Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 4:41–end
Here is, 1. The nomination of the cities of refuge on that side Jordan where Israel now lay encamped. Three cities were appointed for that purpose, one in the lot of Reuben, another in that of Gad, and another in that of the half tribe of Manasseh, Deu 4:41-43. What Moses could do for that people while he was yet with them he did, to give example to the rulers who were settled that they might observe them the better when he was gone. 2. The introduction to another sermon that Moses preached to Israel, which we have in the following chapters. Probably it was preached the next sabbath day after, when the congregation attended to receive instruction. He had in general exhorted them to obedience…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Deuteronomy 4:41
Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan--(See on Jos 20:7).
John Gill on Deuteronomy 4:41
Then Moses severed three cities,.... To be cities of refuge, according to the command of God, Numbers 35:14 this he did when he had conquered the two kingdoms of the Amorites, that God had given them for an inheritance to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, Deuteronomy 4:38 though Jarchi says, and so other Jewish writers, that persons were not received into them until the three cities appointed in the land of Canaan were separated for the like use; See Gill on Numbers 35:14 and these were:
on this side Jordan, toward the rising sun; on that side of the river on which the plains of Moab lay, and the kingdoms of the Amorites, and to the east of Jordan: so Jarchi rema…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Calvin on Deuteronomy 4:41-43
Deuteronomy 4:41-43
41. Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan, toward the sun-rising;
41. Tunc separavit Moses tres urbes trans Jordanem ad exortum solis:
42. That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that, fleeing unto one of these cities, he might live:
42. Ut fugeret illuc homicida qui occidisset proximum suum nesciens, (vel, per errorem, vel, per incogitantiam,) quem non odisset ab heri et nudiustertius: ut fugeret ad unam ex urbibus istis, et viveret.
43. Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Mana…
