“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
Parallel translations
- WEB “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
- KJV Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come over Jordan into the land of Canaan;
- BSB “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
- NASB “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
- NLT “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. “When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
When Israel crosses the Jordan into Canaan, they are to set up cities of refuge. The provision is to take effect upon entering the land.
Overview
Tying the cities of refuge to the entrance into Canaan shows that God ordered the nation's justice for its settled life in the land. The command anticipates the orderly society Israel was to become under God's law. This forward-looking provision underscores God's care for righteousness in the inheritance He was giving.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Num 34:2“Command the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to its borders),
- Lev 14:34“When you have come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put a spreading mildew in a house in the land of your possession,
- Lev 25:2“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to Yahweh.
- Deut 19:1–2When Yahweh your God cuts off the nations, whose land Yahweh your God gives you, and you succeed them, and dwell in their cities, and in their houses;
- Deut 12:9for you haven’t yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which Yahweh your God gives you.
- Josh 20:2–6“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Assign the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by Moses,
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 35:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.