Numbers 35:6

And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites there shall be six cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither: and to them ye shall add forty and two cities.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
cities	הֶֽעָרִ֗ים he.'a.Rim	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
give	תִּתְּנוּ֙ ti.te.Nu	H5414	to give · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
Levites	לַלְוִיִּ֔ם lal.vi.Yim	H3881	a Levite or descendant of Levi · preposition with the article + noun, gentilic masculine plural absolute
six	שֵׁשׁ shesh-	H8337	six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the h… · cardinal number, both genders singular construct
cities	עָרֵ֣י 'a.Rei	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · noun, common masculine plural construct
refuge	הַמִּקְלָ֔ט ha.mik.Lat	H4733	an asylum (as a receptacle) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
appoint	תִּתְּנ֔וּ ti.te.Nu	H5414	to give · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
manslayer	הָרֹצֵ֑חַ ha.ro.Tze.ach	H7523	properly · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
flee	לָנֻ֥ס la.Nus	H5127	to flit · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
add	תִּתְּנ֔וּ ti.te.Nu	H5414	to give · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural
forty	אַרְבָּעִ֥ים 'ar.ba.'Im	H705	forty · cardinal number, masculine plural absolute
two	וּשְׁתַּ֖יִם u.she.Ta.yim	H8147	two · conjunction + cardinal number, feminine dual absolute
cities	עִֽיר 'Ir	H5892	a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · noun, common feminine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Joshua 21:3 And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, at the commandment of the LORD, these cities and their suburbs.
Joshua 21:13 Thus they gave to the children of Aaron the priest Hebron with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Libnah with her subur…
Joshua 21:21 For they gave them Shechem with her suburbs in mount Ephraim, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Gezer with her suburbs,
Joshua 21:27 And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the other half tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan with her…
Joshua 21:32 And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Hammoth-dor with her suburb…
Joshua 21:36 And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with her suburbs, and Jahazah with her suburbs,
Joshua 21:38 And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Mahanaim with her suburbs,
Psalms 9:9 The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 35:6

CITIES OF REFUGE. (Num 35:6-8) there shall be six cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer--The establishment of those privileged sanctuaries among the cities of the Levites is probably traceable to the idea, that they would be the most suitable and impartial judges--that their presence and counsels might calm or restrain the stormy passions of the blood avenger--and that, from their being invested with the sacred character, they might be types of Christ, in whom sinners find a refuge from the destroyer (see Deu 4:43; Jos 20:8).

Adam Clarke on Numbers 35:5

And ye shall measure from without the city - two thousand cubits, etc. - Commentators have been much puzzled with the accounts in these two verses. In Num 35:4 the measure is said to be 1,000 cubits from the wall; in Num 35:5 the measure is said to be 2,000 from without the city. It is likely these two measures mean the same thing; at least so it was understood by the Septuagint and Coptic, who have δισχιλιους πηχεις, 2,000 cubits, in the fourth, as well as in the fifth verse; but this reading of the Septuagint and Coptic is not acknowledged by any other of the ancient versions, nor by any of the MSS. collated by Kennicott and De Rossi. We must seek therefore for some other method of reconci…

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John Gill on Numbers 35:6

And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites,.... The number of which is not yet expressed, but is afterwards: there shall be six cities for refuge; a sort of asylums, of which there were many among the Heathens, perhaps in imitation of these, for persons to have recourse to for safety, when in danger of life: the Septuagint render the words, "cities of flight" (b); or to flee unto, which certainly was the use of them: to this the apostle alludes when he speaks of some that fled for refuge, to lay hold on the hope set before them, Hebrews 6:18, the word (c) used for refuge signifies "gathering or receiving", for here persons in distress gathered or betook themselves; and here t…

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Dictionary and topics

Cities Of Refuge — six Levitical cities specially chosen for refuge to the involuntary homicide until released from banishment by the death of the high priest. (Numbers 35:6,13,15; Joshua 20:2,7,9) There were three on…
City — The earliest mention of city-building is that of Enoch, which was built by Cain (Gen. 4:17). After the confusion of tongues, the descendants of Nimrod founded several cities (10:10-12). Next, we have…
Manslayer — One who was guilty of accidental homicide, and was entitled to flee to a city of refuge (Num. 35:6, 12, 22, 23), his compulsory residence in which terminated with the death of the high priest. (See…
Refuge, Cities of — Were six in number (Num. 35). 1. On the west of Jordan were (1) Kadesh, in Naphtali; (2) Shechem, in Mount Ephraim; (3) Hebron, in Judah. 2. On the east of Jordan were, (1) Golan, in Bashan; (2)…
Cities · Different kinds of: Refuge — Different kinds of: Refuge
Levites, The · Eight and forty cities with extensive suburbs, appointed for — Eight and forty cities with extensive suburbs, appointed for
Priests · Thirteen of the Levitical cities given to, for residence — Thirteen of the Levitical cities given to, for residence
Types Of Christ · Cities of refuge — Cities of refuge

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Numbers 35:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 35:6

Adam Clarke on Numbers 35:5

John Gill on Numbers 35:6

Dictionary and topics

Numbers 35:6

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 35:6

Adam Clarke on Numbers 35:5

John Gill on Numbers 35:6

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Numbers 35:1-8

Keil & Delitzsch on Numbers 35:6-8

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Numbers 35:6-34

Rashi on Numbers 35:4