Deuteronomy 4:41

41 Then Moses set apart on the east side of the Jordan three cities

Deuteronomy 4:41 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 4:41

Then Moses severed three cities
To be cities of refuge, according to the command of God, ( Numbers 35:14 ) this he did when he had conquered the two kingdoms of the Amorites, that God had given them for an inheritance to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, ( Deuteronomy 4:38 ) though Jarchi says, and so other Jewish writers, that persons were not received into them until the three cities appointed in the land of Canaan were separated for the like use; (See Gill on Numbers 35:14) and these were,

on this side Jordan, toward the rising sun;
on that side of the river on which the plains of Moab lay, and the kingdoms of the Amorites, and to the east of Jordan: so Jarchi remarks,

``on that side which is on the east of Jordan;''

see ( Joshua 20:8 ) .

Deuteronomy 4:41 In-Context

39 So acknowledge today and take to heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.

40 Keep his statutes and his commandments, which I am commanding you today for your own well-being and that of your descendants after you, so that you may long remain in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.

41 Then Moses set apart on the east side of the Jordan three cities

42 to which a homicide could flee, someone who unintentionally kills another person, the two not having been at enmity before; the homicide could flee to one of these cities and live:

43 Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland belonging to the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan belonging to the Manassites.