The Levitical cities were in an special manner the Lords; and therefore the places of refuge, where the manslayer might remain under the protection of a special institution devised by divine mercy, were appropriately selected from among them. No doubt also the Priests and Levites would be the fittest persons to administer the law in the doubtful cases which would be sure to occur: compare Num 35:24<\/span> note.<\/P><\/p>\n For refuge, <\/B>or, of receipt<\/I>, or escape<\/I>, or resort<\/I>, to wit, for man-slayers; and these cities are assigned among the <\/P> Levites, <\/B>partly, because they might be presumed to be the most proper and impartial judges between man-slayers and wilful murderers; partly, because their presence, and counsel, and authority would more effectually bridle the passions of the avenger of blood who might pursue him thither; and partly, to signify that it is only in Christ (whom the Levitical priests did represent) that sinners find refuge and safety from the destroyer. The names of these cities, we have Deu 4:41<\/span>,43<\/span>; Jos 20:8<\/span>. <\/P> For the man-slayer, <\/B>such as is here described, Num 35:11<\/span>,15<\/span>,22<\/span>,23<\/span>. <\/P> <\/p>\n 6. there shall be six cities forrefuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer<\/B>Theestablishment of those privileged sanctuaries among the cities of theLevites is probably traceable to the idea, that they would be themost suitable and impartial judgesthat their presence and counselsmight calm or restrain the stormy passions of the blood avengerandthat, from their being invested with the sacred character, they mightbe types of Christ, in whom sinners find a refuge from the destroyer(see Deu 4:43<\/span>; Jos 20:8<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites<\/strong>,…. The number of which is not yet expressed, but is afterwards: there shall be<\/p>\n six cities for refuge<\/strong>; a sort of asylums, of which there were many among the Heathens, perhaps in imitation of these, for persons to have recourse to for safety, when in danger of life: the Septuagint render the words, “cities of flight” b; or to flee unto, which certainly was the use of them: to this the apostle alludes when he speaks of some that fled for refuge, to lay hold on the hope set before them, Heb 6:18<\/span>, the word c used for refuge signifies “gathering or receiving”, for here persons in distress gathered or betook themselves; and here they were received, retained, protected, and sheltered: what and where these six cities were to be, and were, is after shown:<\/p>\n which ye shall appoint for the manslayer<\/strong>; not for any and everyone, not for one that killed a man presumptuously and purposely, through enmity and malice, but for one that did it ignorantly, unawares, and without design:<\/p>\n that he may flee thither<\/strong>; with all haste, after the commission of the fact; and, to facilitate his flight, and that he might have no interruption in it, the sanhedrim were obliged to prepare the ways to the cities of refuge, and to make them fit and large; and they removed everything that might cause him to stumble; and they did not leave in the way neither an hillock, nor a dale, nor a river but they made a bridge over it, that nothing might retard him that fled thither, as it is said;<\/p>\n thou shalt prepare thee a way<\/strong>; De 19:3<\/span> and the breadth of the way to the cities of refuge was not less than thirty two cubits; and at the parting of ways (on posts erected) were written, “refuge, refuge”, so that the slayer might know (the way) and turn there (as this directed him): and on the fifteenth of Adar or February, they met every year, to take care of this business d; and they also appointed two disciples of the wise men, or two studious and understanding persons, to accompany him, not so much for the direction of the way, as lest the avenger of blood should meet with him, and slay him in the way; and who were to talk to him, and persuade him not to do it, suggesting to him that it was not done designedly, but unawares, and that it would be a bad thing to kill a man for what he did not intend to do, and which was done without any malice or enmity to the person killed, and with such like words to cool and appease the avenger e:<\/p>\n and to them ye shall add forty two cities<\/strong>; according to the Jewish writers these also were cities of refuge; for so they say f,<\/p>\n “all the cities of the Levites receive or are refuges, every one of them is a city of refuge, as it is said, “and to them ye shall add”, c. the Scripture makes them all alike for refuge: what difference is there between cities of refuge, which are separated for refuge, and the rest of the cities of the Levites? the gates of the cities of refuge receive, whether according to knowledge or not, (which Mr. Selden g interprets, whether the inhabitants will or not but the sense of Maimonides elsewhere h, and of other writers, is plainly this, whether according to the knowledge and intention of the manslayer or not, whether he knows it to be a city of refuge or :not, and whether he purposely came thither for safety or not,) and he that enters into them is safe; but the rest of the cities of the Levites do not receive, but according to knowledge (when the manslayer knowingly and designedly came thither for shelter); and a manslayer that dwells in a city of refuge gives no more for his house, but he that dwells in the other cities of the Levites gives more (or pays for it) to the owner of the house;”<\/p>\n but though this is their unanimous opinion, it rather seems, according to the letter of the Scripture, that only six were cities of refuge, and the rest were for the Levites to dwell in by themselves.