📖 Numbers — Chapter 35 (KJV)
Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.
Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.
Numbers 35:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,
Numbers 35:2 Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and ye shall give also unto the Levites suburbs for the cities round about them.
Numbers 35:3 And the cities shall they have to dwell in; and the suburbs of them shall be for their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their beasts.
Numbers 35:4 And the suburbs of the cities, which ye shall give unto the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round about.
Numbers 35:5 And ye shall measure from without the city on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits; and the city shall be in the midst: this shall be to them the suburbs of the cities.
Numbers 35:6 And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites there shall be Rsix cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither: and Tto them ye shall add forty and two cities.
Numbers 35:7 So all the cities which ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty and eight cities: them shall ye give with their suburbs.
Numbers 35:8 And the cities which ye shall give shall be of the Rpossession of the children of Israel: from them that have many ye shall give many; but from them that have few ye shall give few: every one shall give of his cities unto the Levites according to his inheritance Twhich he inheriteth.
Numbers 35:9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Numbers 35:10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come over Jordan into the land of Canaan;
Numbers 35:11 Then Rye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person Tat unawares.
Numbers 35:12 And they shall be unto you cities for refuge Rfrom the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgment.
Numbers 35:13 And of these cities which ye shall give six cities shall ye have for refuge.
Numbers 35:14 Ye shall give three cities on this side Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge.
Numbers 35:15 These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither.
Numbers 35:16 And Rif he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
Numbers 35:17 And if he smite him Twith Rthrowing a stone, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
Numbers 35:18 Or if he smite him with an hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
Numbers 35:19 The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him.
Numbers 35:20 But Rif he thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying of wait, that he die;
Numbers 35:21 Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him.
Numbers 35:22 But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without laying of wait,
Numbers 35:23 Or with any stone, wherewith a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm:
Numbers 35:24 Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments:
Numbers 35:25 And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall Rabide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil.
Numbers 35:26 But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he was fled;
Numbers 35:27 And the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer; RThe shall not be guilty of blood:
Numbers 35:28 Because Rhe should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession.
Numbers 35:29 So these things shall be for a statute of judgment unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Numbers 35:30 Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.
Numbers 35:31 RMoreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is Tguilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death.
Numbers 35:32 And ye shall take no satisfaction for him that is fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest.
Numbers 35:33 So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood Rit defileth the land: and Tthe land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.
Numbers 35:34 RDefile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.
📚 Study This Chapter
📖 What We’re Reading
Numbers 35:1–8 — Cities for the Levites
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Israel is to give the Levites cities and surrounding suburbs for their cattle and goods. Forty-eight cities are appointed, including six cities of refuge. The tribes contribute according to their inheritance.
Key Truth: The Levites receive cities and provision from the tribal inheritances.
Check What You Remember
1. Which group was to receive these cities? (Numbers 35:2)
Find it in Numbers 35:2 (KJV).
2. How many cities were appointed altogether? (Numbers 35:7)
Find it in Numbers 35:7 (KJV).
3. How many of them were cities of refuge? (Numbers 35:6)
Find it in Numbers 35:6 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Numbers 35:9–28 — Refuge and Judgment
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
The cities provide refuge for someone who kills unawares until the congregation judges the case. The law distinguishes intentional killing from the circumstances described as without enmity or lying in wait. The one restored to refuge must remain until the high priest's death.
Key Truth: The stated refuge and judgment distinguish the different cases of killing.
Check What You Remember
1. How many refuge cities were on each side of Jordan? (Numbers 35:14)
Find it in Numbers 35:14 (KJV).
2. Were strangers and sojourners included in the refuge provision? (Numbers 35:15)
Find it in Numbers 35:15 (KJV).
3. Until whose death was the slayer to remain in refuge? (Numbers 35:25)
Find it in Numbers 35:25 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Numbers 35:29–34 — Witnesses and the Land
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
The law requires witnesses for a death judgment and forbids a single witness from causing someone to die. It rejects payment in place of the stated penalties or required refuge. The closing warning says blood defiles the land where the LORD dwells among Israel.
Key Truth: The judgments address testimony, responsibility for bloodshed, and the holiness of the land.
Check What You Remember
1. Could one witness alone cause a person to die? (Numbers 35:30)
Find it in Numbers 35:30 (KJV).
2. Could payment replace the stated penalty for a murderer? (Numbers 35:31)
Find it in Numbers 35:31 (KJV).
3. Who says he dwells among Israel? (Numbers 35:34)
Find it in Numbers 35:34 (KJV).
Advanced Questions and Answers
Study this chapter’s wording, patterns, contrasts, and meaning in greater depth.
1. How does the distribution of Levitical cities account for the other tribes’ holdings?
2. What distinction does the chapter make between murder and killing unawares?
3. How do judgment and refuge work together for the manslayer?
4. What links the manslayer’s return home to the high priest?
5. What principle connects the chapter’s closing bloodshed rules with the land?
Notes
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