Cities of Refuge and Laws About Murder

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Numbers 35:1) And the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, saying, (2) “Command the children of Israel that they give to the Levites cities to dwell in from the inheritance of their possession, and you shall also give the Levites suburbs for the cities around them."

In the last post, the Lord had commanded to Moses what the boundaries of the promised land were to be, and also named the princes of each tribe who were to receive their tribes' inheritance by lot.  He continued speaking to Moses in the plains of Moab on their current side of the Jordan across from Jericho, telling him to command the children of Israel to give to the Levites cities, as well as land surrounding the cities, from their inheritances.  The Levites had no inheritance of their own, but as ministers of God, the Lord would have them scattered among all the tribes.

(3) "And the cities shall they have to dwell in; and the suburbs of them shall be for their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their beasts."

The Lord continued speaking to Moses, telling him the cities which each tribe would give of their inheritance would be for the Levites to dwell in, and the land surrounding the cities they would use as pasture land, barns, storehouses, and the like.

(4) "And the suburbs of the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall reach from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits all around."

The Lord commanded that the suburbs of the cities which were to be given to the Levites were to extend from the wall of the city outward 1000 cubits all around, which was about 1500 feet.

(5) “And you shall measure from outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, on the south side two thousand cubits, on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, and the city shall be in the midst; this shall be to them the suburbs of the cities."

It appears from verse 5 that besides the first 1000 cubits which served as a suburb of the city all around, there was an additional 2000 cubits on all sides that probably served as their pasture lands.  The cities were to be in the middle of the these designated suburbs.

(6) "And among the cities which you shall give to the Levites there shall be six cities for refuge, which you shall appoint for the manslayer, to which he may flee; and to these you shall add forty-two cities. (7) So all the cities you will give to the Levites shall be forty-eight; these you shall give with their suburbs."

The Levites were to be given a total of 48 cities with their suburbs as described above.  There were to be six cities of refuge to which a manslayer might flee for protection until his case was decided, and 42 additional cities.

(8) “And the cities which you shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel; from them who have many you shall give many, but from them who have few you shall give few; everyone shall give of his cities to the Levites according to his inheritance which he inherits."

The 48 cities that were to be given to the Levites from the other tribes' inheritances were to be divided among the tribes with larger tribes giving more and smaller tribes giving fewer.  Every single tribe was to give some measure of cities to the Levites from their inheritance.

(9) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (10) “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘When you have come over Jordan into the land of Canaan, (11) Then you shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the slayer who kills any person accidentally may flee there. (12) And they shall be to you cities for refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment.'"

The Lord continued speaking to Moses, telling him to tell the children of Israel that once they had gone over the Jordan River into the land of Canaan, they were to appoint their cities of refuge to which a person who killed another accidentally might flee for protection.  The nearest kin had a right to avenge the death of his relation by slaying the murderer, so there was a need for a safe haven for the manslayer until his case was judged.

(13) "‘And of the cities which you give, you shall have six cities of refuge. (14) You shall give three cities on this side Jordan, and three cities shall you give in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge.'"

There were to be six such cities of refuge.  Three cities were to be assigned on their present side of the Jordan River, where the inheritances of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh were; and the other three cities of refuge were to be assigned in the land of Canaan on the other side of the Jordan.

(15) "‘These six cities shall be a refuge for the children of Israel, for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills a person accidentally may flee there.'"

The cities of refuge were to be available for the children of Israel, and for the strangers and sojourners who dwelt among them, that anyone might flee there for protection if he accidentally killed someone.

(16) "'And if he strikes him with an instrument of iron, so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.'"

If the manslayer struck the victim with an iron instrument so that he died, that was to be considered murder.  Using an instrument of iron was to be seen at the very least as wishing to harm the victim and displayed bad intentions.  Therefore, if the victim indeed died, the manslayer was guilty of murder and was to be put to death.

(17) "‘And if he strikes him with throwing a stone, by which he may die, and he does die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.'"

The primary definition of the original word "yad" that was translated as merely "throwing" is actually "hand", "open hand" as opposed to "closed hand".  The phrase is understood to mean a large stone that fills a man's hand.  That definition would make it reasonable to assume that the stone was not even necessarily thrown at the victim, but used in some way against the victim, as in Exodus 21:18, when it described the man who struck another with a stone.  If the victim died by the hand of a manslayer who used a stone, that manslayer was considered a murderer and was to be put to death.

(18) "‘Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon, by which he may die, and he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.'"

Likewise if a man used a hand weapon of wood that was capable of killing a man, and the victim indeed died, the manslayer was considered a murderer and was to be put to death.

(19) "'The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer; when he meets him, he shall slay him.'"

In the above situations (verses 16-18), the manslayer was considered a murderer and was afforded no sanctuary.  The avenger of blood, or more properly defined as "redeemer of blood", that is the kinsman of the victim, was allowed by law to kill the murderer himself to avenge his relative.  Whenever he met him, at his first opportunity, he was to put the murderer to death.

(20) "'But if he thrusts him out of hatred or hurls at him while lying in wait, so that he dies, (21) Or in enmity strikes him with his hand so that he dies, he who struck him shall surely be put to death, for he is a murderer; the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer when he meets him.'"

