Numbers 35
Share
This resource is exclusive for PLUS Members
Upgrade now and receive:
- Ad-Free Experience: Enjoy uninterrupted access.
- Exclusive Commentaries: Dive deeper with in-depth insights.
- Advanced Study Tools: Powerful search and comparison features.
- Premium Guides & Articles: Unlock for a more comprehensive study.
The selection of the six cities of refuge is described in Deuteronomy 4:41–43;Joshua 20:1–9. Three of the cities were to be on the east side of the Jordan River and three on the west, each city strategically located so that any Israelite could quickly reach one of them and find refuge from a pursuer.
Further discussion concerning the procedures for dealing with intentional and unintentional killing is found in Deuteronomy 19:1–13.
30 Any death sentence passed by the assembly of elders had to be based on the testimony of at least two witnesses. Obviously the witnesses had to agree; they also had to be people of integrity (see Deuteronomy 19:15–21 and comment). However, even having multiple witnesses does not guarantee that their testimony will be true (see 1 Kings 21:1–16).
The need for two or more witnesses applies not only to death sentences but also to any matter involving a dispute between two or more parties (Matthew 18:16; 2 Corinthians 13:1).
31–32 In many societies it is possible for a wealthy person to escape his just punishment by paying money; a less wealthy person may have a rich relative who can buy his freedom. But in Israel, such payment, or ransom, was against the law. Rich and poor were to be treated alike.
33–34 In particular, a murderer had to receive his just punishment—death—because that was the only way atonement could be made for the land. Bloodshed pollutes the land (verse 33). For that pollution to be cleansed—atoned for—the one who had shed the blood had to have his own blood shed (see Genesis 9:4–7 and comment).
Why does bloodshed pollute and defile the land? Because to wrongfully take life shows contempt for two of God’s greatest gifts: the gift of life and the gift of land, which is given to maintain life. Bloodshed cries out to the Lord, just as the blood of Abel cried out to the Lord from the ground where it was shed (Genesis 4:10).
Furthermore, the Lord will not dwell in a land that is polluted, defiled. If the Israelites wanted the Lord to continue dwelling with them, they had to make sure that the land He had given them did not become defiled.