Numbers 35-36

CHAPTER 35:
       This passage introduces the cities of refuge that would be strategically placed throughout the promised land, as well as the accompanying case law that governed the accidental death of a human being. The term used in this chapter is “manslayer” (v.12), and we use the term “manslaughter” in our legal system today to refer to the accidental death of a person at the hands of another.
 
          Verses 1-8: As noted in the previous chapter, the Levites do not inherit any land. God instructs Moses in verse 2 for each tribe to give a portion of their land to the Levites upon which will be built cities wherein the Levites will dwell. (Joshua 14:3-4, 21:2-3, Ezekiel 45:1, 48:10) The border of each city is to not only include the city itself where the people will dwell, but also land around the city for their livestock. (v.2-5) The exact dimensions of the city and the grazing land around it are given in verses 4-5, and Biblical scholars and commentators have posited a variety of explanations and diagrams of the possible layout of these cities. (As an example, refer to the image above, courtesy of the Moody Bible Commentary.)
         A total of forty-eight cities will be allotted to the tribe of Levi, six of which are to be reserved as cities of refuge. (v.6-7) (Joshua 21:41) The number of cities within each of the tribal regions will be determined by the size of the tribe, same method that was used to divide up the land itself. (v.8) (Numbers 26:54, 33:54)
 
            Verses 9-15: The LORD now defines the function of the six cities of refuge. There are to be three cities in the land of Canaan and three on the east side of the Jordan River where the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh will settle. (v.14) Just as their name implies, these specific cities of the tribe of Levi are to serve as a refuge for the manslayer, someone who accidentally kills another. (v.11-12) When any Israelite is killed, the law requires that his/her nearest male relative is to avenge the wrongful death by killing the murderer. This is the “avenger” referred to in verse 12. The Hebrew word for “avenger” is “gâ’al”, which means “to redeem, act as kinsman-redeemer, avenge, revenge, or ransom”, according to the Brown-Driver-Briggs Bible dictionary. This is, essentially, the law that God instituted with Noah at the beginning of the dispensation of human government following the Flood. (Genesis 9:5-6) The kinsman redeemer is also responsible for “buying” his relative out of trouble. (Numbers 5:8, Leviticus 25:25-26, Ruth 3:12, 4:1, 6, 8, Job 19:25, Isaiah 59:20)
 
            Verses 16-21: This section reviews and expounds on earlier case law regarding premeditated murder and its proper judgment. (Exodus 21:12, 14, Leviticus 24:17, Deuteronomy 19:11-12) The most common instruments of death in the ANE were weapons or tools made of iron, stone, or wood. (v.16-18) Physically assaulting someone with only one’s own hands to the point of death is also murder. (v.20-21) (Genesis 4:8, 2 Samuel 3:27, 20:10, 1 Kings 2:31-32) The avenger is responsible for carrying out the death sentence on the killer. (v.19, 21)
 
            Verses 22-29: This section defines what is accidental death, or manslaughter. (Exodus 21:13) The key difference is whether or not there was preexisting enmity between the killer and the victim (v.22-23). This was determined by a trial before the congregation of Israel. (v.24) (Joshua 20:6) If the people judged the death to be accidental, the manslayer is sent to the nearest city of refuge where he will live until the death of the high priest. (v.25) The avenger is not allowed to seek vengeance for the accidental death as long as the manslayer remains within the border of the city of refuge. But if the manslayer leaves that city at any time before the death of the high priest, and if he is caught by the avenger, the avenger is allowed to carry out the death sentence. He will not be guilty of murder. (v.26-27)
 
            Verses 30-34: There must be more than one witness to testify in a murder case (v.30), and neither the murderer or the manslayer may be redeemed by a ransom payment. (v.31-32) The former is to be put to death, and the latter is to flee to the city of refuge. Those are the only two options for premeditated murder and accidental death. Only the death of the high priest will allow the manslayer to return to his home and family.
            The reason for all of this law and the cities of refuge is given in verses 33-34. The promised land is holy land, a land where God intends to dwell with His chosen people. The shedding of one man’s blood by another – whether intentional or accidental – is a stain upon that land. (Leviticus 18:24-25, Deuteronomy 21:23) Only the blood of the murderer or the manslayer could cleanse the land of that particular sin, and that’s the reason the manslayer must wait for the death of the high priest until he is free to return home. Since his crime is accidental death, God allows for him to keep his life, but a life must still be given to pay for the death of the one whose life was wrongfully taken by another. The role of the high priest in this matter once again anticipated the role of Jesus Christ as our atoning savior who gave His life to redeem us from the sentence of death for our sins.

CHAPTER 36:
       This last chapter of Numbers closes with another issue pertaining to the allotment and division of the promised land. In chapter 27 the daughters of Zelophehad, of the tribe of Manasseh, presented their case to Moses and the elders regarding the death of their father. Since he had no sons, there was a problem of his name dying with him and none of his inheritance passing onto his daughters. The LORD changed the inheritance law, allowing a father’s inheritance to pass to his daughter(s) first before any other relatives if he had no son(s). This, however, presents another issue when it comes to settling the promised land.
           Here in the final chapter of the book of Numbers, the elders of the tribe of Manasseh come before Moses and the elders with another problem of inheritance. If the daughters of Zelophehad marry men of another tribe, then their father’s inheritance of land within their own tribe will pass to their husbands. (v.3) Furthermore, according the law of the Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:10, 13) that tribe would then have permanent ownership of that land. (v.4)
           Moses once again consults with God and returns to the elders with a new decree. The daughters of Zelophehad may marry only within their own tribe. (v.6) Going forward, any daughter of future generations will be bound to the same law if she finds herself in the same situation as these women. She may only seek a husband of the men of her own tribe, and each tribe’s land inheritance must stay within that tribe. (v.7-9) Verses 10-12 record the obedience, once again, of the daughters of Zelophehad, thus highlighting the overall obedience of this second generation of Israel that is about to enter the promised land.
            Verse 13 wraps up the whole book, summarizing all of the law of Moses that was given to him by God. (“These are the commandments and the judgments, which the LORD commanded…”) The book of Numbers opened with the initial obedience of the first generation of the Exodus, and now it closes with a display of the obedience of their sons and daughters. The next book, Deuteronomy, which is the final book in the Pentateuch, is Moses’ last will and testament, a final letter to the children of Israel before they receive the inheritance promised to their father Abraham.