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 4:43
Namely, Bezer in the wilderness,.... In Joshua 20:8, it is added "upon the plain"; this perhaps was the wilderness of Moab, in the plains of it, the same with Bozrah, see Jeremiah 48:24 and in the Apocrypha:"Hereupon Judas and his host turned suddenly by the way of the wilderness unto Bosora; and when he had won the city, he slew all the males with the edge of the sword, and took all their spoils, and burned the city with fire,'' (1 Maccabees 5:28)it was in the
plain country of the Reubenites, or lay in that part of the country which was allotted to them, and which they gave to the Levites, 1 Chronicles 6:78,
and Ramoth in Gilead of the Gadites; it lay in that part of Mount Gilead, and amo…
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…
