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Numbers 35

The Levites receive no territory of their own, so the other tribes must give them forty-eight cities with measured pasture land — a thousand cubits out from each wall, two thousand on every side. Of these, six are set apart as cities of refuge for anyone who kills a person unwittingly. The rest of the chapter is a small body of homicide law: how to tell the murderer from the accidental slayer, the role of the avenger of blood, and why the manslayer's freedom is tied to the death of the high priest.

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Numbers 35 (WEB)

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The LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,
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“Command the children of Israel to give to the Levites cities to dwell in out of their inheritance. You shall give pasture lands for the cities around them to the Levites.
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They shall have the cities to dwell in. Their pasture lands shall be for their livestock, and for their possessions, and for all their animals.
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“The pasture lands 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.
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You shall measure outside of the city for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall be the pasture lands of their cities.
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“The cities which you shall give to the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the man slayer to flee to. Besides them you shall give forty-two cities.
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All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities together with their pasture lands.
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Concerning the cities which you shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many you shall take many, and from the few you shall take few. Everyone according to his inheritance which he inherits shall give some of his cities to the Levites.”
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The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
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“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
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then you shall appoint for yourselves cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the man slayer who kills any person unwittingly may flee there.
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The cities shall be for your refuge from the avenger, that the man slayer not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.
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The cities which you shall give shall be for you six cities of refuge.
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You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and you shall give three cities in the land of Canaan. They shall be cities of refuge.
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These six cities shall be refuge for the children of Israel, for the stranger, and for the foreigner living among them, that everyone who kills any person unwittingly may flee there.
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“‘But 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.
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If 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.
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Or 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.
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The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death.
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If he shoved him out of hatred, or hurled something at him while lying in wait, so that he died,
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or in hostility 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.
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“‘But if he shoved him suddenly without hostility, or hurled on him anything without lying in wait,
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or with any stone, by which a man may die, not seeing him, and cast it on him so that he died, and he was not his enemy and not seeking his harm,
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then the congregation shall judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances.
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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 therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
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“‘But if the man slayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge where he flees,
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and 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,
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because 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 into the land of his possession.
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“‘These things shall be for a statute and ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
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“‘Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain based on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness shall not testify alone against any person so that he dies.
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“‘Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death. He shall surely be put to death.
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“‘You shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land before the death of the priest.
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“‘So you shall not pollute the land where you live; for blood pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him who shed it.
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You shall not defile the land which you inhabit, where I dwell; for I, the LORD, dwell among the children of Israel.’”

Números 35 (RV1909)

