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Texts -- Numbers 35:1-6 (NET)

Context
The Levitical Cities
35:1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the Moabite plains by the Jordan near Jericho . He said : 35:2 “Instruct the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites will possess . You must also give the Levites grazing land around the towns . 35:3 Thus they will have towns in which to live , and their grazing lands will be for their cattle , for their possessions , and for all their animals . 35:4 The grazing lands around the towns that you will give to the Levites must extend to a distance of 500 yards from the town wall . 35:5 “You must measure from outside the wall of the town on the east 1,000 yards , and on the south side 1,000 yards , and on the west side 1,000 yards , and on the north side 1,000 yards , with the town in the middle . This territory must belong to them as grazing land for the towns . 35:6 Now from these towns that you will give to the Levites you must select six towns of refuge to which a person who has killed someone may flee . And you must give them forty-two other towns .

Pericope

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Bible Dictionary

  • REFUGE, CITIES OF

    [ebd] 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) Ramoth-Gilead, in Gad; and (3...
    [isbe] REFUGE, CITIES OF - `are ha-miqlaT; poleis ton phugadeuterion (compare 1 Macc 10:28), and other forms): 1. Location: Six cities, three on each side of the Jordan, were set apart and placed in the hands of the Levites, to ser...

  • PENTATEUCH, 2B

    [isbe] PENTATEUCH, 2B - 3. Answer to the Critical Analysis: (1) The Veto of Textual Criticism. The first great objection that may be made to the higher criticism is that it starts from the Massoretic text (MT) without investigation...

  • CITY

    [ebd] 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 a record of the cities o...
    [isbe] CITY - sit'-i (`ir, qiryah; polis): I. THE CANAANITE CITY 1. Origin 2. Extent 3. Villages 4. Sites 5. External Appearance 6. General II. THE CITY OF THE JEWISH OCCUPATION 1. Tower or Stronghold 2. High Place 3. Broad Place 4...

  • JOSHUA (2)

    [isbe] JOSHUA (2) - || I. FORM AND SIGNIFICANCE OF NAME II. HISTORY OF THE LIFE OF JOSHUA 1. First Appearance 2. The Minister of Moses 3. One of the Spies 4. The Head of the People (1) His First Act--Sending of the Spies (2) Crossi...

  • PUNISHMENTS

    [isbe] PUNISHMENTS - pun'-ish-ments ('awon, "fault," "iniquity," "punishment for iniquity," "sin" (Gen 4:13; Lev 26:41; Job 19:29; Ps 149:7; Lam 4:22; Ezek 14:10 margin; Am 1:3,6,9,11,13; 2:1,4,6), `onesh, "tribute," "fine," "punis...

  • Levites

    [smith] (descendants of Levi). Sometimes the name extends to the whole tribe, the priests included, (Exodus 6:25; Leviticus 25:32; Numbers 35:2; Joshua 21:3,41) etc; sometimes only to those members of the tribe who were not priests, ...
    [nave] LEVITES The descendants of Levi. Set apart as ministers of religion, Num. 1:47-54; 3:6-16; 16:9; 26:57-62; Deut. 10:8; 1 Chr. 15:2. Substituted in the place of the firstborn, Num. 3:12, 41-45; 8:14, 16-18; 18:6. Religious ...

  • Moab

    [nave] MOAB 1. Son of Lot, Gen. 19:37. 2. Plains of. Israelites come in, Deut. 2:17, 18. Military forces numbered in, Num. 26:3, 63. The law rehearsed in, by Moses, Num. 35, 36; Deut. 29-33. The Israelites renew their covenant ...

  • Canaan

    [nave] CANAAN 1. Son of Ham, Gen. 9:18, 22, 25-27. Descendants of, Gen. 10:6, 15; 1 Chr. 1:8, 13. 2. Land of (The history of this region is involved in that of the Israelites. The student is therefore referred to Israel, History ...

  • EZEKIEL, 2

    [isbe] EZEKIEL, 2 - II. Significance of Ezekiel in Israel's Religious History. Under the first head we will consider the formal characteristics and significance of the book; and the examination of its contents will form the subject...

  • LEVITICAL CITIES

    [isbe] LEVITICAL CITIES - le-vit'-i-kal I. LEGAL PROVISIONS 1. Numbers 2. Deuteronomy II. WELLHAUSEN'S VIEW III. ALTERNATIVE VIEW AND EVIDENCE 1. Traces of the Cities 2. Wellhausen's Arguments Answered 3. Van Hoonacker's Reply 4. E...

  • CRITICISM

    [isbe] CRITICISM - (The Graf-Wellhausen Hypothesis) I. PRELIMINARY 1. Thesis 2. Historical Perspective 3. Inspiration and Criticism II. THE LEGISLATION 1. Groups 2. Covenant Code 3. The Sanctuary 4. Kinds of Sacrifice 5. Sacrifice ...