<\/p>\n b , Sept. c “receptus”, Junius Tremellius “collectionis”, Piscator; R. Sol. Ohel Moed, fol. 82. 1. “proprie significat collectionem vel retentionem”, Munster. d Maimon. Hilchot Rotzeach, c. 8. sect. 5. e Misn. Maccot, c. 2. sect. 5. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. f Maimon. ut supra, (d) sect. 11. g De Jure Natarae & Gentium, l. 4. c. 2. p. 489. h Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Maccot, l. 2. sect. 4.<\/p>\n Of these cities which were given up to the Levites, six<\/em> were to serve as cities of refuge (see at Num 35:12<\/span>) for manslayers, and in addition to these ( , over upon them) the Israelites were to give of their possessions forty-two others, that is to say, forty-eight in all; and they were to do this, giving much from every tribe that had much, and little from the one which had little (Num 26:54<\/span>). With the accusatives and (Num 35:6<\/span>), the writer has already in his mind the verbs and of Num 35:8<\/span>, where he takes up the object again in the word . According to Josh 21, the Levites received nine cities in the territory of Judah and Simeon, four in the territory of each of the other tribes, with the exception of Naphtali, in which there were only three, that is to say, ten in the land to the east of the Jordan, and thirty-eight in Canaan proper, of which the thirteen given up by Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin were assigned to the families of the priests, and the other thirty-five to the three Levitical families. This distribution of the Levites among all the tribes – by which the curse of division and dispersion in Israel, which had been pronounced upon Levi in Jacob’s blessing (Gen 49:7<\/span>), was changed into a blessing both for the Levites themselves and also for all Israel – was in perfect accordance with the election and destination of this tribe. Called out of the whole nation to be the peculiar possession of Jehovah, to watch over His covenant, and teach Israel His rights and His law (Deu 33:9-10<\/span>; Lev 10:11<\/span>; Deu 31:9-13<\/span>), the Levites were to form and set forth among all the tribes the of the nation of Jehovah’s possession, and by their walk as well as by their calling to remind the Israelites continually of their own divine calling; to foster and preserve the law and testimony of the Lord in Israel, and to awaken and spread the fear of God and piety among all the tribes. Whilst their distribution among all the tribes corresponded to this appointment, the fact that they were not scattered in all the towns and villages of the other tribes, but were congregated together in separate towns among the different tribes, preserved them from the disadvantages of standing alone, and defended them from the danger of moral and spiritual declension. Lastly, in the number forty-eight, the quadrupling of the number of the tribes (twelve) is unmistakeable. Now, as the number four is the seal of the kingdom of God in the world, the idea of the kingdom of God is also represented in the four times twelve towns (cf. Bhr, Symbolik<\/em>, ii. pp. 50, 51).<\/p>\n Verses 6-8:<\/strong><\/p>\n Six cities of the forty-eight allocated to the Levites were designated as “Cities of Refuge.” <\/strong>These were the fulfillment of God’s promise that He would appoint a place of refuge for one. guilty of unpremeditated manslaughter, Ex 21:12-14.<\/p>\n Three of these cities were on the east side of Jordan, three on the west, <\/strong>Deu 4:41-43<\/span>; Jos 20:1-9; 21:13, 21,.27, 32, 36, 38. They were strategically located so any one of them would be no more than a half day’s journey from any point in the Land. Their purpose is stated in the following verses.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n (6, 7, 8) And among the cities which ye shall give . . . <\/strong>The construction of this verse is involved; or, rather, there is a suspension of the subject in Num. 35:6<\/span>, and a resumption of it in Num. 35:7-8<\/span>. The verses may be rendered thus: And as to the cities which ye shall give to the Levites, viz., the six cities of refuge which ye shall give that the manslayer may flee thither <\/em>(and in addition to these ye shall give forty and two cities<\/em>); as to all the cities which ye shall give to the Levites, viz., forty and eight cities, them and their suburbs; now as to the cities which ye shall give from the possession of the children of Israel; from the many ye shall take many, and from the few ye shall take few <\/em>. . . It had already been announced in general terms that a place should be appointed whither any one should flee who had unintentionally smitten a man so that he died, and had not lain in wait with a view to commit murder (Exo. 21:12-13<\/span>). In the verses which follow, the law is delivered at length, and is repeated and further expanded in Deu. 19:1-13<\/span>. There were many reasons why all the cities of refuge were Levitical cities. Of these reasons the chief probably were:(1) That these cities were specially consecrated to the Lord (see Jos. 20:7<\/span>, And they appointed, &c.Heb., consecrated<\/em>); <\/em>and (2) that it was to the priests and Levites that the people looked as administrators of justice.