Deuteronomy 19:9

9 and if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and to walk always in His ways, then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three,

Deuteronomy 19:9 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 19:9

If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I
command thee this day
A phrase often met with before, and signifies the putting in practice the several laws, moral, ceremonial, and judicial, which Moses was now making a repetition of, and enjoining the observance of them by a divine authority:

to love the Lord thy God;
which is the source and spring of genuine obedience to the commands of God:

and to walk ever in his ways;
noting constancy and perseverance in them; now all this is mentioned as the condition of the enlargement of their coast, which would be the case if a due and constant regard was had to the laws of God:

and then shall thou add three cities more besides these three;
three more in the land of Canaan, besides the three now ordered to be separated in it, and besides the three on the other side of Jordan; so that there would have been nine in all, if these had been ever added; but that time never came: the Jews expect the addition of these three cities in the days of the Messiah F25 but the Messiah is already come, and all those cities, as they were typical of him, have had their accomplishment in him the antitype of them, of which (See Gill on Numbers 35:29).


FOOTNOTES:

F25 Maimon. Hilchot Rotzeach, c. 8. sect. 4.

Deuteronomy 19:9 In-Context

7 Therefore I command you, saying, 'You shall separate three cities for yourself.'
8 Now if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and gives you the land which He promised to give to your fathers,
9 and if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and to walk always in His ways, then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three,
10 lest innocent blood be shed in the midst of your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and thus guilt of bloodshed be upon you.
11 "But if anyone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes him mortally, so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.