  • Priest

    [nave] PRIEST. Before Moses Melchizedek, Gen. 14:18; Heb. 5:6, 10, 11; 6:20; 7:1-21. Jethro, Ex. 2:16. Priests in Israel before the giving of the law, Ex. 19:22, 24. Called angel, Eccl. 5:6. Mosaic Ex. 28:1-4; 29:9, 44; Num....

  • Levite

    [ebd] a descendant of the tribe of Levi (Ex. 6:25; Lev. 25:32; Num. 35:2; Josh. 21:3, 41). This name is, however, generally used as the title of that portion of the tribe which was set apart for the subordinate offices of the sanc...

  • Suburbs

    [ebd] the immediate vicinity of a city or town (Num. 35:3, 7; Ezek. 45:2). In 2 Kings 23:11 the Hebrew word there used (parvarim) occurs nowhere else. The Revised Version renders it "precincts." The singular form of this Hebrew wo...
    [nave] SUBURBS, Num. 35:3-5; Josh. 14:4.

  • Cities

    [nave] CITIES Ancient, Gen. 4:17; 10:10-12. Fortified, Num. 32:36; Deut. 9:1; Josh. 10:20; 14:12; 2 Chr. 8:5; 11:10-12; 17:2, 19; 21:3; Isa. 23:11. Gates of, See: Gates. Designated as: Royal, Josh. 10:2; 1 Sam. 27:5; 2 Sam. 12:2...

  • SABBATH DAY'S JOURNEY

    [ebd] supposed to be a distance of 2,000 cubits, or less than half-a-mile, the distance to which, according to Jewish tradition, it was allowable to travel on the Sabbath day without violating the law (Acts 1:12; comp. Ex. 16:29; ...
    [isbe] SABBATH DAY'S JOURNEY - jur'-ni (sabbatou hodos): Used only in Acts 1:12, where it designates the distance from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives, to which Jesus led His disciples on the day of His ascension. The expression c...

  • MANSLAYER

    [ebd] 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 CITY OF REFUGE.)
    [isbe] MANSLAYER - man'-sla-er (meratstseach, from ratsach (Nu 35:6,12); androphonos (1 Tim 1:9)): A term employed with reference to both premeditated and accidental or justifiable killing. In the latter case, an asylum was granted...

  • WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

    [smith] A. WEIGHTS. --The general principle of the present inquiry is to give the evidence of the monuments the preference on all doubtful points. All ancient Greek systems of weight were derived, either directly or indirectly, from ...

  • Types

    [nave] TYPES. Miscellaneous Bride, a type of the Church, Rev. 21:2, 9; 22:17. The sanctuary a type of the heavenly sanctuary, Ex. 40:2, 24; Heb. 8:2, 5; 9:1-12. The saving of Noah and his family, of the salvation through the go...

  • CITIES OF REFUGE

    [smith] 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 each side of Jordan. KEDE...
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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • To formulate a statement that summarizes the teaching of this book it will be helpful to identify some of the major revelations in Numbers. These constitute the unique values of the book.The first major value of Numbers is th...
  • I. Experiences of the older generation in the wilderness chs. 1-25A. Preparations for entering the Promised Land from the south chs. 1-101. The first census and the organization of the people chs. 1-42. Commands and rituals t...
  • God gave the final laws governing Israel's entrance into the Promised Land (33:50-36:13). However first Moses recorded at God's command this list of places from which the Israelites had set out on their journey from Egypt to ...
  • "The section breaks down into two groups of three laws each, carefully introduced by the clause and Yahweh spoke to Moses' (. . ., 33:50; 34:1, 16; 35:1, 9; cf. 36:6) and surrounded by the phrase on the plains of Moab by the ...
  • This brief section of instructions introduces specific directions concerning the division of the land and its towns that follow in chapters 34-36.The repetition of "all"(v. 52) stresses the importance of completely clearing t...
  • At this time the tribal leaders formally designated the six cities of refuge about which Moses had received instructions (Num. 35). Three stood west of the Jordan: Kadesh in Naphtali, Shechem in Manasseh, and Hebron in Judah ...
  • The tribes also had to set aside 42 additional cities for the priests and Levites to inhabit (cf. Num. 35:1-8).
  • There were 12 towns in which the Merarites resided: four in Zebulun (vv. 34-35), four in Reuben (vv. 36-37), and four in Gad (vv. 38-39).In all, the Levites received 48 cities with their surrounding pasture lands including th...
  • 1:12-13 The disciples returned to Jerusalem to await the coming of the Holy Spirit. The short trip from where Jesus ascended on Mt. Olivet to the upper room was only a Sabbath day's journey away (about 2,000 cubits, two-third...
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