Numbers 35:33

So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are,.... The land of Canaan, as it had been by the old inhabitants of it, by idolatry, adultery, and murder: for blood it defileth the land: the shedding

So these things shall be for a statute of judgment unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. These things shall be for a statute of judgment.

These words are added as a reason not of the last law, , for in that case the land was cleansed without the blood of the man-slayer. but of the law next foregoing that, , in which case it holds; and the sense is, If you shall spare the murderer, or take any satisfaction for him, you do together with yourselves involve your land and people in guilt, and will certainly bring down God’ s vengeance upon yourselves and them.

Verse 33. For blood it defileth the land] The very land was considered as guilty till the blood of the murderer was shed in it. No wonder God is so particularly strict in his laws against murderers, 1. Because he is the author of life, and none have any right to dispose of it but himself. 2. Because life is the time to prepare for the eternal world, and on it the salvation of the soul accordingly depends; therefore it is of infinite consequence to the man that his life be lengthened out to the utmost limits assigned by Divine Providence. As he who takes a man's life away before his time may be the murderer of his soul as well as of his body, the severest laws should be enacted against this, both to punish and prevent the crime. THE Mosaic cities of refuge have in general been considered, not merely as civil institutions, but as types or representations of infinitely better things; and in this light St. Paul seems to have considered them and the altar of God, which was a place of general refuge, as it is pretty evident that he had them in view when writing the following words: "God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things, (his oath and promise), in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have FLED for REFUGE to lay HOLD upon the HOPE set before us," Hebrews 6:17-18. Independently of this, it was a very wise political institute; and while the patriarchal law on this point continued in force, this law had a direct tendency to cool and moderate the spirit of revenge, to secure the proper accomplishment of the ends of justice, and to make way for every claim of mercy and equity. But this is not peculiar to the ordinance of the cities of refuge; every institution of God is distinguished in the same way, having his own glory, in the present and eternal welfare of man, immediately in view.

9–34. The ‘Cities of Refuge,’ and the Law relating to homicide In Numbers 35:9-15 the appointment of the six cities and their purpose are prescribed; Numbers 35:16-23 contain specimen cases distinguishing deliberate murder from accidental homicide; Numbers 35:24-28 provide the legal procedure; Numbers 35:29-34 form a conclusion. The section presents the latest development in the O.T. of the Law of Asylum. In early days an appointed place was provided, to which the manslayer might flee, i.e. an altar, which would be within easy reach of every town; cf. 1 Kings 1:50; 1 Kings 2:28. In D (Deuteronomy 19:1-10), when only one altar was permitted, at the national sanctuary at Jerusalem, which would be practically useless for purposes of asylum, special cities were substituted for the local altars. Three cities were specified, and, if Jehovah enlarged the Israelites’ borders, three more were to be added1 [Note: Three have previously been mentioned in Deuteronomy 4:41-43; but it is unlikely that the writer of Deuteronomy 19. understood nine cities to be intended. See Driver, Deut. p. 233. . If the manslayer be guilty of deliberate murder, the elders of his own city shall send to the city whither he has fled for asylum, and shall deliver him up to the gτ’ηl or ‘avenger of blood’; but if the homicide was accidental, he may stay in safety in the city whither he has fled. In the present passage the regulations are fuller. Of the six cities three are to be on each side of the Jordan (the fulfilment of the command, with the name of the cities, is related in Joshua 20). They receive, for the first time, the title ‘cities of refuge’ (see on Numbers 35:11). When a manslayer flees to one of these cities, ‘the congregation’ (see on Numbers 35:12) judges between him and the gτ’ηl, to discover whether the manslaughter had been deliberate or accidental. If it is proved to be accidental, the man must be taken back to the city of refuge, where he must remain until the death of the high priest. If he ventures out before that time, the gτ’ηl may kill him. If, on the other hand, he is found guilty of deliberate murder, the gτ’ηl must kill him. Gray (Numb. p. 471) points out that this modifies the ancient custom in three respects: (1) Ancient custom made no distinction between accidental and deliberate manslaughter; the gτ’ηl must see that the loss of life suffered by one family is compensated for. (2) In ancient custom the loss could be compensated for by the death of any member of the manslayer’s family. Here the law tacitly insists that the murderer only is to forfeit his life. (3) The present law forbids the forfeited life of the murderer to be redeemed by a money payment. Such redemption was widely prevalent, but except in certain cases—not wilful murder—(cf. Exodus 21:29 f.) it seems to have been prohibited at an early period in Israel, though the present law contains the earliest explicit prohibition.

33. Not pollute the land — According to the conception of both Greeks and Hebrews an unavenged murder stained the land with guilt and exposed it to the most dreadful judgments.