Numbers 35:11
Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares.
Numbers 35:11 in other translations
| BSB | designate cities to serve as your cities of refuge, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there. |
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| WEB | then you shall appoint for yourselves cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the man slayer who kills any person unwittingly may flee there. |
| ASV | then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer that killeth any person unwittingly may flee thither. |
| YLT | and have prepared to yourselves cities--cities of refuge they are to you--then fled thither hath a man-slayer, smiting a person unawares, |
| DARBY | 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. |
| BBE | Then let certain towns be marked out as safe places to which anyone who takes the life of another in error may go in flight. |
| Webster | Then ye shall appoint for you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, who killeth any person at unawares. |
What does Numbers 35:11 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Nu 35:9-34. The Blood Avenger.
11. that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares--The practice of Goelism, that is, of the nearest relation of an individual who was killed being bound to demand satisfaction from the author of his death, existed from a very remote antiquity (Ge 4:14; 27:45). It seems to have been an established usage in the age of Moses; and although in a rude and imperfect state of society, it is a natural and intelligible principle of criminal jurisprudence, it is liable to many great abuses; the chief of the evils inseparable from it is that the kinsman, who is bound in duty and honor to execute justice, will often be precipitate--little disposed, in the heat of passion or under the impulse of revenge, to examine into the circumstances of the case, to discriminate between the premeditated purpose of the assassin and the misfortune of the unintentional homicide. Moreover, it had a tendency, not only to foster a vindictive spirit, but in case of the Goel being unsuccessful in finding his victim, to transmit animosities and feuds against his descendants from one generation to another. This is exemplified among the Arabs in the present day. Should an Arab of one tribe happen to kill one of another tribe, there is "blood" between the tribes, and the stain can only be wiped out by the death of some individual of the tribe with which the offense originated. Sometimes the penalty is commuted by the payment of a stipulated number of sheep or camels. But such an equivalent, though offered, is as often refused, and blood has to be repaid only by blood. This practice of Goelism obtained among the Hebrews to such an extent that it was not perhaps expedient to abolish it; and Moses, while sanctioning its continuance, was directed, by divine authority, to make some special regulations, which tended both to prevent the unhappy consequences of sudden and personal vengeance, and, at the same time, to afford an accused person time and means of proving his innocence. This was the humane and equitable end contemplated in the institution of cities of refuge. There were to be six of these legalized asyla, three on the east of Jordan, both because the territory there was equal in length, though not in breadth, to Canaan, and because it might be more convenient for some to take refuge across the border. They were appointed for the benefit, not of the native Israelites only, but of all resident strangers.Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Numbers 35:9-34
To show plainly the abhorrence of murder, and to provide the more effectually for the punishment of the murderer, the nearest relation of the deceased, under the title of avenger of blood, (or the redeemer of blood,) in notorious cases, might pursue, and execute vengeance. A distinction is made, not between sudden anger and malice aforethought, both which are the crime of murder; but between intentionally striking a…
Numbers 35:11 in the original Hebrew
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Cross references for Numbers 35:11
- Exodus 21:13
And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.
- Joshua 20:2
Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses:
- Numbers 35:6
And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites there shall be six cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither: and to them ye shall add forty and two cities.
- Deuteronomy 19:1-13
When the Lord thy God hath cut off the nations, whose land the Lord thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses; Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it. Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the coasts of thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither. And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past; …
- Deuteronomy 4:42
That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live:
- Numbers 35:22-25
But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without laying of wait, Or with any stone, wherewith a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm: Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments: And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil.
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
6; Jos 20:2
unawares. Heb. by error.
22,23; Ex 21:13; De 4:42; 19:4,5
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain
Context
- Numbers 35:10
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come over Jordan into the land of Canaan;
- Numbers 35:11
Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares.
- Numbers 35:12
And they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgment.
Numbers 35:11 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | Os señalaréis ciudades, ciudades de acogimiento tendréis, donde huya el homicida que hiriere á alguno de muerte por yerro. |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | alors vous vous désignerez des villes; elles seront pour vous des villes de refuge, et l’homicide qui, par mégarde, aura frappé à mort quelqu’un, s’y enfuira. |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | so sollt ihr euch Städte bestimmen: Zufluchtstädte sollen sie für euch sein, daß dahin fliehe ein Totschläger, der einen Menschen aus Versehen erschlagen hat. |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | decernite quæ urbes esse debeant in præsidia fugitivorum, qui nolentes sanguinem fuderint: |