Day 46: Numbers 34-36
The Boundaries of Canaan, Cities of Refuge, and the Inheritance of Zelophehad’s Daughters
Numbers 34
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land of Canaan, this shall be the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to its borders.
3 “‘Then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the side of Edom, and your south border shall be from the end of the Salt Sea eastward. 4 Your border shall turn about southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass along to Zin. Its going out shall be south of Kadesh Barnea. It shall go out at Hazar Addar, and pass along to Azmon. 5 The border shall turn about from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and its goings out shall be at the sea.
6 “‘For the western border, you shall have the great sea and its border. This shall be your western border.
7 “‘This shall be your north border: from the great sea you shall mark out for yourselves Mount Hor; 8 from Mount Hor you shall mark out to the entrance of Hamath; and the border shall pass by Zedad. 9 Then the border shall go out to Ziphron, and its goings out shall be at Hazar Enan. This shall be your north border.
10 “‘You shall mark out your east border from Hazar Enan to Shepham. 11 The border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall go down, and shall strike the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward. 12 The border shall go down to the Jordan, and its goings out shall be at the Salt Sea.
“‘This shall be your land according to its borders around it.’”
13 Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, “This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which Yahweh has commanded to give to the nine tribes, and to the half-tribe; 14 for the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their fathers’ houses, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to their fathers’ houses, have received, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance. 15 The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise.”
16 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 You shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land for inheritance.
19 These are the names of the men:
Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
20 Of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Samuel the son of Ammihud.
21 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon.
22 Of the tribe of the children of Dan a prince, Bukki the son of Jogli.
23 Of the children of Joseph: of the tribe of the children of Manasseh a prince, Hanniel the son of Ephod.
24 Of the tribe of the children of Ephraim a prince, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan.
25 Of the tribe of the children of Zebulun a prince, Elizaphan the son of Parnach.
26 Of the tribe of the children of Issachar a prince, Paltiel the son of Azzan.
27 Of the tribe of the children of Asher a prince, Ahihud the son of Shelomi.
28 Of the tribe of the children of Naphtali a prince, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.”
29 These are they whom Yahweh commanded to divide the inheritance to the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.
Numbers 35
1 Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 2 “Command the children of Israel that they give to the Levites cities to dwell in out of their inheritance; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands around the cities. 3 They shall have the cities to dwell in; and their pasture lands shall be for their livestock, for their possessions, and for all their animals.
4 “The pasture lands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits around it. 5 You shall measure outside of the city for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, with the city in the middle. They shall have this as pasture lands of the cities.
6 “The cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the man slayer to flee to. Besides them you shall give forty-two cities. 7 All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities, them and their pasture lands. 8 Concerning the cities which you shall give from the possession of the children of Israel, from the more you shall take more, and from the fewer you shall take fewer. Everyone according to his inheritance which he inherits shall give of his cities to the Levites.”
9 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you shall appoint for yourselves cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the man slayer who kills any person unwittingly may flee there. 12 The cities shall be to you for refuge from the avenger, that the man slayer not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.
13 “‘You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities you shall give in the land of Canaan. They shall be cities of refuge. 14 You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities you shall give in the land of Canaan. They shall be cities of refuge. 15 For the children of Israel, and for the foreigner and for the alien living among them, these six cities shall be for refuge, that everyone who kills any person unwittingly may flee there.
16 “‘But if he struck him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 17 If he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 18 Or if he struck him with a hand weapon of wood, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 19 The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death.
20 “‘If he shoved him of hatred, or hurled something at him, lying in wait, so that he died, 21 or in hostility struck him with his hand, so that he died, he who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
22 “‘But if he shoved him suddenly without hostility, or hurled on him anything without lying in wait, 23 or with any stone by which a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it on him, so that he died, and he was not his enemy, and didn’t seek his harm, 24 then the congregation shall judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. 25 The congregation shall deliver the man slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge where he had fled. He shall dwell there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
26 “‘But if the man slayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge where he fled, 27 and the avenger of blood find him outside of the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kill the man slayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, 28 because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the man slayer shall return into the land of his possession.
29 “‘These things shall be for a statute and ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
30 “‘Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain at the mouth of witnesses; but one witness shall not testify alone against any person so that he dies.
31 “‘Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death.
32 “‘You shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land before the death of the priest.
33 “‘So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed therein, except by the blood of him who shed it. 34 You shall not defile the land which you inhabit, in which I dwell; for I, Yahweh, dwell among the children of Israel.’”
Numbers 36
1 The heads of the fathers’ houses of the family of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the princes, the heads of the fathers’ houses of the children of Israel. 2 They said, “Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the children of Israel. My lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 If they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe where they shall belong. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. 4 When the jubilee of the children of Israel shall be, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe where they shall belong. So their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”
5 Moses commanded the children of Israel according to Yahweh’s word, saying, “The tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks what is right. 6 This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them be married to whom they think best; only into the family of the tribe of their father shall they be married. 7 So no inheritance of the children of Israel shall move from tribe to tribe; for the children of Israel shall each hold to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may each possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 So no inheritance shall move from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Israel shall each hold to his own inheritance.’”
10 The daughters of Zelophehad did as Yahweh commanded Moses. 11 For Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to the sons of their father’s brothers. 12 They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.
13 These are the commandments and the ordinances which Yahweh commanded by Moses to the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
Scripture: World English Bible (WEB), public domain.