<\/p>\n CITIES OF REFUGE, Num 35:6-34<\/span>.<\/p>\n The right of shelter and impunity, ( jus asyli,<\/em>) by fleeing to sacred places, was afforded to the guilty and the unfortunate by the ancient Greeks and Romans. When abuses arose and justice was grossly outraged, the limitation of this privilege was necessary to the preservation of society. Tacitus records the increase of criminals because of the increase of places of asylum among the Greeks and Romans. This merciful and wise provision of Mosaism, so far as the spirit of the age allowed it, prevented all family hatred and war from ever taking place, as was inevitably the case among the other nations, where any bloodshed whatever, whether wilful or accidental, laid the homicide open to the duty <\/em> of revenge by the relatives of the slain person, who again in their turn were then similarly watched and hunted by the opposite party, until a family war of extermination was the sad heritage of succeeding generations.<\/p>\n 6<\/strong>. <\/strong> Cities for refuge manslayer <\/strong> Jos 20:1-9<\/span>, notes.<\/p>\n Num 35:6-15<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites, there shall be six cities for refuge, <\/em><\/strong>&c.<\/strong> The cities of the Levites were appointed for this purpose, rather than any other, because they were a kind of sacred places inhabited by sacred persons; and here men might spend their time better than in other places, being among the ministers of religion. These cities of refuge <\/em>were only for those who killed any person unawares, <\/em>Num 35:11<\/span> i.e. unwittingly, <\/em>or ignorantly, <\/em>as it is in Deu 19:4-5<\/span> and Jos 20:3<\/span>. See also Num 35:22<\/span> following. The avenger, <\/em>Num 35:12<\/span> says Mr. Locke, means the next heir, or next of kin. For the original word is goel, <\/em>see Lev 25:25<\/span>. Maimonides justly observes, that this was a merciful provision, both for the man-slayer, that he might be preserved; and for the avenger, that his blood might be cooled by the removal of the man-slayer out of his sight. It appears, from the 12th verse, that the city of refuge protected him who fled thither, so as that the right of the judges to bring the matter to a fair trial remained entire; that the man-slayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgment. <\/em>The elders of the city of refuge inquired, whether the man-slayer should be received or not, upon a summary hearing of the cause; Jos 20:4<\/span> but they were not the proper judges, neither could they examine witnesses; and therefore he was delivered, upon demand, to the court or senate of that city where the fact was committed, that he might be tried by them whether he was guilty or not of wilful murder. That the passage ought to be thus interpreted, is plain from Num 35:24-25<\/span> where it is said, if the congregation found him innocent, he should be restored to the city of refuge; <\/em>which evidently supposes that he was tried <\/em>in another place. Cities or places of refuge, usually called asyla, <\/em>were common to the Hebrews, and with almost all the Gentile world; but, as in the foregoing circumstance, so in various other particulars, they were much more wisely regulated among the Hebrews than among the Gentiles: for, 1. Among other nations it was not allowed to bring to trial, against his will, the person who had fled to the place of refuge; but, among the Hebrews, the asylum served only to secure the man-slayer from being punished without a fair hearing: a point of the greatest equity, but by no means such as screened the guilty from the stroke of justice; so far from it, that the wilful murderer might even be taken from God’s altar, if he fled thither for sanctuary: Exo 21:14<\/span> or, if he would not stir from thence, he might be put to death upon the spot. 1Ki 2:28<\/span>. We may observe the wisdom of the divine legislator in this particular. It would have been unjust to have put the man-slayer upon the same footing with the wilful murderer, and it would have been imprudent to suffer him to have been daily conversant in the sight of the relations of the person slain; for, love to their deceased friend might have provoked them to watch the opportunity of avenging his death. The evil, therefore, was guarded against by sending the man-slayer out of the way to the city of refuge. 3. As the man-slayer could not without injustice be put to death, to neither ought he to pass without some animadversion, in order to put others upon their guard, lest, through negligence, they should be the unhappy instruments of taking away their neighbour’s life. Therefore, it was wisely provided, that the man-slayer should live in exile till the death of the high priest. 