Cities for the Levites and cities of refuge

35:1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the Moabite plains by the Jordan near Jericho. He said: 35:2 “Instruct the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. You must also give the Levites grazing land around the towns. 35:3 Thus they will have towns in which to live, and their grazing lands will be for their cattle, for their possessions, and for all their animals. 35:4 The grazing lands around the towns that you will give to the Levites must extend to a distance of 500 yards from the town wall. 35:5 “You must measure from outside the wall of the town on the east 1,000 yards, and on the south side 1,000 yards, and on the west side 1,000 yards, and on the north side 1,000 yards, with the town in the middle. This territory must belong to them as grazing land for the towns. 35:6 Now from these towns that you will give to the Levites you must select six towns of refuge to which a person who has killed someone may flee. And you must give them forty-two other towns. 35:7 “So the total of the towns you will give the Levites is forty-eight. You must give these together with their grazing lands. 35:8 The towns you will give must be from the possession of the Israelites. From the larger tribes you must give more; and from the smaller tribes fewer. Each must contribute some of its own towns to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance allocated to each. 35:9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 35:10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you cross over the Jordan River into the land of Canaan, 35:11 you must then designate some towns as towns of refuge for you, to which a person who has killed someone unintentionally may flee. 35:12 And they must stand as your towns of refuge from the avenger in order that the killer may not die until he has stood trial before the community. 35:13 These towns that you must give shall be your six towns for refuge. 35:14 “You must give three towns on this side of the Jordan, and you must give three towns in the land of Canaan; they must be towns of refuge. 35:15 These six towns will be places of refuge for the Israelites, and for the foreigner, and for the settler among them, so that anyone who kills any person accidentally may flee there. 35:16 “But if he hits someone with an iron tool so that he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. 35:17 If he strikes him by throwing a stone large enough that he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. 35:18 Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon so that he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. 35:19 The avenger of blood himself must kill the murderer; when he meets him, he must kill him. 35:20 “But if he strikes him out of hatred or throws something at him intentionally so that he dies, 35:21 or with enmity he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death, for he is a murderer. The avenger of blood must kill the murderer when he meets him. 35:22 “But if he strikes him suddenly, without enmity, or throws anything at him unintentionally, 35:23 or with any stone large enough that a man could die, without seeing him, and throws it at him, and he dies, even though he was not his enemy nor sought his harm, 35:24 then the community must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these decisions. 35:25 The community must deliver the slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the community must restore him to the town of refuge to which he fled, and he must live there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the consecrated oil. 35:26 But if the slayer at any time goes outside the boundary of the town to which he had fled, 35:27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the borders of the town of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the slayer, he will not be guilty of blood, 35:28 because the slayer should have stayed in his town of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the slayer may return to the land of his possessions. 35:29 So these things must be a statutory ordinance for you throughout your generations, in all the places where you live. 35:30 “Whoever kills any person, the murderer must be put to death by the testimony of witnesses; but one witness cannot testify against any person to cause him to be put to death. 35:31 Moreover, you must not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; he must surely be put to death. 35:32 And you must not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a town of refuge, to allow him to return home and live on his own land before the death of the high priest. 35:33 “You must not pollute the land where you live, for blood defiles the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed there, except by the blood of the person who shed it. 35:34 Therefore do not defile the land that you will inhabit, in which I live, for I the Lord live among the Israelites.”

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God ordered Israel to give the Levites towns and pastureland, and he set apart six cities of refuge. These cities protected a person who killed someone by accident until the community judged the case. But a murderer was to be put to death. The chapter holds together mercy, justice, and the holiness of the land.

The Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab and gave Israel clear commands for life in the land. First, the tribes were to give the Levites forty-eight towns with grazing land around them. The Levites had no separate tribal inheritance, so the other tribes were to support them from their own land. The giving was to be fair, with larger tribes giving more and smaller tribes giving less.

From those towns, six were to be cities of refuge. Three were to be east of the Jordan and three in Canaan. These towns were for anyone who killed another person by accident, including the foreigner and the settler among Israel. The refuge protected the person until the community could judge the case.

The law made a clear difference between murder and accidental killing. If a person acted in hatred, used a deadly weapon, or struck with intent to kill, he was a murderer and must die. The blood avenger was allowed to carry out that judgment. But if the killing was accidental and without hatred, the slayer was to be kept safe in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Only then could he return home.

Witnesses were required before a death sentence could be carried out. A murderer could not buy his way out of judgment, and neither could an unintentional killer pay to leave early. The chapter ends by warning Israel not to defile the land. Innocent blood pollutes the land, and the land is not cleansed apart from justice. This matters because the Lord dwells among his people.

• God provided for the Levites through the towns and pastureland given from Israel’s inheritance.
• The cities of refuge were for protection in cases of accidental killing, not for hiding murder.
• Intentional murder was a capital crime under God’s law.
• The community, not private revenge alone, was to judge the case.
• Witnesses were required before a death sentence could be carried out.
• The land was holy because the Lord lived among Israel, and bloodguilt defiled it.

• Give the Levites towns and pastureland from the tribes’ inheritance.
• Set apart six cities of refuge for the one who killed unintentionally.
• Do not let the murderer escape justice by ransom.
• Do not shorten the refuge period before the death of the high priest.
• Do not defile the land with shed blood.
• A murderer must surely be put to death.
• The one who killed by accident was to remain in refuge until the proper time.

This chapter belongs to Israel’s life under the covenant in the promised land. It shows that God cares about worship, justice, and holiness together. The refuge cities show a place of lawful protection, and the priestly structure shows that God’s people needed ordered mediation and public judgment. The passage points forward in a general way to the need for God-given refuge and cleansing, but it is not a direct prophecy of Christ.

God’s people should value life, avoid revenge, and respect fair judgment. Public justice should protect the innocent and punish the guilty. We should also remember that sin and bloodguilt are serious before God, not only before people. In a careful way, the refuge pattern can remind believers that true safety is found in God’s provision, not in human anger or private vengeance.

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