Even in cases where the manslayer did not use weapons designed to hurt and kill, if he acted in hatred or lay in wait for his victim, he would be considered guilty of murder if his victim died.  In these cases also, the kinsman avenger of blood was he himself to put the murderer to death whenever he met up with him.

(22) "'But if he thrusts him suddenly without enmity, or has cast upon him anything without lying in wait, (23) Or with any stone, by which a man may die, casting it at him without seeing him, so that he dies, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm, (24) Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments.'"

In the case of a man who struck another or threw something at him suddenly, having not lain in wait for him, demonstrating no premeditation, he was not immediately considered a murderer.  Even if he had used a stone that would normally be expected to kill a man, and the victim indeed died, if the man did not see his victim, and it hit him accidentally, and the victim was not an enemy, and he had never sought to harm him, then he was not immediately considered a murderer.  This was the type of manslayer who could find sanctuary until his case was judged by the congregation.

(25) "'And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge where he had fled, and he shall remain there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.'"

If the manslayer was found not to be guilty of murder, but had killed his victim accidentally, then the congregation was to deliver him back to his city of refuge, and he was to remain there until the death of the high priest.  He was a free man, but only within the walls of his city of refuge.  Although he was found not guilty of murder, he was still in exile from his home, indicating that the taking of a life was a very grave matter, even if done accidentally.  The high priest was chief among the priests and Levites to whom the cities of refuge belonged.  He alone made yearly atonement for the people.  Upon the death of the high priest who presided concurrently with the safe sanctuary of the manslayer, the slayer was to be set free.  This is a picture of Christ who alone atones for our sins, and upon His death the captives were set free and the remembrance of transgressions were made to cease.

(26) "'But if the slayer at any time goes outside the border of the city of his refuge where he fled, (27) And the revenger of blood finds him outside the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, (28) Because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest; but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession.'"

However, if the manslayer at any time went outside the borders of his city of refuge, then he was not safe from the avenger of blood.  If the kinsman avenger found him outside the borders of the city of refuge, he was free to kill the manslayer, and he would not be guilty of murder, because the manslayer's only salvation was within the borders of the city of refuge.  Only after the death of the high priest was the slayer to be free to go outside the city of refuge and return to his own land.

(29) "'So these things shall be for a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.'"

God established these laws for judging murder and proclaimed they were to remain intact throughout the ages in all their dwellings, at least until the coming of the Messiah, in whom true and complete refuge would be.

(30) "‘Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses, but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.'"

A murderer was to be put to death only by the testimony of two or more witnesses.  The testimony of one witness alone was not sufficient to put a killer to death.  One person might be mistaken or prejudiced, so his testimony had to be confirmed by at least one other.  I love this about the word of God!  Consistently we are told throughout the Bible that by the word of two or three witnesses a thing is established (Matthew 18:16, 2 Corinthians 13:1, 1 Timothy 5:19).  That fact has helped me so much in my Bible study.  Whenever I ponder an obscure or difficult verse, I know that its meaning will be confirmed elsewhere in the Bible.  If I come up with a meaning that is not expressed elsewhere in the Bible, then I know the problem was with my interpretation, not with inconsistency in the Bible.

(31) "‘Moreover you shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death.'"

This particular "satisfaction" is more clearly understood as "redemption" or "ransom".  No atonement or compensation could be paid to redeem the murderer's life.  If he was found guilty of murder, he absolutely was to be put to death.

(32) "'And you shall take no satisfaction for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest.'"

Likewise there was no redemption or compensation for the refugee who left his city of refuge before the death of the high priest.  In leaving his sanctuary before the time that was allowed by law, he had broken the law and could not pay his way out.  I suppose he was free until he encountered a kinsman avenger of blood, but I guess that's the uncertain life of anyone who runs from the law.

(33) "‘So you shall not pollute the land where you are, for blood defiles the land; and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of him who shed it.'"

The shedding of innocent blood defiles a nation.  The Lord expressly told His people so and cautioned them against polluting their land.  The only way He provided for the cleansing of the blood that had been shed in the land, was by the blood of the one who shed it.  Only God is the author of life and only He can dispose of it.  To take any life before its time could be to deprive that soul from coming to salvation, so the murderer not only murdered a body, but he may well have murdered a soul, which is far more important.  Although I know that a merciful righteous God would not condemn to hell a person who had not had the opportunity to come to salvation, this shows just how serious it is to take a life.  I can't help but think of the horrific amount of innocent blood that has been shed in our country since Roe v. Wade--over 60 million innocent babies' blood!  How defiled is our land?  Jesus Christ came and shed His blood for our sins so that we did not have to pay with our own lives for aborting precious innocent life, but that is only if we confess our sin and sin by that way no more.  I know Christ can save individuals who sin, but a country that continues to kill innocent babies in direct violation of God's law?  I am certain this country will fall if for that reason alone, although there are many more Godless reasons our nation is defiled.

(34) "‘Therefore do not defile the land which you inhabit, wherein I dwell; for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.'"

The Lord exhorted His people not to defile their land, and added the more important basis for His exhortation that He, the Holy God, dwelt there among His people.  Again I cannot help but think about our nation and how we can declare "God Bless America" as we stand on top of the massive amount of innocent blood in our land.  Think of all the ways this country has pushed God out of schools and the public square.  Consider how the Democrat Party wanted God removed from its platform.  How can we expect God to bless a country that doesn't want Him in it?  How do we expect a country to survive without Him or His blessing?