4. The wisdom of the legislature remarkably appears, in not opening a sanctuary for all homicides without distinction, as was the case among the Gentiles; but only for involuntary manslaughter. The asyla <\/em>of the Greeks were sanctuaries for all criminals, which could not but be a source of great licentiousness and disorder. Hence it was, that, as Tacitus informs us, lib. 3: cap. 60. Tiberius found it necessary to take away that privilege from most of the Grecian temples. 5. It was with the same wise discernment, that the places of refuge were not appointed at the tabernacle, or in the temple, where the worship of God might have been prophaned by the presence of murderers, or by the violent assaults of the avengers of blood. On the contrary, throughout all the Gentile world, the temples and places of worship were sanctuaries for crimes. So that Euripides had good reason to find fault with the asyla <\/em>of the Greeks, as he does in his Ion; <\/em> , &c. that is, “It is surprising that the gods did not institute laws for mortals with more wisdom and equity; for criminals, instead of being protected by the altar, ought to have been driven from it, since it is a profanation for impious hands to touch the things of God; but those sacred places ought to have been a sanctuary for the just, a refuge from injury and oppression. Thus the gods would not have shewn equal favour to the virtuous and the wicked, when they came to the same place.” 6. It is worthy of remark, that though the punishment inflicted on the man-slayer by the Jewish legislator be banishment, yet it is not banishment out of the Jewish territory; lest, by residing among idolaters, he should be seduced from the true religion, and become a worshipper of false gods. Whereas, among other nations, particularly the Greeks, not only the wilful murderer, but the involuntary man-slayer, was banished out of the country, whereby the commonwealth was deprived of one of its members. See Samuel Petit de Leg. Att. lib. 7: Titus 1<\/span>. We are chiefly indebted to Mr. Le Clerc for the foregoing remarks. They who would see more concerning the cities of refuge <\/em>will find a full account of them in the Univ. Hist. vol. 3: p. 92 and of the asyla <\/em>of the heathens in Abbe Banier’s Mythology, vol. 1: book 3 chap. 8. <\/p>\n Observe the cities of refuge were in the priests’ lot. Was not this altogether typical of JESUS, who is the only refuge from the storm of divine wrath, and the only covert from the tempest of his just judgment? Isa 32:2<\/span> .<\/p>\n Num 35:6 And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites [there shall be] six cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither: and to them ye shall add forty and two cities.<\/p>\n Ver. 6. That he may flee thither.<\/strong> ] All sins then are not equal, as the Stoics held; neither are all to be alike punished, as by Draco’s laws they were, in a manner. Those laws were said to be written, not with black, but with blood, because they punished every peccadillo almost with death, as idleness, stealing of pot herbs, &c. Aristotle gives them this small commendation, that they are not worth remembrance, but only for their great severity.<\/p>\n six cities. See Deu 4:41. Jos 20:2, Jos 20:7, Jos 20:8; Jos 21:3. <\/p>\n refuge <\/p>\n The cities of refuge are types of Christ sheltering the sinner from judgment. <\/p>\n Psa 46:1; Psa 142:5; Isa 4:6; Exo 21:13; Deu 19:2-9; Rom 8:1; Rom 8:33; Rom 8:34; Php 3:9; Heb 6:18; Heb 6:19. <\/p>\n six cities for refuge: Num 35:13, Num 35:14, Deu 4:41-43, Jos 20:2-9, Jos 21:3, Jos 21:13, Jos 21:21, Jos 21:27, Jos 21:32, Jos 21:36, Jos 21:38, Psa 9:9, Psa 62:7, Psa 62:8, Psa 142:4, Psa 142:5, Isa 4:6, Mat 11:28, Heb 6:18 <\/p>\n to them ye shall add: Heb. above them ye shall give <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Num 35:11 – ye shall appoint Deu 4:42 – General<\/p>\n Num 35:6-7. Cities for refuge Or, of escape for manslayers. And these cities are assigned among the Levites, partly because they might be presumed to be the most proper and impartial judges between manslayers and wilful murderers; partly because their presence and authority would more effectually bridle the passions of the avenger of blood who might pursue him thither; and perhaps to signify that it is only in Christ (whom the Levitical priests represented) that sinners find refuge and safety from the destroyer. Three of these cities of refuge were in the land of Canaan, and three on the other side Jordan, (Num 35:14,) and the names of them are set down, Jos 20:7-8. Of the forty-eight cities given to the Levites, thirteen were appointed for the priests.<\/p>\n And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites [there shall be] six cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither: and to them ye shall add forty and two cities. The Levitical cities were in an special manner the Lords; and therefore the places of … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 35:6”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4860\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"