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 4:42
That the slayer might flee thither,.... For refuge; the slayer of a man, but not any slayer, but
which should kill his neighbour unawares; by accident to him, without any design and intention to kill him; ignorantly, as the Septuagint version; and so Onkelos:
and hated him not in times past; it having never appeared that there had been a quarrel between them, and that the slayer had shown any enmity to the man slain any time before the fact, or bore a grudge against him, or spite unto him:
and that, fleeing unto one of these cities, he might live; in peace and safety unto his own death, or unto the death of the high priest, when he was released from his confinement to the city of his refu…
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…
