Borders and Cities of Refuge

First, the borders of the land: the south from the wilderness of Zin and Kadesh-barnea to "the river of Egypt"; the west the Great Sea; the north to "mount Hor" and the entrance of Hamath; the east down the Jordan to the Salt Sea. "This shall be your land." Eleazar, Joshua and a leader from each of the ten western tribes will divide it.

The Levites have no tribal territory; they receive forty-eight towns with pasturelands throughout Israel. Six are cities of refuge, three on each side of the Jordan, "that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares."

The law distinguishes. Whoever strikes with an iron tool, a stone or a wooden weapon so that a person dies, or kills from hatred or ambush, "is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death," and the avenger of blood may execute him. But one who kills "suddenly without enmity… seeing him not" is judged by the congregation, protected from the avenger, and lives in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest.

"Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person." No ransom may be taken for a murderer's life. "So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land… Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell."

The borders of Canaan

The borders of Numbers 34 do not match Israel's actual borders in any later period: they include the coast and southern Lebanon to Lebo-hamath, but not the land east of the Jordan. Yohanan Aharoni and Roland de Vaux observed that they resemble the Egyptian province of Canaan in the 13th century BC. Ezekiel's vision of the restored land (Ezekiel 47:13–20) uses nearly the same borders. Several border points cannot be located with confidence.

Two mountains called Hor

The "mount Hor" of the northern border (34:7–8) lies somewhere in Lebanon, between the Great Sea and Lebo-hamath. It is a different mountain from the Mount Hor on the border of Edom where Aaron died (20:22–29; 33:37–39). The site's atlas keeps them separate.

The six cities

Joshua 20:7–8 names them: Kedesh in Galilee, Shechem in Ephraim, Hebron in Judah; and east of the Jordan, Bezer, Ramoth-gilead and Golan. Spread through the land, each was within reach. Rabbinic tradition said the roads to them were kept clear and marked "Refuge."

Asylum in the ancient world

Many ancient peoples recognized asylum at altars and temples; Greek sanctuaries offered refuge to suppliants. Israel's law also knew altar asylum (Exodus 21:13–14; 1 Kings 1:50). The cities of refuge turned asylum into a legal system with trial, distinguishing intent.

Until the death of the high priest

The manslayer may go home when the high priest dies. Interpreters have seen the high priest's death as a kind of atonement for the blood shed in the land; Christian readers saw in it a picture of Christ's death as the release of the guilty.