Chapter 35
Chapter 34 ended with a list of the names of those who would represent each tribe when it came time to divide up the land. This chapter opens with what the Levites will get.
Levites to receive 48 cities, and the pastureland immediately surrounding it. Each tribe would "donate" some cities to the Levites. The larger tribes, receiving more land, would contribute many cities, the small tribes only a few. The Levites could farm or tend flocks for 1000 cubits in any direction around the city. This was their "truck farm". They were expected to raise cattle and sheep and grow crops. But they were limited in area, thus depending on God for the extra that they needed. Whole cities of what were essentially priests. This was still going on in Jesus time. Remember that John the Baptist's father was taking his turn serving in the temple when the angel told him he was going to have a son. They served in rotation, called in from the cities where they lived.
Six of the cities were the cities of refuge. These cities were so that anyone who accidentally killed someone, who was not an enemy, and with no intention of killing them, could flee to these cities and be "free" of the avenger of blood. This avenger would otherwise kill the one who killed, even by accident. Running to the City of Refuge did not mean you were off scott free. This verse:
12 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. [Num 35:12 ESV]
All these cities did was give you protection from the avenger until you could get a "fair trial". The MSB note, however, makes it seem like once judged, then and only then does the avenger seek justice, and that the City of Refuge was a way to stay away from that avenger. I don't know which is right. As I read it, the one who killed stayed while awaiting trial, or until the high priest died.
Then this verse:
16 "But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. [Num 35:16 ESV] If you hit someone with a big heavy piece of metal, it is obvious that your intent - whether in the insanity of momentary anger or totally premeditated - was to kill the person. This is not an accidental death. Therefore, the cities of refuge would be no protection for you. In order for this to be known, it makes sense that some kind of process would be followed, determining whether the one who had killed could be "extradited" from the C of R. Note that killing with a stone tool was also murder. Always. There was no defense for killing with something that would obviously kill. And the penalty for murder was and always had been death.
2026 - This verse:
19 The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. [Num 35:19 ESV].
So at this time in history and in this nation of Israel, this was the way justice was carried out. I did a little research, and it seems the avenger was a family member tasked with enforcing a sort of "eye for an eye" justice on behalf of the family of a person who had been killed by another.
Here is what Bible Hub says about it:
The "avenger of blood" (Hebrew: go'el ha-dam, גֹּאֵל הַדָּם, literally "blood redeemer") in Numbers 35:19 refers to the closest male relative (next of kin) of a murder victim, who had the right—and often the duty—to execute a proven intentional murderer.
More about it from Grok:
Historical and Cultural Context
In pre-monarchic Israel (the era when Numbers was given, as the Israelites prepared to enter Canaan around the late Bronze Age/early Iron Age), there was no centralized police force, standing army for internal law enforcement, or modern court system. Justice was primarily a clan and family responsibility. Extended families or tribes handled disputes, property, inheritance, and protection of their members—much like other tribal societies in the ancient Near East (e.g., among Hittites, Assyrians, or early Semitic groups). biblehub.comBlood vengeance was a widespread custom to deter killing and restore family honor or "balance" after a homicide. The go'el (redeemer) concept appears elsewhere in the Torah with the same root word:
Redeeming family land or persons sold into slavery (Leviticus 25).
Levirate marriage or property recovery (as in the Book of Ruth).
In the homicide context, the "blood redeemer" specifically "recovers" or avenges the lost life of a kinsperson by taking the murderer's life. This kept tribal solidarity intact and prevented the victim's family from being diminished without recourse. biblicalelearning.orgThe Bible regulates this existing practice (it is never explicitly "commanded" as a new institution) to curb abuse. Without limits, it could spiral into multi-generational feuds, as seen in other ancient societies. Numbers 35 (along with Deuteronomy 19:1–13 and Joshua 20) introduces procedural safeguards centuries ahead of many neighboring legal codes:
A clear distinction between intentional murder (premeditated, with hatred, lying in wait, or using a deadly weapon with enmity—vv. 16–21) and unintentional manslaughter (accidental, without prior hostility—vv. 22–23).
A public trial "before the congregation" (the assembly of elders or community leaders), requiring at least two witnesses (v. 30). No one could be executed on the word of a single accuser.
Six "cities of refuge" (Levitical towns: three east and three west of the Jordan) where an accidental killer could flee for protection. The avenger could not touch him inside the city; the case was judged impartially. If accidental, the manslayer stayed until the high priest's death (symbolizing the end of the "blood debt" era); if intentional, he was handed over for execution.
Archaeological evidence (e.g., fortified sites matching the described cities like Kedesh or Hebron) aligns with this system of asylum in Iron Age Israel. biblehub.com
22-24 then spell out the other cases. The one killed could not be your enemy. That would be too suspicious, and would be considered murder. It had to be someone you didn't know or a friend, and it had to have been an accident. The determination is discussed here (so MSB is correct. Judgement before City of Refuge):
24 then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules. 25 And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. [Num 35:24-25 ESV]
I was also right! The phrase "shall restore him to his city of refuge" indicates that the one who killed had fled to a CofR and stayed there until he could make his case that it was an accidental death. If the congregation agreed with him, then he would be sent BACK to the CofR he came from for the trial. Once sent back, the one who killed "served out his sentence" until the high priest died. So the cost even for purely accidental manslaughter was "life in a City of Refuge" with the Levites who lived there. It might be a month. Or the high priest might outlive you, making it a life sentence. Shedding man's blood was obviously a very serious crime no matter the circumstances.
The law was that murderers would be put to death, but only based on the testimony of two or more witnesses. Never on the word of just one. Also this additional stipulation about murder:
31 Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. [Num 35:31 ESV]
There was no commutation of sentences, no last second pardon from the governor, no reparations that could be paid. If you murdered, you were to be executed, and no excuses.
33 You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. [Num 35:33 ESV]
No way the OT was against capital punishment. It was in fact required, lest the land become polluted. The land, the earth itself, the dirt, was like the ultimate witness to the murder. Blood could build up on the land, un-avenged because of injustice or corruption or negligence or just because no one cared about the person who was killed. But "the land" would be increasingly polluted by this blood. We previously saw that here:
10 And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground. [Gen 4:10 NKJV] It is an old principle, going back to Cain and Able. God didn't need any witness other than the ground.
Now think about all the aborted babies in the United States, and other places. Innocent blood, no justice done for these intentional murders, no one standing up for them and demanding that the killers - abortion doctors and women and men and sometimes whole families complicit in the murder. Surely their blood must cry out from the ground for justice. How long can we survive as a people if we continue to pollute our ground in this way?