Глава 35

Allocation of 48 cities for the dwelling of the Levites, of which 6 cities for the refuge of unwitting murderers. – Signs of moral and legal sanity of murder. – Death sentence for deliberate murderers. – The right of bloody revenge on an unwitting murderer on the part of the goel (authorized by the relatives of the murdered person). – The inadmissibility of ransom for the soul of both an intentional and an unintentional murderer. Numbers 35:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying: Numbers 35:2. Command the children of Israel, that from the inheritance of their possessions they should give the Levites cities to live in, and give the fields around the cities on all sides to the Levites: Numbers 35:3. cities will be for them to live in, and fields will be for their livestock and for their possessions and for all their everyday needs; See I. Navin (Joshua 21). Numbers 35:4. the fields of the cities, which you are to give to the Levites, from the wall of the city shall extend [two] thousand cubits in all directions; Numbers 35:5. And you shall measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, and in the middle a city: such shall be their fields by the cities. In order to prevent the Levites from evading their direct responsibilities in favor of the primary exploitation of land, the law limits the scope of their land ownership to the amount necessary only for narrow economic needs. Numbers 35:9. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Numbers 35:10. speak to the children of Israel and say to them, “When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, Numbers 35:11. choose for yourself cities that will be cities of refuge for you, where a murderer who kills a person unintentionally can flee; Numbers 35:12. And these cities will be for you a refuge from the avenger [of blood], so that the murderer will not be put to death before he appears before the congregation for judgment. Numbers 35:13. The cities that you must give, cities for refuge, you must have six: Numbers 35:14. Give three cities on this side of the Jordan, and give three cities in the land of Canaan; cities of refuge they must be; Numbers 35:15. For the children of Israel and for the stranger and for the settler among you, these six cities will be a refuge for anyone who has killed a person unintentionally to flee there. Numbers 35:16. If someone hits someone with an iron weapon so that he dies, then he is a murderer: a murderer must be put to death; Numbers 35:17. and if anyone strikes someone from the hand with a stone from which one can die, so that he dies, then he is a murderer: a murderer must be put to death; Numbers 35:18. or if he strikes with a wooden instrument from which one can die so that he dies, then he is a murderer: the murderer must be put to death; Numbers 35:19. the avenger of blood himself can kill the murderer: as soon as he meets him, he himself can kill him; Numbers 35:20. if someone pushes someone out of hatred, or deliberately throws something at him so that he dies, Numbers 35:21. or out of enmity he strikes him with his hand so that he dies, then the one who struck must be put to death: he is a murderer; the avenger of blood can kill the murderer as soon as he meets him. Numbers 35:22. If he pushes him accidentally, without hostility, or throws something at him without intent, Numbers 35:23. or some stone from which one could die without seeing it would fall on him so that he would die, but he was not his enemy and did not wish him harm, Numbers 35:24. then society must judge between the murderer and the avenger of blood according to these regulations; Numbers 35:25. and the society must save the murderer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the society must return his society to the city of his refuge, whither he fled, so that he may live there until the death of the great priest, who is anointed with the sacred oil; Numbers 35:26. if the murderer goes beyond the city of refuge to which he fled, Numbers 35:27. and the avenger of blood finds him outside the city of his refuge, and the avenger of blood kills this murderer, then the guilt of bloodshed will not be on him, Numbers 35:28. for he was to live in the city of his refuge until the death of the great priest, and after the death of the great priest the murderer was to return to the land of his possession. Numbers 35:29. Let this be a lawful decree among you throughout your generations, in all your dwellings. Numbers 35:30. If someone kills a person, then the killer must be killed according to the witnesses; but one witness is not enough to condemn to death. Numbers 35:31. And do not take a ransom for the soul of a murderer who is guilty of death, but must be put to death; Numbers 35:32. and do not take ransom for someone who has fled to the city of refuge, so that he may be allowed to live in his land before the death of the [great] priest. Numbers 35:33. Do not defile the land on which you [will live]; for blood defiles the earth, and the earth is not cleansed from blood shed on it except by the blood of him who shed it. Numbers 35:34. You must not defile the land on which you live, among which I dwell; for I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel. Widespread in the ancient East, the custom of bloody revenge of murderers on the part of relatives or people close to the murdered person is recognized in the Law of Moses (v. 19) as a principle restraining the passions of the warring parties - although, in its application to the way of Jewish life, it receives some significant modifications that guarantee society from the injustice and cruelty of an excited avenger. Any murder (both intentional and unintentional) was subject first of all to a formal judicial investigation (Articles 16–24, 30). He who turned out to be a deliberate murderer was sentenced to death (vv. 16–21, 30) without the right of ransom (31–34). The one who turned out to be an involuntary killer had the opportunity to avoid bloody reprisals from the Goel by escaping to one of the six cities of refuge and staying there until the death of the high priest. With the death of the high priest, the avenger was deprived of the right of bloody revenge, and the unwitting murderer received all his former rights as a free citizen (vv. 9–15, 22–29). “A ransom for one who fled to the city of refuge, to allow him to live in his own land before the death of the high priest” (v. 32), was not allowed. The fear of retribution and the shyness in many respects of living in the city of refuge should have taught Jews to be careful in dealing with the lives of their neighbors. The resolving meaning in this case of the death of the Old Testament high priest prefigured, according to the teachings of the blessed one. Theodoret, the redemptive fruits of the death of the high priest according to the order of Melchizedek (Interpretation on the book of Numbers, issue 50). For the name and location of cities of refuge for unintentional murderers, see Deut. 4.41–43; Deuteronomy 19.1–10; Nav. 20–21. You might be interested in: