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Números 35

ARC · Chapter 35/36

1E fallou o Senhor a Moysés nas campinas dos moabitas, junto ao Jordão de Jericó, dizendo:

2Dá ordem aos filhos de Israel que, da herança da sua possessão, dêem cidades aos levitas, em que habitem: e tambem aos levitas dareis arrabaldes ao redor d'ellas.

3E terão estas cidades para habital-*as: porém os seus arrabaldes serão para as suas bestas, e para a sua fazenda, e para todos os seus animaes.

4E os arrabaldes das cidades que dareis aos levitas, desde o muro da cidade e para fóra, serão de mil covados em redor.

5E de fóra da cidade, da banda do oriente, medireis dois mil covados, e da banda do sul dois mil covados, e da banda do occidente dois mil covados, e da banda do norte dois mil covados, e a cidade no meio: isto terão por arrabaldes das cidades.

6Das cidades pois que dareis aos levitas haverá seis cidades de refugio, as quaes dareis para que o homicida ali se acolha: e, além d'estas, lhes dareis quarenta e duas cidades.

7Todas as cidades que dareis aos levitas serão quarenta e oito cidades, juntamente com os seus arrabaldes.

8E as cidades que derdes da herança dos filhos de Israel, do que tiver muito tomareis muito, e do que tiver pouco tomareis pouco: cada um dará das suas cidades aos levitas, segundo a sua herança que herdar.

9Fallou mais o Senhor a Moysés, dizendo:

10Falla aos filhos de Israel, e dize-lhes: Quando passardes o Jordão á terra de Canaan,

11Fazei com que vos estejam á mão cidades que vos sirvam de cidades de refugio, para que ali se acolha o homicida que ferir a alguma alma por erro.

12E estas cidades vos serão por refugio do vingador do sangue: para que o homicida não morra, até que esteja perante a congregação no juizo.

13E das cidades que derdes haverá seis cidades de refugio para vós.

14Tres d'estas cidades dareis d'áquem do Jordão, e tres d'estas cidades dareis na terra de Canaan: cidades de refugio serão.

15Serão por refugio estas seis cidades para os filhos de Israel, e para o estrangeiro, e para o que se hospedar no meio d'elles, para que ali se acolha aquelle que ferir a alguma alma por erro.

16Porém, se a ferir com instrumento de ferro, e morrer, homicida é: certamente o homicida morrerá.

17Ou, se lhe atirar uma pedrada, de que possa morrer, e ella morrer, homicida é: certamente o homicida morrerá.

18Ou, se a ferir com instrumento de pau que tiver na mão, de que possa morrer, e ella morrer, homicida é: certamente morrerá o homicida.

19O vingador do sangue matará o homicida: encontrando-o, matal-o-ha.

20Se tambem a empurrar com odio, ou com intento lançar contra ella alguma coisa, e morrer;

21Ou por inimizade a ferir com a sua mão, e morrer, certamente morrerá o feridor; homicida é: o vingador do sangue, encontrando o homicida, o matará.

22Porém, se a empurrar de improviso, sem inimizade, ou contra ella lançar algum instrumento sem designio;

23Ou, sobre ella fizer cair alguma pedra sem o ver, de que possa morrer, e ella morrer, e elle não era seu inimigo nem procurava o seu mal;

24Então a congregação julgará entre o feridor e entre o vingador do sangue, segundo estas leis.

25E a congregação livrará o homicida da mão do vingador do sangue, e a congregação o fará voltar á cidade do seu refugio, onde se tinha acolhido: e ali ficará até á morte do summo sacerdote, a quem ungiram com o sancto oleo.

26Porém, se de alguma maneira o homicida sair dos termos da cidade do seu refugio, onde se tinha acolhido,

27E o vingador do sangue o achar fóra dos termos da cidade do seu refugio, se o vingador do sangue matar o homicida, não será culpado do sangue.

28Pois deve ficar na cidade do seu refugio, até á morte do summo sacerdote: mas, depois da morte do summo sacerdote, o homicida voltará á terra da sua possessão.

29E estas coisas vos serão por estatuto de direito a vossas gerações, em todas as vossas habitações.

30Todo aquelle que ferir a alguma pessoa, conforme ao dito das testemunhas, matarão o homicida: mas uma só testemunha não testemunhará contra algum, para que morra.

31E não tomareis expiação pela vida o homicida, que culpado está de morte: antes certamente morrerá.

32Tambem não tomareis expiação por aquelle que se acolher á cidade do seu refugio, para tornar a habitar na terra, até a morte do summo sacerdote.

33Assim não profanareis a terra em que estaes; porque o sangue faz profanar a terra: e nenhuma expiação se fará pela terra por causa do sangue que se derramar n'ella, senão com o sangue d'aquelle que o derramou.

34Não contaminareis pois a terra na qual vós habitareis, no meio da qual eu habitarei: pois eu, o Senhor, habito no meio dos filhos d'Israel.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God orders that the Levites receive 48 cities scattered throughout the territory of Israel, including six cities of refuge, where a person who killed someone accidentally could be protected from a relative's vengeance until being fairly judged.

