And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
Here the LORD speaks again to Moses, and His words open one of the kindest laws in the book: God's plan for the person who kills someone by accident. Before Israel set foot in the land, God knew men would spill blood there, and He prepared the shelter in advance.
The six cities of refuge were not carved out of common ground. They came out of the forty-eight towns given to the Levites, the tribe set apart for God's service. The shelter for a desperate man came from what already belonged to God.
The twelve tribes of Israel were to hand over forty-eight cities, with their pasturelands, to the Levites. Out of these, the Levites had the privilege of supplying six cities as a refuge for the poor manslayer. What a lovely provision! Lovely in where it came from! Lovely in what it was for!
The same law that opens a door for the accidental killer shuts it on the murderer.
If the killer acted with deliberate malice, he could find no shelter in such a place of refuge. The city could serve only as a prison, and in due time he must be taken out and judged. But there were many cases in which death might follow where there was no malice. God would not make light of the bloodshed. But neither would He lump the guiltless in with murderers.
Behind the strictness stands a rule older than Israel.
Where the evidence showed intent to kill, the image of God in which He had made man made a strong case against pity. God had ruled on this case long before, in Genesis 9, and that ruling has never been cancelled and never can be: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image." That ground remains, and so does the guilt on a land that does not avenge blood.
Three cities stood east of the Jordan and three west of it, and the spread was deliberate.
He placed those cities, meant as a merciful provision for the slayer, so that shelter stood close at hand wherever anyone needed it... If a slayer did fall into the hands of the avenger of blood, it was not because no refuge was near, but because he had failed to use it. God made every provision: He named the cities, marked them out, and let everyone know where they were.
Reaching the gate settled the question of life and death — but not of freedom. The man was secure and still displaced.
Once there, he could breathe freely... He dared not step outside the gate. Inside, he was perfectly safe. Outside, he was completely exposed. He was an exile from his father's house. He was a prisoner of hope.
Writers read this law as a picture of God's dealings with Israel.
God's holiness shows in this: He would not shield the guilty. When competent judges and witnesses examined the case, the guilty man had to be handed over. And the grace of God shines brightly in keeping the unintentional slayer inside the refuge, so that the avenger of blood could not lay hands on him... He graciously regards Israel as a "slayer," rather than a "murderer," to be restored in due time to the good land that belongs to them. The Lord, when crucified, made intercession for the transgressors and put the deed on the ground of ignorance: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).
That restoration waits on the high priest.
As long as Christ exercises His priesthood in the way pictured here, as long as He is the anointed Priest who "always lives to make intercession" in the presence of God, the slayer must stay out of the land he owns. But our Lord Jesus is coming back. So He is going to bring to a close the form in which He now exercises His priesthood, pictured by the death of the high priest who was anointed with oil.
Commentators differ on how far to press the picture. Some see an open door for any sinner:
The Lord Jesus is now both City of Refuge and Priest, and not for Jews only but also for Gentiles; our security and our inheritance are both bound up with Him... The sinner who repents of his sins finds the City of Refuge ready to receive him day and night.
Another urges caution, because the refugee still faced a hearing:
If we take this as a picture of a sinner taking refuge in Christ, it fits only in a very limited way. We would meet contrasts on all sides rather than likenesses. To begin with, the manslayer in the city of refuge was not exempt from judgement... But for the believer in Jesus there is and can be no judgement, for the simplest of all reasons — Christ has borne the judgement instead.
- Refuge given. God speaks first, and the shelter comes out of the Levites' own portion — lovely in its source and in its purpose.
- Refuge guarded. God would not treat bloodshed lightly, yet He refused to count the guiltless among murderers; the deliberate killer found the city a prison, not a hiding place.
- Refuge reachable. The cities were named, marked, and set on both sides of the Jordan. No one was lost for lack of a shelter nearby — only for failing to use it.
- Refuge bounded. Inside the walls he was safe; one step outside left him exposed. He was safe but not free — a prisoner of hope, waiting for the high priest.
- Refuge fulfilled. Israel waits as the slayer, not the murderer, until Christ leaves His present priesthood for another. Writers differ on how far the picture reaches a sinner coming to Him today.
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
God speaks this law while Israel is still camped east of the Jordan, about a land they have not yet entered and crimes no one has yet committed. Why did He plan six cities of refuge there before a single drop of blood had been shed?
One writer notes how the six cities were spread through the whole inheritance:
In addition to the forty-two cities of their inheritance, there were six cities of refuge, three east and three west of the Jordan. These emphasize the same truth, with the added thought of redemption. So these cities of refuge reminded the people across the entire inheritance that they were a sheltered people. Redemption's defence marked their whole land. God already foresaw their future guilt in bringing about our Lord's death. How wonderful is the grace which by that very death provides shelter for those who were guilty of it!
The Levites were the tribe set apart for God's service. The cities of refuge came out of their own towns:
So we learn that the twelve tribes of Israel were to hand over forty-eight cities, with their pasturelands, to the Levites. Out of these the Levites had the privilege of furnishing six cities to be a refuge for the poor manslayer. A most lovely provision! Lovely in where it came from! Lovely in what it was for!
The verse looks ahead to the crossing, yet three cities stood on the east bank. The placing was deliberate:
He designed those cities as a merciful provision for the slayer. He ordered their placing so that wherever anyone needed a shelter, that shelter would be near at hand. There was always a city within reach of anyone in danger from the sword of the avenger... If any slayer fell into the hands of the avenger of blood, it was not because no refuge stood near. It was because he had failed to use it. God made every provision needed. The cities had names and clear borders, and everyone knew them.