1
Y HABLÓ Jehová á Moisés en los campos de Moab, junto al Jordán de Jericó, diciendo:
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Manda á los hijos de Israel, que den á los Levitas de la posesión de su heredad ciudades en que habiten: también daréis á los Levitas los ejidos de esas ciudades alrededor de ellas.
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Y tendrán ellos las ciudades para habitar, y los ejidos de ellas serán para sus animales, y para sus ganados, y para todas sus bestias.
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Y los ejidos de las ciudades que daréis á los Levitas, serán mil codos alrededor, desde el muro de la ciudad para afuera.
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Luego mediréis fuera de la ciudad á la parte del oriente dos mil codos, y á la parte del mediodía dos mil codos, y á la parte del occidente dos mil codos, y á la parte del norte dos mil codos, y la ciudad en medio: esto tendrán por los ejidos de las ciudades.
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Y de las ciudades que daréis á los Levitas, seis ciudades serán de acogimiento, las cuales daréis para que el homicida se acoja allá: y además de éstas daréis cuarenta y dos ciudades.
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Todas las ciudades que daréis á los Levitas serán cuarenta y ocho ciudades; ellas con sus ejidos.
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Y las ciudades que diereis de la heredad de los hijos de Israel, del que mucho tomaréis mucho, y del que poco tomaréis poco: cada uno dará de sus ciudades á los Levitas según la posesión que heredará.
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Y habló Jehová á Moisés, diciendo:
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Habla á los hijos de Israel, y diles: Cuando hubiereis pasado el Jordán á la tierra de Canaán,
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Os señalaréis ciudades, ciudades de acogimiento tendréis, donde huya el homicida que hiriere á alguno de muerte por yerro.
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Y os serán aquellas ciudades por acogimiento del pariente, y no morirá el homicida hasta que esté á juicio delante de la congregación.
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De las ciudades, pues, que daréis, tendréis seis ciudades de acogimiento.
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Tres ciudades daréis de esta parte del Jordán, y tres ciudades daréis en la tierra de Canaán; las cuales serán ciudades de acogimiento.
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Estas seis ciudades serán para acogimiento á los hijos de Israel, y al peregrino, y al que morare entre ellos, para que huya allá cualquiera que hiriere de muerte á otro por yerro.
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Y si con instrumento de hierro lo hiriere y muriere, homicida es; el homicida morirá:
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Y si con piedra de mano, de que pueda morir, lo hiriere, y muriere, homicida es; el homicida morirá.
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Y si con instrumento de palo de mano, de que pueda morir, lo hiriere, y muriere, homicida es; el homicida morirá.
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El pariente del muerto, él matará al homicida: cuando lo encontrare, él le matará.
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Y si por odio lo empujó, ó echó sobre él alguna cosa por asechanzas, y muere;
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O por enemistad lo hirió con su mano, y murió: el heridor morirá; es homicida; el pariente del muerto matará al homicida, cuando lo encontrare.
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Mas si casualmente lo empujó sin enemistades, ó echó sobre él cualquier instrumento sin asechanzas,
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O bien, sin verlo, hizo caer sobre él alguna piedra, de que pudo morir, y muriere, y él no era su enemigo, ni procuraba su mal;
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Entonces la congregación juzgará entre el heridor y el pariente del muerto conforme á estas leyes:
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Y la congregación librará al homicida de mano del pariente del muerto, y la congregación lo hará volver á su ciudad de acogimiento, á la cual se había acogido; y morará en ella hasta que muera el gran sacerdote, el cual fué ungido con el aceite santo.
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Y si el homicida saliere fuera del término de su ciudad de refugio, á la cual se acogió,
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Y el pariente del muerto le hallare fuera del término de la ciudad de su acogida, y el pariente del muerto al homicida matare, no se le culpará por ello :
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Pues en su ciudad de refugio deberá aquél habitar hasta que muera el gran sacerdote: y después que muriere el gran sacerdote, el homicida volverá á la tierra de su posesión.
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Y estas cosas os serán por ordenanza de derecho por vuestras edades, en todas vuestras habitaciones.
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Cualquiera que hiriere á alguno, por dicho de testigos, morirá el homicida: mas un solo testigo no hará fe contra alguna persona para que muera.
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Y no tomaréis precio por la vida del homicida; porque está condenado á muerte: mas indefectiblemente morirá.
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Ni tampoco tomaréis precio del que huyó á su ciudad de refugio, para que vuelva á vivir en su tierra, hasta que muera el sacerdote.
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Y no contaminaréis la tierra donde estuviereis: porque esta sangre amancillará la tierra: y la tierra no será expiada de la sangre que fué derramada en ella, sino por la sangre del que la derramó.
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No contaminéis, pues, la tierra donde habitáis, en medio de la cual yo habito; porque yo Jehová habito en medio de los hijos de Israel.

Intent, and blood on the land

The law turns on intent. Iron, a lethal stone, a wooden weapon, hatred, or lying in wait mark a murderer, to be put to death on the word of witnesses — never one alone. A sudden, unmeant blow sends the slayer to refuge until the high priest dies.

No ransom may buy off a murderer or shorten the refuge. The reason is territorial and theological: bloodshed pollutes the land where the LORD himself dwells among Israel, and only the blood of the one who shed it can cleanse it.

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