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Speak to The Numbers 35:9-36:13 Chavurah Shalom Saturday 3/24/18 Numbers 35:9-15 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall select for yourselves cities to be your cities of refuge, that the manslayer who has killed any person unintentionally may flee there. ‘The cities shall be to you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer will not die until he stands before the congregation for trial. ‘The cities which you are to give shall be your six cities of refuge. ‘You shall give three cities across the Jor- dan and three cities in the land of Canaan; they are to be cities of refuge. ‘These six cities shall be for refuge for the sons of Israel, and for the alien and for the sojourner among them; that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there. Other passages dealing with accidental homicide and the cities of refuge are found at Exodus 21:12-14; Deuteronomy 4:41-43; 19:1-13; and Joshua 20:1-9. The principle of asylum is an ancient one found in many and varied cultures. N. H. Snaith (343) cites evidence to the effect that it is still operative among the Marsh Arabs of Mesopotamia. The custom of blood vengeance enshrined the duty of the next of kin of a murdered man to shed blood for blood. This was a deeply rooted principle, and a time of respite would obviously be required if dis- tinctions between murder and manslaughter were to be made effective.--Word Biblical Commentary, p. 383. The cities of refuge are referred to in Numbers 35, Joshua 20-21 and 1 Chronicles 6. The idea is one of Asylum until a judgment can be made concerning motive, to determine whether or not this was murder or manslaughter. There are a few words which mean to take a life in Hebrew: ratzach, to murder; harag, to kill or slaugh- ter; nagaf, to smite; nachah, to smite; halam, to smite; shachat, which means to slaughter an animal, but which is sometimes translated "kill;" mut, to kill; chalal, slain, defiled; qatal, to slay; chanaq, to strangle; tavach, to slaughter; zavach, to sacrifice which means to slaughter an animal for a sacrifice; makka, to slaughter, the word typically used of the slaughter of men or army; maggefah, plague or slaughter. While this list is by no means exhaustive, it does illustrate the Hebrew language has much capacity for expressing means, method, or results of killing - 1 - whether a premeditated murder, an act of war, war crimes, sacrifices to God or to a false god, etc. ָרצַח ,As we noted in our drash, the two basic words occuring in our text is ratzach A very literal translation of v. 11 would be: "the murderer who .ָנכַה and nachah killed unintentionally." Our text is consistent throughout, translating either mur- derer or manslayer depending upon the intent of the one who has killed. Obvious- ly, if it was not premeditated, then it was not murder. However, this term is consis- tent. The word "to kill" is also consistent throughout our text, sometimes ָנכַה translated "kill" and sometimes translated "struck." The most basic meaning of once again is "to smite," or "to strike." In other words, it is to deal the death blow to a fellow human being in our present text. Albeit not of a hatred nor of a premed- itated nature. -of the blood avenger. We are most fa ,ֹגּאֵל We also find used throughout the word miliar with this term in connection with Yeshua as our "Kinsman Redeemer." The ָגּאַל concept is that of "The Next of Kin," or the closest of kin to us. The basic verb means "to redeem." However, we find the following definition: redeem, avenge, revenge, ransom, do the part of a kinsman. The primary meaning of this root is to do the part of a kinsman and thus to redeem his kin from difficulty or danger, It is used with its derivatives 118 times. One difference between this root and the on גָּ אַל redeem,” is that there is usually an emphasis in“ ָדפָּה very similar root the redemption being the privilege or duty of a near relative.--Theological Word- book of the Old Testament. Other responsibilities were the contracting of a levirate marriage (Ruth 3:13), the redemption of a kinsman from slavery (Lev 25:47–49), and duties in relation to property (Lev 25:25; Ruth 4:1–6; Jer 32:8–12). The role of “avenger” is thought of as a duty in the interests of justice, not as a manifestation of anger or blood lust.--Word Biblical Commentary, p. 383. The action of the next of kin is not foreign to our way of thinking in America, how- ever, the concept of such action being that of justice and not vengeance is some- what foreign. We are more used to "The Hatfields and McCoys" mentality. We find a biblical account similar to this mentality in the story of Abner and Joab, 2 Samuel 2:8-28; 3:19-34. The irony is that Hebron was one of the cities of refuge, and no refuge was awarded to Abner. This concept of Kinsman Redeemer is here extended to the redemption of the innocent blood slain. This is accomplished by - 2 - shedding the blood of the murderer. While this may sound harsh in our ears, it is exactly the depiction of the shed blood ADONAI gives in Genesis 9:6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man. -Goel HaDam, re ,גֹּאֵ֣ל הַדָּ֔ם The most interesting aspect of these Mitzvot is that the ferred to as the Blood Avenger (more literally "The Redeemer of the Blood"), has the right to kill the guilty party if he does not flee to the city of refuge, or is found outside of that city of refuge for any reason prior to the death of the Cohen Gadol. The cities of refuge do not abrogate the rights of the blood redeemer but make him an agent of the state; that is, he becomes the state’s executioner (see Excur- sus 75). Thus, the goʾel, as exemplified in the above cases, restores the equilibri- um—by delivering a descendant to the deceased, the slave to freedom, the land to its rightful owner. The same holds true for murder. Bloodshed pollutes the land (v. 33), and the land becomes barren. With the blood of the slayer, the goʾel neu- tralizes the deleterious effect of the blood of the slain, restoring the ecological balance. The earth again yields its fruit. Israel’s laws of homicide and its system of asylum cities presuppose the following basic modifications in the prevailing practice: (1) Only the guilty party is in- volved; thus, no other member of his family may be slain. (2) Guilt is determined by the slayer’s intention: The involuntary homicide is not put to death. (3) No ransom is acceptable in place of the death of the murderer. (4) The verdict of de- liberate or involuntary homicide is made by the state and not by the bereaved kinsman, and to this end asylum cities for the homicide are established. (5) His trial is by a national tribunal and not by the kinsmen of either party. (6) The de- liberate homicide is executed by the goʾel, and the involuntary homicide is ban- ished to the asylum until the death of the High Priest.--JPS Torah Commentary, p. 292. and the ,גֵּר ,We quickly note also that these same Mitzvot apply also to the Ger the resident alien and the sojourner among you. Most scholars see ,תּוֹשָׁב ,Toshav these two terms used together here in what is called a hendiadys, meaning that they are here used synonymously. These two terms are not always used in such a mann- er, nor are they always synonymous. The Ger is more of a permanent participant among a people not his kin, while the Toshav is a more temporary resident, here for the duration of a business venture or some other reason. The bottom line is that - 3 - the same kind of asylum is provided for the Non-Israelite as for the Israelite. There is One Torah for all people. Shedding of innocent blood polluted the Land no mat- ter what nationality, and thus all life is here protected. We mentioned briefly in the Drash that many regard the actual Beit Din to involve most basically means "assembly" or ,ֵדעָה ,a national court. The Hebrew Edah meaning "to ,ָיעַד ,congregation," and comes from the basic Hebrew verb Ya-ad" appoint," and the word from which we get Moed, or Divine Appointments. Most for the congregation of Israel. “Theֵדעָה characteristic of the OT is the use of .occurs seventy-seven times in Ex, Lev, Num, and Josh (ֵָדעָהה) ”congregation We also have “the congregation of the Lord” (Num 27:17; 31:16; Josh 22:16– 17); “the congregation of Israel” (Ex 12:3; Josh 22:20); and “all the congrega- , ְקַהל ֲעַדת ִיְשָׂרֵאל) ”tion.” There is the “assembly of the congregation of Israel ְהקַל) ”Ex 12:6) and the “assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel .Num 14:5).--Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament , ֲעַדת ְבֵּני ִיְשָׂרֵאל While it is by no means crystal clear, our present text with this language could well point towards a national group of judges by which the manslayer or murderer was arraigned and judgment carried out.
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