Refuge was for the man who killed without meaning to, and for no one else:
The city of refuge was in no way meant to turn away judgment from one who was in His sight a "manslayer." Where the evidence showed intent to kill, the image of God in which He had made man pleaded against pity, and prevailed. God had already pronounced long before in this case (Gen. 9), and there has been, and can be, no revoking of it: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image."
One writer applies the picture to Israel itself, and to the death of Christ:
Israel, then, through the marvellous grace of God, will be treated as a slayer and not as a murderer. "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." These powerful words went up to the ear and to the heart of the God of Israel. He heard them and answered them... That people are now under God's keeping. They are exiles from the land and the home of their fathers. But the time is coming when God will bring them back to their own land. That will not happen through the death of the high priest — blessed be His deathless name, He can never die! He will leave His present position instead, and come out in a new character, as the Royal Priest, to sit on His throne.
Another writer widens the shelter past Israel:
But it is not Israel alone who have crucified the Lord. Gentiles joined with Jews in that terrible deed... So the cross is the guilt of the whole world. Yet it is a world which, when He was in it, "did not know Him." For this reason what their own hands inflicted may still serve for them as their atonement. The faith of the Gentile too can be accepted on this principle alone.
The manslayer's own efforts could not keep him alive. Flight could:
He is liable to death from the avenger of blood. But when he gives up all his own efforts to save himself and flees to the City of Refuge, he is safe. He may have perfect peace, for he is hidden safely from the judgment that was his due. When he is "found" in the City of Refuge, no one may touch him.
- Provided — God gave the law before Israel crossed the Jordan, before anyone in the land had shed blood.
- Near — six cities, on both sides of the river, named and known to all, so no one was ever far from shelter.
- Entered — the shelter was real, but a man had to use it. The one who ignored it died with safety near.
- Limited — the city took in the man who killed by accident. A murderer found no door open.
- Released — Israel now lives in exile from its land, and waits for the Royal Priest to take His throne and bring it home.
then ye shall appoint for yourselves cities cities of refuge shall they be for you; that a manslayer may flee thither, who without intent smiteth a person mortally.
God told Moses that once Israel crossed the Jordan, they must set apart certain cities as places of escape. These were for the man who killed someone by accident, and they show how God deals with guilt He knows was not deliberate.
God did not leave this to chance. One writer points out that if a slayer was ever caught, the refuge was never at fault.
God in His mercy would not leave the slayer without a refuge from the avenger of blood. Instead, true to His character, He placed those cities Himself. They were a merciful provision for the slayer. Wherever a shelter was needed, that shelter was close at hand... If a slayer did fall into the hands of the avenger of blood, it was not because no refuge was near. It was because he had not used it. God provided all that was needed. The cities were named, clearly marked, and known to everyone. He made it all as plain, as simple, and as easy as possible.
The verse turns on one point: the killing was not intended. One writer gives an everyday example, and names the man the slayer had to run from.
It was a provision for a manslayer, not for a murderer. He might kill another person without meaning to. The law gives an example of this. A man might swing his axe to cut down a tree, and the axe head could slip off the handle and kill another person. In that case he could flee to the city of refuge. There he would be safe from "the avenger of blood." That man would be a close relative or friend of the victim, and he might feel he had a right to take revenge on the manslayer.
The same law that opened a door to one man shut it against the man who planned the killing. One writer sees two sides of God's character in it.
The holiness of God is seen in this: He would not shield the guilty man. When the case was examined before qualified judges and witnesses, the guilty man had to be handed over. The grace of God shines in this: He kept the unintentional slayer safe inside the refuge, so that the avenger of blood could not lay a hand on him.
A refuge is needed at all only because a human death is never a small matter. One writer traces the reason back to a far older law.
The prime thought underlying the whole matter is that life belongs to the God who gave it. No man has any right to take it away. So verse 30 states the death penalty for anyone convicted of murder on the word of two or more witnesses. This repeats the early law of Genesis 9:6... Shedding a man's blood on purpose pollutes and defiles the land, and the land is cleansed only when the murderer's blood is shed.
Writers also read this law as a picture of God's dealings with Israel as a nation.
Israel, then, through the marvellous grace of God, will be treated as a slayer and not as a murderer. "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." These powerful words rose to the ear and to the heart of the God of Israel. They were heard and answered... They are exiles from the land and the home of their fathers. But the time is coming when they will be brought back to their own land. It will not happen through the death of the high priest — praise His undying name! He can never die. He will leave His present place and come out in a new character, as the Royal Priest, to sit on His throne.
The picture does not stay in the past. One writer turns it straight on the reader.
God Himself provided the cities of refuge. He would not have the manslayer treated as a murderer. Nor will He have you treated as guilty of the murder of His Son, if you flee to Christ. He has provided that refuge in the richness of His mercy. The manslayer's hope was freedom through the death of the High Priest. Those whom God shelters now have the blessed hope of entering His presence and glory at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Life first. Life belongs to the God who gave it, so no death can be waved away — that is why a refuge had to exist at all.
- Refuge given. God named the cities Himself, publicly and plainly, so that no one who needed shelter would be beyond reach of it.
- Refuge limited. Shelter covered the unintended killing; the man who planned it was handed over. Mercy never cancels holiness.
- Refuge applied. Writers see Israel treated as a slayer and not a murderer — exiled now, but to be brought home when the Priest comes out as King.
- Refuge reached. The escape was real, but the man had to run to it. The same shelter is held out today to anyone who flees to Christ.
And ye shall have these cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he have stood before the assembly in judgment.
God set apart six cities in Israel as places a killer could run to. This verse gives their purpose: they shelter him from the avenger, and only until his case is judged.
The city was not a verdict. It was a pause while the truth came out.
These six cities belonged to the Levites. God provided a refuge for anyone who had killed a person by accident, since a relative or friend of the victim might well seek revenge by killing the person responsible. In that city he would be safe until the case was investigated. If it proved to be a case of actual murder, he had to be handed over to the avenger.
The hearing itself weighed intent, which is exactly what verses 16-23 spell out.
If a case was not fully clear as to whether there was intent to cause harm or not, when the manslayer came to the city of refuge, "then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments" (v.24).
The Hebrew word behind "avenger" carries more than revenge.
The avenger of blood (Hebrew: goel, which means to redeem) pursued the man who had killed. The city of refuge gave him shelter. The death of the high priest brought freedom to everyone inside the cities of refuge. It was the signal that they could return to their possessions (verse 28).
The law gave that relative more than one duty.
Under the Law the Kinsman had two services to do. He had to redeem his brother's person or his brother's inheritance, if either had been sold to a stranger. And he had to avenge the wrong done to his brother, whether that wrong was captivity or death. These things are seen in Leviticus 25 and Numbers 35, where the word for "kinsman," "redeemer," and "avenger" is the same. This Kinsman, we know for certain, was a type or a shadow of the Christ of God.
The city was never a loophole.
The city of refuge was in no way meant to turn judgment away from a man who was a "manslayer" in God's sight. Where intent to kill could be shown, the image of God in which He had made man pleaded against pity, and that plea prevailed… The land cannot be cleansed of blood shed in it except by the blood of the man who shed it.
Even a man cleared of murder paid a price.
Even after a verdict of innocent, he could not simply go free. He had to stay in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Only then could he return to his inheritance in the land.
God also chose where the cities stood.
Three of these cities stood east of the Jordan and three west of it. God ordained that cities designed as a merciful provision for the slayer should be placed so that wherever a shelter was needed, that shelter was near at hand… If a slayer did fall into the hands of the avenger of blood, it was not because no refuge was near, but because he had failed to use it. The cities were named, clearly marked out, and known to everyone.
Several writers read this law as God's picture of the nation that put Christ to death.
Israel, then, through the marvellous grace of God, will be treated as a slayer and not as a murderer. "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." These powerful words reached the ear and the heart of the God of Israel. They were heard and answered… The manslayer must stay out of his possession until the appointed time. But he is not to be treated as a murderer, because he did it without knowing.
That reading still leaves a judgment to come.
By the grace of God there will be the manslayer who is innocent of murder. But there will also be the murderer who will be put to death, because there will be a judgment. He will stand before the congregation for judgment.
Commentators differ here. Some see a picture of the believer's safety in Christ; others say the comparison breaks down.
If we take this as a picture of a sinner taking refuge in Christ, it can only fit in a very unusual way. We would find contrasts on every side rather than likenesses. First, the manslayer in the city of refuge was not exempt from judgment… But for the believer in Jesus there is and can be no judgment, for the simplest of all reasons: Christ has borne the judgment instead.
Another writer finds the picture used again later in Scripture, with one change: the waiting ends when the High Priest comes out, not with a death.
In the Old Testament the manslayer fled for refuge to one of the appointed cities. If he had a claim to that shelter, he was perfectly safe from the avenger of blood. In the same way, this scripture sees believers as people who have fled from coming judgments to a sanctuary guaranteed by two unchangeable things — the word and the oath of God… But their hope is the coming out of the High Priest.
- Refuge — the city held back the avenger so that no one died before his case was heard.
- Refuge, not rescue — the shelter was temporary. The man still faced a hearing, and a proven murderer was handed to the avenger.
- Refuge and the kinsman — the avenger is the goel, the close relative who redeems as well as avenges. He is a shadow of Christ.
- Refuge within reach — the cities were named, known, and spread across the land. No one died for lack of a place to run.
- Refuge for a nation — applied to Israel, it means God counts them killers by accident, not murderers. They wait outside their inheritance until the appointed time.
And the cities that ye shall give shall be six cities of refuge for you.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Three cities shall ye give on this side of the Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan; they shall be cities of refuge.
God gave six of the Levites' cities as shelters for anyone who killed a person by accident. Why put three beyond the Jordan and three inside Canaan?
The refuge cities were not new towns built for the purpose. They came out of the forty-eight cities the tribes handed over to the Levites, the tribe set apart for God's service.
So the twelve tribes of Israel were to hand over forty-eight cities, with their surrounding land, to the Levites. Out of these, the Levites had the privilege of giving six cities as a refuge for the poor manslayer. What a lovely provision! Lovely in its origin! Lovely in its object!
Reuben and Gad had settled east of the river, outside Canaan. Three cities on each side meant their choice left no one out of reach of mercy.
Were Reuben and Gad right or wrong to settle east of that significant boundary? Either way, God in His mercy would not leave the slayer without a refuge from the avenger of blood. On the contrary, He acted in keeping with His own character. He arranged for those cities, meant as mercy for the slayer, to stand close at hand wherever there was need of shelter... If any slayer fell into the hands of the avenger of blood, it was not because no refuge was near, but because he had failed to use it. God made every provision: He named the cities, marked them clearly and made them known to all. Everything was as plain, as simple and as easy as possible. Such was God's gracious way.
The gaps between them were not large.
By calculation, the distance from city to city would be about 70 miles, so that no one anywhere in the land would be farther than about 35 miles from one of them.
Commentators also see meaning in the grouping itself.
We have then the cities appointed in Canaan, with the list of those beyond Jordan also. Comparing them together, we find in the first series the divine side of salvation, the display of God in it. In the second series we find the human side, the salvation itself.
The name of each city points to something in Christ.
Kedesh was in Naphtali. Kedesh means "sanctuary," and Naphtali means "wrestler-struggler." Christ is the refuge for the struggling sinner. Shechem means "shoulder," and is the type of service. He who is the perfect servant, who served and gave His life, is the place of refuge. Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron, is the third, and Hebron means "communion." This we find in Him. Bezer (defence), Ramoth (heights) and Golan (rejoicing) were the other three beyond Jordan.
These six cities left their mark on the whole inheritance.
Besides the forty-two cities of their inheritance, there were six cities of refuge, three east and three west of the Jordan. These six emphasise the same truth as the forty-two, with the added thought of redemption. So all through the inheritance, these cities of refuge reminded the people that they were a sheltered people, and that the defence of redemption marked out their whole land. God already foresaw their guilt in bringing about our Lord's death. How wonderful is the grace which by that very death provides shelter for those who were guilty of it!
The manslayer stayed inside the city until the high priest died.
The shedding of blood has defiled Palestine, above all the blood of God's dear Son. Was His death murder or manslaughter? The dying prayer of our Lord, recorded in Luke 23:34, was in effect asking God to treat it as manslaughter only. Peter's words in Acts 3:17 were in effect an announcement that God had accepted that prayer. So in the exaltation of Christ in heaven, before He comes in glory to crush His foes on earth, God has opened a city of refuge... The hope set before the manslayer, shut up in a city of refuge, was the death of the high priest. Our High Priest can never die. But the way He exercises His priesthood will change when He comes again in glory. That is the hope set before the believer today.
- Given — the six came out of the Levites' forty-eight cities: lovely in origin, lovely in purpose.
- Placed — three beyond Jordan, three in Canaan. Even the tribes who settled outside the land had shelter near, and the whole inheritance stood as sheltered ground.
- Near — about seventy miles apart, so no Israelite was more than about thirty-five miles from shelter. If the avenger caught a man, it was not for lack of a place to run.
- Pictured — one set of three shows God's side of salvation, the other man's side. The names — sanctuary, shoulder, communion, defence, heights, rejoicing — say what Christ is to the one who flees.
- Held — the slayer waited for the high priest to die. The believer waits for a High Priest who cannot die, who will come in glory. The death Israel was guilty of is the very death that shelters the guilty.
For the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them shall these six cities be a refuge, that one who smiteth a person mortally without intent may flee thither.
Six cities in Israel were set apart as places of shelter, and this verse names who could run to them. The door stood open to Israelites and to the foreigner living among them — but only for a killing that was not intended.
A shelter only helps if the one in danger can reach it in time.
Wherever there was need of a shelter, that shelter might be near at hand. There was always a city within reach of anyone who might be exposed to the sword of the avenger. If any slayer happened to fall into the hands of the avenger of blood, it was not because there was no refuge near at hand, but because he had failed to use it. God made every provision needed. The cities had names, clear boundaries, and everyone knew them. Everything was as plain, as simple, and as easy as possible.
One writer compares the city to the church. He also shows how long the man who fled there had to stay.
Like the church, the city of refuge was for the Israelite, and the stranger and sojourner among them. The man who killed another suddenly, without any earlier hatred, was safe there. He was to flee there and stay there until the death of the high priest who had been anointed with the holy oil. Then he could return to the land of his inheritance.
Open doors did not mean no questions asked. What a man struck with, and whether he meant it, decided his case.
A deliberate murderer could not count on the protection of the city of refuge. If one struck another on purpose with an iron tool, a stone, or a wooden weapon, this was murder. The murderer was to be sentenced to death (vv. 16-18). In fact, the avenger of blood was to put the murderer to death (v. 19).
Behind both the shelter and the death penalty lies one conviction about human life.
The main thought underlying the whole matter is that life belongs to the God who gave it. No man has any right to take it away. Shedding a man's blood on purpose pollutes and defiles the land. Only the shedding of the murderer's blood cleanses it again. In the light of this, we live on an earth that is deeply defiled — above all by the death of the Son of God.
Writers apply this law to the cross. When the world put Christ to death, which case was it — murder, or a killing without intent?
In keeping with these words the Gospel of God is sent to the race that crucified His Son. If God had counted His death as an act of deliberate murder, His righteousness would have forced Him to judge us all. Under the law there was a remedy for the manslayer — the man who killed another without intent. In the same way, God provided a means of escape in the death of Christ. So the grace of God in salvation can righteously flow out to all.
Another writer sees both the city and the priest meeting in one Person.
The Lord Jesus is now both City of Refuge and Priest, and not for Jews only but also for Gentiles. The sinner who repents of his sins finds the City of Refuge ready to receive him day and night.
A named and open city saved nobody who stayed outside its gate.
One thing more let us note: the refuge was provided, but the manslayer had to make the effort to use it. If he did not, his blood would be on his own head. This exactly pictures the situation as the Gospel is preached today.
