1)

Translation
Chanef is to corrupt the land. Kipper is atonement. The land is not atoned for that blood by any payment.

34You shall not make the land unclean where you live, in whose midst I dwell, for I, Yahweh, dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel.

1Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan of Jericho, saying,

2Command the sons of Israel, and they shall give to the Levites, from the inheritance of their holding, cities to live in. Open land around the cities you shall give to the Levites.

Notes (1)

Translation
Migrash is the open land around a city, as in Leviticus 25. Achuzzah is a holding.

3The cities shall be theirs to live in, and their open lands shall be for their livestock, for their goods, and for all their animals.

4The open lands of the cities that you give to the Levites shall be, from the wall of the city and outward, a thousand cubits all around.

Notes (1)

Text
Verse 4 says one thousand cubits around, from the city wall outward. This verse says two thousand cubits on each of the four sides, the city in the middle. Both measures are printed. Neither is changed to match the other. A cubit is not converted.

6The cities that you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the killer to flee there, and besides them you shall give forty-two cities.

7All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities, them and their open lands.

9Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

10Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

11you shall appoint cities for yourselves. They shall be cities of refuge for you, and a killer who strikes a person by mistake shall flee there.

Notes (1)

Translation
Ir miqlat is a city of refuge. Bishgagah is by mistake. Nefesh here is a person.

12The cities shall be a refuge for you from the redeemer, and the killer shall not die until he stands before the congregation for the judgment.

Notes (1)

Translation
Goel is the redeemer, the relative who takes up the blood. This verse does not add “of the blood.” Verse 19 does. See the glossary.

13The cities that you give, six cities of refuge shall they be for you.

14Three of the cities you shall give across the Jordan, and three of the cities you shall give in the land of Canaan. They shall be cities of refuge.

15For the sons of Israel, for the sojourner, and for the settler among them, these six cities shall be for refuge, so that anyone who strikes a person by mistake may flee there.

Notes (1)

Translation
Ger is a sojourner. Toshav is a settler, one living among them.

16If he struck him with an iron tool and he died, he is a killer. The killer shall surely be put to death.

17If with a stone in the hand, by which a person may die, he struck him and he died, he is a killer. The killer shall surely be put to death.

18Or if with a wooden tool in the hand, by which a person may die, he struck him and he died, he is a killer. The killer shall surely be put to death.

19The redeemer of the blood, he shall put the killer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death.

20If in hatred he pushed him, or threw something on him from ambush, and he died,

Notes (1)

Translation
Tzediyyah is an ambush, a lying in wait. The same word is in verses 21 and 22.

21or in enmity he struck him with his hand and he died, the one who struck shall surely be put to death. He is a killer. The redeemer of the blood shall put the killer to death when he meets him.

22But if suddenly, without enmity, he pushed him, or threw any tool on him without ambush,

23or with any stone by which a person may die, without seeing, and he made it fall on him and he died, and he was not his enemy and was not seeking his harm,

24the congregation shall judge between the one who struck and the redeemer of the blood, by these rules.

Notes (1)

Translation
Mashach is the verb, anointed. The noun Messiah is not in this verse. The holy oil is the oil of the sanctuary.

26If the killer does go out beyond the border of his city of refuge, where he flees,

27and the redeemer of the blood finds him outside the border of his city of refuge, and the redeemer of the blood kills the killer, he has no blood.

Notes (1)

Translation
Ein lo dam is “there is no blood for him.” Blood-guilt is not charged to the redeemer in that case. The phrase is printed as “he has no blood.”

28For he shall live in his city of refuge until the death of the great priest. After the death of the great priest the killer shall return to the land of his holding.

29These shall be for you a statute of judgment through your generations, in all your settlements.

30Anyone who strikes a person, by the mouth of witnesses one shall kill the killer. One witness shall not answer against a person for death.

Notes (1)

Translation
The verb for killing the killer is the same verb the line uses of the killer. One witness is not enough for a death.

31You shall not take a ransom for the life of a killer who is guilty of death, for he shall surely be put to death.

Notes (1)

Translation
Kofer is a ransom, a payment that would buy the life.

32You shall not take a ransom for one who has fled to his city of refuge, letting him return to live in the land before the death of the priest.

33You shall not corrupt the land in which you are, for the blood corrupts the land, and the land is not given atonement for the blood that was shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

Notes (1)

Translation
Chanef is to corrupt the land. Kipper is atonement. The land is not atoned for that blood by any payment.

34You shall not make the land unclean where you live, in whose midst I dwell, for I, Yahweh, dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel.