Numbers 35:15

15 To sons of Israel, and to a sojourner, and to a settler in their midst, are these six cities for a refuge, for the fleeing thither of any one smiting a person unawares.

Numbers 35:15 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 35:15

These six cities shall be a refuge both for the children of
Israel and for the stranger
For an Israelite, and a proselyte of righteousness, one that embraced the Jewish religion, and in all things conformed to it, and to whom there was but one law in things civil and religious:

and for the sojourner among you;
the proselyte of the gate, who renounced idolatry, and observed the commands of the sons of Noah, but in other things did not comply with the Jewish ceremonies, yet had the benefit of the cities of refuge equally with the other; though the Jews say ^F16, such a proselyte or sojourner had only this privilege, who slew a proselyte, but not if he slew an Israelite; but for this distinction there is no foundation in the text:

that everyone that killeth any person unawares may flee thither;
whether an Israelite, or a proselyte of righteousness or of the gate.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 Misn. Maccot, c. 2. sect. 3.

Numbers 35:15 In-Context

13 `As to the cities which ye give -- six [are] cities of refuge to you;

14 the three of the cities ye give beyond the Jordan, and the three of the cities ye give in the land of Canaan; cities of refuge they are.

15 To sons of Israel, and to a sojourner, and to a settler in their midst, are these six cities for a refuge, for the fleeing thither of any one smiting a person unawares.

16 `And if with an instrument of iron he hath smitten him, and he dieth, he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death.

17 `And if with a stone [in] the hand, wherewith he dieth, he hath smitten him, and he dieth, he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death.