- Cause — life belongs to God, and bloodshed defiles the land. That is why both the shelter and the death penalty exist.
- Gift — six cities, named, publicly known, and near enough that no one could say refuge was out of reach.
- Reach — the same shelter covered Israelite, stranger and sojourner alike. The outsider faced no harder terms.
- Limit — refuge was for the one who killed without intent. The avenger of blood put a deliberate murderer to death.
- Result — commentators see Christ as both the City of Refuge and the Priest, open to Jew and Gentile. But you still have to go in.
And if he have smitten him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer the murderer shall certainly be put to death.
God has just appointed the cities of refuge. This verse opens the list of deaths that are no accident. It settles who may claim that shelter and who may not.
The chapter names three materials — iron, stone, wood. The ruling for each is the same.
If one struck another with an iron instrument, or stone or wooden weapon purposely, this was murder, and the murderer was to be sentenced to death. In fact, the avenger of blood was to put the murderer to death.
Not every case was clear. When intent was in doubt, someone had to weigh the evidence, and this verse was part of the test.
If a case was not fully clear about whether there was intent to cause harm, the manslayer came to the city of refuge. Then the congregation was to judge between him and the avenger of blood according to these judgments. "These judgments" involve the question of whether the case was one of murder, as seen in verses 16-21, or whether it was unintentional manslaughter, as in verses 22-23.
Mercy for the man who killed by accident was never meant to blunt justice for the man who killed on purpose.
The city of refuge was in no way designed to turn judgment away from someone who was in His sight a "manslayer." (Compare verses 16-18.) If it could be shown that the man meant to kill, the image of God in which He made man argued effectively against pity.
Reaching the city gates could not overturn the verdict.
The law demands the greatest care to prevent all abuse of the cities of refuge. The cities must give a murderer no chance of permanent shelter there. If a man shed blood intentionally and deliberately, the elders of his city had to send and fetch him from there and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he might die.
The rule rests on something older than Israel. The life taken was never the killer's to take.
The main thought behind the whole matter is that life belongs to the God who gave it. No man has any right to take it away. So the death penalty is plainly pronounced on anyone convicted of murder on the testimony of two or more witnesses. This repeats what God laid down long before in Genesis 9:6. Properly constituted authority is to carry out the death sentence on the murderer. The wilful shedding of man's blood pollutes and defiles the land, and only the shedding of the murderer's blood cleanses it.
The same law protects one man and gives up another.
In Numbers 35 we have a striking picture of the holiness and grace of God in His dealings with the slayer... His holiness shows in this: He would not shield the guilty. When the case was examined before competent judges and witnesses, the guilty man was to be given up. His grace shines brightly in keeping the unintentional slayer safe within the refuge, so that the avenger of blood could not lay hands on him.
Commentators read these two cases — the deliberate killer and the unintentional slayer — as a picture of how God has dealt with Israel over the death of Christ.
The unintentional murderer pictures Israel, murderers of Christ "in ignorance." It was of them that the Lord Jesus said on the cross: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." ...But in another sense both the leaders of the Jews and the people were wilful murderers. They rejected God and His Christ deliberately and knowingly.
The refuge, then, is not a place of escape but a place of waiting, and the waiting ends with a death.
Israel was given the benefit of whatever doubt there might be, not considered as guilty of murder but of unintentional manslaughter. Certainly there were some who proved to be murderers, as Stephen testifies in Acts 7:52. However, for centuries now Israel has been allowed to remain in a refuge and will not be free until the time pictured by the death of the high priest.
- Intent decides. A blow struck on purpose with iron, stone or wood is murder. The same death caused unawares is judged another way.
- Refuge is not immunity. The cities never shielded a man who meant to kill. The elders had to fetch him out and hand him over.
- Life is God's. Man bears God's image. So proper authority carries out the sentence, on the word of two or more witnesses, never private revenge.
- Blood defiles land. Murder stains the ground itself. Only the blood of the one who shed it washes that stain away.
- Grace within holiness. God shelters the one who killed unawares and gives up the one who killed by design. On that same line He has so far treated Israel's part in the death of Christ as the slayer's case, not the murderer's.
And if he have smitten him with a stone from the hand, wherewith one may die, and he die, he is a murderer the murderer shall certainly be put to death.
Numbers 35 gives Israel six cities where a man who has killed someone can run for safety. Verses 16–21 set the tests that decide who may stay and who may not. Verse 17 puts a stone in the killer's hand, and that one detail settles the case.
The chapter lists the objects a man might strike with: iron, stone, wood. What settles each case is whether the blow was meant.
A deliberate murderer could not count on the protection of the city of refuge. If someone struck another person on purpose with an iron tool, or a stone or wooden weapon, this was murder, and the murderer was to receive the death sentence (vv.16-18). In fact, the avenger of blood was to put the murderer to death (v.19).
Behind the rule lies a principle older than Israel.
The main thought behind the whole matter is that life belongs to the God who gave it. No one has any right to take it away. So verse 30 clearly states the death penalty for anyone convicted of murder on the testimony of two or more witnesses. This restates the early law of Genesis 9:6. A properly appointed authority is to carry out the death sentence on the murderer. Deliberate shedding of human blood pollutes and defiles the land, and only the shedding of the murderer's blood cleanses it.
The cities of shelter were never meant to cover a man like this. One writer explains why.
The city of refuge was never meant to turn judgment away from a man God saw as a killer. (Compare vv. 16-18.) Where someone could show that the man meant to kill, the image of God in which He had made man ruled out all pity. God had already spoken on this case long ago (Gen. 9), and that word has never been and can never be taken back: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image." That ground still stands. This chapter states the guilt that rests on a land which does not avenge such blood, and people today who would abolish the death penalty should weigh it: "no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it."
Verse 17 stands beside the rule that protects the man who killed by accident. One writer sees two sides of God here.
God's holiness shows in this: He would not shield the guilty. Once competent judges and witnesses had examined the case, the guilty man had to be handed over. And God's grace shines out in keeping the unintentional slayer safe inside the refuge, so that the avenger of blood could not lay hands on him.
Writers also read the six cities as a picture of God's dealings with Israel.
Six of their cities were to be refuges for those who had unintentionally committed murder; a precious picture of God's dealings with Israel, who killed the Christ in ignorance. In this sense, God judges them to be innocent. They are guilty of blood which they could not bear, but guilty in their ignorance... Such a murderer, however, stays out of his inheritance until the death of the priest serving at that time.
Commentators differ on how far that ignorance covers the guilt:
But in another sense both the Jewish leaders and the people murdered on purpose — yes, they deliberately and knowingly rejected God and His Christ. "This is the heir," said they, "come, let us kill him and have his inheritance." (Matt. 21:38)... It also says that the deliberate murderer must be put to death. Along with several other prophecies about the Jews, this judgment was partly fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem.
Readers often turn the city of refuge into a straight illustration of a sinner finding safety in Christ. One writer warns that the fit is poor.
If we read it as a picture of a sinner taking refuge in Christ, it would fit only in a very unusual way. We would find ourselves faced on every side with contrasts rather than likenesses. First, the man sheltering in the city of refuge was not free from judgement, as Joshua 20:6 shows. But for the believer in Jesus there is and can be no judgement, for the simplest of reasons: Christ has borne the judgement instead.
- Intent — a stone, iron or wooden weapon swung on purpose makes the act murder. The cities gave the deliberate killer no cover.
- Image — the reason goes back to Genesis 9. Man carries God's image, so pity has no place here, and God has never taken that word back.
- Authority — this is not private rage. It needs two or more witnesses, and a proper authority to carry out the sentence.
- Balance — holiness would not shield the guilty. In the same chapter, grace sheltered the man who killed by accident.
- Israel — as a picture, God treats the nation as killing in ignorance and keeps it out of its inheritance for a time. Commentators differ on how far that ignorance covers the rejection of Christ.
Or if he have smitten him with an instrument of wood, in the hand, wherewith one may die, and he die, he is a murderer the murderer shall certainly be put to death;
Numbers 35 gives Israel six cities of refuge. A man who killed another could run there for his life, out of reach of the relative avenging the death. Verse 18 sits in a short list of test cases — iron, stone, wood. Each one marks off the man who may not use that shelter. So how does God tell murder apart from an accident, and why does that line never move?
The tool in the hand shows the man meant to kill. The law moves straight from that to the sentence.
A deliberate murderer could not count on the protection of the city of refuge. If one struck another with an iron instrument, or stone or wooden weapon purposely, this was murder and the murderer was to be sentenced to death (vs.16-18). In fact, the avenger of blood was to put the murderer to death (v.19).
The severity rests on something older than Israel's law. Human life carries the mark of the One who gave it, and that mark pleads against pity.
The design of the city of refuge was in no way to turn away judgment from one who was in His sight a murderer. (Compare verses 16-18.) Where it could be shown that there was intent to kill, the image of God in which He had made man effectually pleaded against pity. God had already pronounced long before in this case (Genesis 9), and there has been, and can be, no revocation of it: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image."
The man who fled stated his case at the city gate. He gained shelter by a verdict, not by arriving.
In the gate of the city (the place of judgment) he could declare his case before the elders, and if it was established that he was not guilty of murder, he was to be welcomed into the city, where the avenger of blood was not permitted to touch him (v.4). Numbers 35:16-19 makes it clear, however, that he must be given no refuge in that city if his case was one of actual murder, and the avenger of blood could put him to death.
Where the facts were unclear, the avenger of blood did not decide. A hearing stood between the two men.
If a case was not fully clear as to whether there was intent to cause harm or not, when the manslayer came to the city of refuge, "then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments" (v.24). These judgments involve the question of whether the case was one of murder, as seen in verses 16-21, or whether it was unintentional manslaughter, as in verses 22-23.
The hand acts second. God's verdict does not wait for the weapon.
Cain was a murderer, and the murderous hatred of his brother was in his heart before he actually killed him. So it was with the leaders of Israel who, with wicked hands, crucified and killed the Son of God. Jesus convicted them of their hatred of Him before they actually killed Him... God can and does look into the heart, and judges the motives and feelings of the heart; and where there is the hatred of the one who shows the divine life, God calls it murder.
The law splits killers in two. One writer applies that split to the nation that put Christ to death.
The involuntary killer pictures Israel, murderers of Christ "through ignorance." It was of them that the Lord Jesus said on the cross: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."... So with Paul: "I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief." (1 Timothy 1:13) But in another sense both the leaders of the Jews and the people were murderers wilfully — deliberately and knowingly rejecting God and His Christ. "This is the heir," they said, "Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance." (Matthew 21:38)... Moreover, it is said that the deliberate murderer must be put to death.
Another writer states the same distinction as a principle with lasting weight:
He who kills his neighbour without hating him is distinguished from the murderer: an important principle as to the fate of the Jewish nation, which makes a distinction between those who took a voluntary part in the death of the Lord, or who afterwards heartily approve the deed, and those who did it ignorantly.
- Weapon — iron, stone or wood in the hand shows the man meant to kill. Verse 18 calls him a murderer.
- Image — the sentence rests on Genesis 9. Man bears God's image, so pity cannot plead for a murderer.
- Gate — the city sheltered the innocent, never the guilty. The man stated his case at the gate, before the elders.
- Verdict — where intent was unclear, the congregation judged between the slayer and the avenger. Mercy came through a hearing.
- Heart — God reads the hatred before the hand moves. At the cross, ignorance found mercy; wilful rejection did not.
the avenger of blood, he shall put the murderer to death; when he meeteth him, he shall put him to death.
The cities of refuge sheltered a man who killed by accident, never a man who meant to kill. This verse names the one who carries out the sentence — the avenger of blood — and raises two questions: why a relative of the victim, and what does the picture teach?
The refuge cities were an act of mercy, but they were never a loophole. One writer traces the reason back to a word God spoke after the flood.
The design of the city of refuge was in no way to turn away judgment from one who was in His sight a murderer. Where there was proof of intent to kill, the image of God in which He had made man pleaded against pity. God had already spoken on this long before (Genesis 9). That word has never been taken back, and it never can be: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image."
Behind the whole chapter lies one question: who owns human life? The answer also settles who may carry out the sentence.
The main thought underlying the whole matter is that life belongs to the God who gave it. No man has any right to take it away. So verse 30 pronounces the death penalty on anyone convicted of murder on the word of two or more witnesses. This repeats what God first laid down in Genesis 9:6. Properly appointed authority must carry out the death sentence on the murderer. The deliberate shedding of man's blood pollutes and defiles the land, and nothing cleanses it but the shedding of the murderer's blood.
The duty fell on the dead man's relatives, and it did not end with Israel.
After the flood God gave Noah the law that "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed" (Genesis 9:6). To this day in the East, people hold it the solemn duty of a slain man's relatives to see that his blood is avenged. … God has given man governmental authority to carry out this universal command. It came long before the law of Moses, and God has never repealed or relaxed it. In the New Testament the magistrate does not bear the sword in vain, for he is God's servant for the punishment of evildoers. Romans 13.
The Hebrew word behind "avenger" does other work in the law too.
This appears in Leviticus 25 and Numbers 35, where (as the Englishman's Hebrew Concordance shows us) the word for "kinsman," "redeemer," and "avenger" is the same.
Commentators also read the refuge cities as a picture of Israel.
Six of their cities were to be refuges for those who had killed without meaning to. This is a precious picture of God's dealings with Israel, who in their ignorance killed the Christ. In this sense God judges them to be innocent. They are guilty of blood which they could not bear, but guilty in their ignorance. Saul himself is a striking figure of this same position, as one untimely born (1 Corinthians 15:8). Such a killer, however, stays out of his own land until the death of the priest living at that time.
Not every writer leaves it there. Another writer applies both halves of the chapter to Israel: the ignorant killer and the deliberate murderer of this verse.
The involuntary killer pictures Israel, murderers of Christ "in ignorance." It was of them that the Lord Jesus said on the cross: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." … But in another sense both the leaders of the Jews and the people were murderers on purpose — yes, deliberate and knowing rejecters of God and of His Christ. "This is the heir," they said. "Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance." … The law also says that the deliberate murderer must be put to death, and the fall of Jerusalem partly fulfilled that judgment.
- Life — the chapter rests on one claim: life belongs to the God who gave it, so no man may take it away.
- Intent — the city of refuge covered accident, never intent. Where a man meant to kill, the image of God in his victim pleaded against pity.
- Avenger — the victim's near kinsman carried out the sentence, and the Hebrew word for him also means "redeemer." The same office continues wherever the magistrate bears the sword.
- Ignorance — Israel killed Christ, yet God counts the nation among those who killed without meaning to. It waits outside its inheritance until the priest of that day dies.
- Unsettled — commentators differ on how far that mercy reaches. Some see Israel treated wholly as an accidental killer. Others hold that deliberate rejection still met this verse's sentence when Jerusalem fell.
And if he thrust at him out of hatred, or hurl at him intentionally, so that he die,
Numbers 35 gives God's law for the six cities of refuge. At verse 20 the law turns from the accidental killer to the man who acted out of hatred. The question is not what his hand did, but what was in his heart. That answer decided whether he found shelter or the sword.
One thing divides the two kinds of killer. It also decided how God dealt with a whole nation.
The man who kills his neighbour without hating him stands apart from the murderer. This is an important principle for the fate of the Jewish nation. It marks the difference between two groups: those who took a willing part in the death of the Lord, or who later approve of the deed with all their heart, and those who did it without knowing.
Verse 20 describes a man who shoved his neighbour, or threw something at him, while lying in wait. That is intent, and God shut the refuge against it.
The city of refuge was never designed to turn judgment away from a man who in His sight was a "manslayer." Where someone could show that the man meant to kill, the image of God, in which He had made man, pleaded against pity. God had spoken on this long before, in Genesis 9, and that word has never been taken back and never can be: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in His own image."
The severity has a reason. Life is not the killer's to take, and the land itself carries the stain.
The main thought behind the whole matter is that life belongs to the God who gave it. No man has any right to take it away. … Blood shed on purpose pollutes and defiles the land. The land is only cleansed when the murderer's blood is shed. So we are living in an earth that is deeply defiled, above all by the death of the Son of God.
A court can only weigh the shove and the thrown stone. God looks at the hatred behind them, and He has a name for it.
"Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer." Here he comes down with greater severity. It is not just someone who fails to love; it is the active work of hating… The apostle here goes down to the root of things. When he is tested, hatred marks his spirit, and so he is a murderer in principle… God deals with the heart and not the externals only in Christianity. It is the inward working, as well as what comes out, which marks the man who claims to be a Christian, even though a court of law could never admit or prove it.
One writer reads this law as a picture of Israel's part in the death of Christ. Both kinds of killer appear there: those who acted in ignorance, and those who lay in wait.
The accidental killer is a picture of Israel, who murdered Christ "through ignorance." It was of them that the Lord Jesus said on the cross: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."… But in another sense both the Jewish leaders and the people murdered Him on purpose. They knew what they were doing, and they deliberately rejected God and His Christ. "This is the heir," they said, "come, let us kill him, and have his inheritance."
The same two cases still stand. Everyone shares the guilt of the cross, so what matters now is ignorance or hatred.
All mankind has been guilty of the death of the Lord Jesus. Yet He could say, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." If our guilt is through ignorance, there is a refuge for us. There is forgiveness if we now receive Christ as Saviour. But if we have rejected Him through malicious hatred, "there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment."
- Heart — Hatred separates the manslayer from the murderer, not the weapon or the wound.
- Intent — If the man meant to kill, the refuge was shut. The image of God in the victim pleaded against pity.
- Life — The law stands on God's ownership of life. Blood shed on purpose defiles the land until it is answered.
- Reach — God applies the same test to the heart. Hatred is already murder in principle, even if no court could convict it.
- Refuge — Guilt through ignorance still finds shelter in Christ. Knowing, deliberate rejection of Him leaves no sacrifice to flee to.
or from enmity smite him with his hand, so that he die, he that smote him shall certainly be put to death; he is a murderer the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meeteth him. --
Numbers 35 lists several ways one man may kill another. This verse closes the deliberate cases: hatred in the heart, a blow with the hand, and no refuge for the killer.
Two men could kill and meet two different ends. One writer lays out the two cases:
Like the church, the city of refuge was for the Israelite, and for the stranger and temporary resident among them. This law covers two kinds of guilt: that of the premeditated murderer, and that of the man who killed another suddenly, without any earlier enmity. It treats the two in different ways. The murderer was to be handed over — his sin would find him out, even in the city of refuge. The man who killed without planning it was safe. He was to flee there and stay there until the death of the high priest who had been anointed with the holy oil. Then he might return to the land of his inheritance.
The reason reaches back before Moses. It goes back to how God made man, and to the land that holds the blood spilled on it:
The city of refuge was never meant to turn judgment away from someone God saw as a "manslayer." Where the evidence showed intent to kill, the image of God, in which He had made man, pleaded against pity and won. God had already ruled on this case long before (Genesis 9). No one has cancelled that ruling, and no one can: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in His own image." That ground still stands. This chapter also states the guilt that rests on a land which fails to avenge blood. Those who today would abolish the death penalty may well weigh it: "no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it."
Not even the holiest place in the land could shelter him:
Wilful murder had no release from the penalty. Even fleeing to God's altar for protection could not save the murderer (see 1 Kings 2:28-32). He must die.
The verse hands the sentence to the avenger of blood. One writer weighs the Hebrew word behind that title:
These things are seen in Leviticus 25 and Numbers 35, where the word for "kinsman," "redeemer," and "avenger" is the same.
One law holds both the refuge and the death sentence. Writers see a picture in it of God's dealings with Israel:
God's holiness shows in this: He would not shield the guilty. When competent judges and witnesses examined the case, the guilty man had to be handed over. God's grace shines brightly too: He kept the unintentional slayer inside the refuge, so the avenger of blood could not lay hands on him. Here we see, as a picture, the gracious dealings of the Lord with Israel — the loved but blinded nation. Israel is answerable before Him for shedding the blood of Christ. He graciously treats Israel as a "slayer" rather than a "murderer," to be restored in due time to the good land.
One writer finds both descriptions true of the same nation:
The involuntary killer pictures Israel, who murdered Christ "through ignorance." On the cross the Lord Jesus said of them: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." … But in another sense both the leaders of the Jews and the people were wilful murderers — deliberate, knowing rejecters of God and of His Christ. "This is the heir," they said, "come, let us kill him and have his inheritance." … The wilful murderer had to die, and the fall of Jerusalem partly fulfilled that judgment. But the judgment on him, wrongly hiding in the city of refuge (Deuteronomy 19:11-12), is in reality still to come. In the end the wilful murderers will be brought out, to fall into the hands of the avenger.
The same line still runs through every reader:
If our guilt is through ignorance, there is a refuge for us and forgiveness in receiving Christ as Saviour now. But if we have rejected Him through malicious hatred, "there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment" (Hebrews 10:26-27).
- Enmity is the dividing word. Not the weapon, not the wound, but hostility already in the heart turns a killing into murder.
- Verdict follows enmity. Judges and witnesses weighed the case. God's holiness left the guilty no shield.
- Sentence follows the verdict. Because man bears God's image, no pity, no altar and no city could hold back the penalty.
- Shelter belonged to the other man. He killed without hatred, so the refuge held him safe until the high priest died.
- Mercy keeps that same line today. Ignorance finds a refuge in Christ. Settled hatred of Him leaves no sacrifice.