“Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, where a person who has accidentally killed someone can flee for safety. In addition, give them forty-two other towns.
Parallel translations
- WEB “The cities which you shall give to the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the man slayer to flee to. Besides them you shall give forty-two cities.
- KJV 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.
- BSB Six of the cities you give the Levites are to be appointed as cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. In addition to these, give the Levites forty-two other cities.
- NKJV “Now among the cities which you will give to the Levites you shall appoint six cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. And to these you shall add forty-two cities.
- NASB The cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall provide for the one who commits manslaughter to flee to; and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities.
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
Six of the Levites' cities are to be cities of refuge for the manslayer, with forty-two others besides. The Levitical cities include places of asylum for those who kill unintentionally.
Overview
Joining the cities of refuge to the Levitical cities placed administration of justice and mercy in the hands of those who taught God's law. The cities of refuge protected the unintentional killer from premature vengeance until a fair hearing. This provision reveals God's concern for justice tempered by mercy, a foreshadowing of the refuge sinners find in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Josh 21:3The children of Israel gave to the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the commandment of Yahweh, these cities with their suburbs.
- Josh 21:13To the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the man slayer, Libnah with its suburbs,
- Josh 21:36Out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its suburbs, Jahaz with its suburbs,
- Josh 21:32Out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the man slayer, Hammothdor with its suburbs, and Kartan with its suburbs: three cities.
- Josh 21:21They gave them Shechem with its suburbs in the hill country of Ephraim, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Gezer with its suburbs,
- Josh 21:38Out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Mahanaim with its suburbs,
- Ps 9:9Yahweh will also be a high tower for the oppressed; a high tower in times of trouble.
- Josh 21:27They gave to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half-tribe of Manasseh Golan in Bashan with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Be Eshterah with its suburbs: two cities.
- Matt 11:28“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.
- Deut 4:41–43Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise;
- Josh 20:2–9“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Assign the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by Moses,
- Isa 4:6There will be a pavilion for a shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a refuge and for a shelter from storm and from rain.
- Heb 6:18that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us.
- Ps 142:4–5Look on my right, and see; for there is no one who is concerned for me. Refuge has fled from me. No one cares for my soul.
- Ps 62:7–8With God is my salvation and my honor. The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
- Num 35:13–14The cities which you shall give shall be for you six cities of refuge.
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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 35:6 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
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