The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.
Parallel translations
- WEB The cities shall be to you for refuge from the avenger, that the man slayer not die, until he stands before the congregation for judgment.
- KJV 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.
- BSB You are to have these cities as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer will not die until he stands trial before the assembly.
- NKJV They shall be cities of refuge for you from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment.
- NASB The cities shall serve you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the one who commits manslaughter does not die until he stands before the congregation for trial.
- NLT These cities will be places of protection from a dead person’s relatives who want to avenge the death. The slayer must not be put to death before being tried by the community.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
The cities are to be a refuge from the avenger so the manslayer does not die before standing trial before the congregation. They guarantee a fair hearing rather than hasty vengeance.
Overview
By providing time for due process, the law restrained the avenger of blood and ensured guilt or innocence was rightly determined. This protected the accused from being killed before justice could be done. The provision reveals God's commitment to fair judgment, upholding both the value of life and the rule of law.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Josh 20:3–6that the man slayer who kills any person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there. They shall be to you for a refuge from the avenger of blood.
- Deut 19:6Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the man slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him mortally; even though he was not worthy of death, because he didn’t hate him in time past.
- Josh 20:9These were the appointed cities for all the children of Israel, and for the alien who lives among them, that whoever kills any person unintentionally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stands trial before the congregation.
- 2 Sam 14:7Behold, the whole family has risen against your servant, and they say, ‘Deliver him who struck his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he killed, and so destroy the heir also.’ Thus they would quench my coal which is left, and would leave to my husband neither name nor remainder on the surface of the earth.”
- Deut 19:11–12But if any man hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises up against him, strikes him mortally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities;
- Num 35:19The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death.
- Num 35:24–27then the congregation shall judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 35:12 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.