Explanation

The cities of refuge represent one of the most advanced justice systems of the ancient world: at a time without centralized courts and where blood vengeance by relatives was common, these cities offered a safe space and a fair trial before any punishment, carefully distinguishing between willful (intentional) and unintentional (accidental) killing. The requirement for the accidental killer to remain in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest (not indefinitely, nor for a fixed period) creates an interesting system in which the length of the sentence was symbolically tied to the life of the nation's highest spiritual authority. The distribution of these cities throughout the territory, rather than in just one region, ensured that justice and protection were geographically accessible to all Israelites, not only to those living near a center of power.

Fun facts

  • The six cities of refuge (three on each side of the Jordan) formed a well-distributed network designed so that no one would need to travel excessively far to reach a safe refuge in an emergency — a remarkably practical piece of geographic planning for the time.
  • The principle that 'one witness shall not testify' to condemn someone to death (v. 30) is cited by Jesus and by Paul in the New Testament (Matthew 18:16; 2 Corinthians 13:1) as the basis for requiring multiple witnesses before any serious accusation within the community of faith.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Números 35:1Still at the final camp on the plains of Moab, the LORD speaks to Moses about a new matter: where the Levites would live within the promised land.
  2. Números 35:2Since the Levites did not receive a territory of their own, the command is for each tribe to give up some cities, with pastureland around them, for the Levites to live in.
  3. Números 35:3These cities would serve as homes for the Levites, while the pastureland around them would provide for their livestock and animals.
  4. Números 35:4The pastureland around each city was to extend a thousand cubits out from the wall, in every direction.
  5. Números 35:5The detailed measurement was two thousand cubits on each side — east, south, west, and north — with the city always at the center of that square of land.
  6. Números 35:6Among the cities given to the Levites, six are designated as cities of refuge, where someone who had killed another person unintentionally could take shelter. The idea was to give a safe place for someone who had caused an accidental death, protecting him from immediate revenge until the case could be judged.
  7. Números 35:7Adding the six cities of refuge to the other forty-two, the total number of cities given to the Levites came to forty-eight, all with their pastureland.
  8. Números 35:8The contribution of cities was to be proportional: tribes with more land would give up more cities, tribes with less land would give up fewer, each according to the size of its own inheritance.
  9. Números 35:9The LORD speaks once more to Moses, now about a specific system of legal protection within the promised land.
  10. Números 35:10The instruction applies to when the people would have crossed the Jordan and settled in Canaan.
  11. Números 35:11The command is to set apart specific cities of refuge, where someone who killed another person unintentionally could flee.
  12. Números 35:12These cities would protect the accused from the avenger of blood, usually a relative of the victim, until the case was formally judged before the congregation.
  13. Números 35:13Of the total cities given to the Levites, six specific ones would be reserved solely for this purpose of refuge.
  14. Números 35:14Three of these cities would lie on the east side of the Jordan, and the other three already within the land of Canaan.
  15. Números 35:15These six cities would protect both Israelites and foreigners living among them, covering anyone who caused an accidental death.
  16. Números 35:16The law draws a clear line between killing by accident and killing on purpose: using an iron object, a stone large enough to kill, or a piece of wood capable of causing death was already considered proof of intent. In these cases, the person was treated as a murderer and had no right to the refuge of the city.
  17. Números 35:17Likewise, killing someone with a stone capable of causing death was also treated as murder, carrying a guaranteed death penalty.
  18. Números 35:18The same applied to killing someone with a piece of wood used as a weapon: it counted as intentional murder.
  19. Números 35:19In these cases of proven murder, the avenger of blood himself had the right to kill the guilty party on finding him.
  20. Números 35:20The law also covered pushing someone out of hatred or throwing something at a person on purpose, resulting in death.
  21. Números 35:21Striking someone with one’s own hand out of hostility, causing death, also counted as murder, subject to the same penalty.
  22. Números 35:22But the law changes when the push happens suddenly, without prior hostility, or when something is thrown without intent to injure.
  23. Números 35:23The same applies to dropping a stone without seeing the person below, with no hostility or intent to cause harm.
  24. Números 35:24In these ambiguous cases, it fell to the congregation to judge between the accused and the avenger of blood, applying these rules carefully.
  25. Números 35:25Someone who had killed another person by accident was protected in the city of refuge, safe from the avenger of blood, usually a relative of the victim with the traditional right of revenge, until the death of the high priest then in office. After that, he could return home freely — a defined, if indirect, deadline for the end of that protection.
  26. Números 35:26But there was a clear limit to that protection: if the accused left the boundaries of the city of refuge where he was sheltered,
  27. Números 35:27and the avenger of blood found him outside those boundaries and killed him, that avenger would not be held guilty of that death.
  28. Números 35:28The rule is clear: the accused had to stay in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest; only after that could he return freely to his own land.
  29. Números 35:29These rules would apply permanently, generation after generation, wherever the people lived.
  30. Números 35:30To convict someone of murder, the testimony of more than one person was required; a single witness was not enough to put anyone to death.
  31. Números 35:31Unlike other cases in the law where money could settle a debt or guilt, here the text forbids any payment to free someone guilty of murder from the death penalty. It was a way of saying that a life taken on purpose could not simply be bought back.
  32. Números 35:32It was also not permitted to pay money to release early someone sheltered in a city of refuge, letting him avoid waiting until the death of the high priest.
  33. Números 35:33The underlying reasoning is that spilled blood pollutes the land, and that pollution could only be resolved by the death of the one who committed the crime, never by payment.
  34. Números 35:34The chapter closes by reinforcing that the people were not to defile the land where they lived, since the LORD Himself dwelt there among them.

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