Numbers 35:9–15, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Numbers 35:9–15
Six Refuge Cities Protect the Unintentional Killer
Six cities, three on each side of the Jordan, for the unintentional killer
The LORD tells Moses that when Israel passes over Jordan, they are to appoint cities of refuge. The slayer who kills any person unawares may flee there. The cities shall be a refuge from the avenger, that the slayer not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment. Six cities: three on the other side Jordan, three in Canaan.
Israelite and sojourner share the same access
These six cities shall be for refuge for the children of Israel, for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them, that every one who kills any person unawares may flee there.
Geography is part of the mercy: the places must be reachable from both sides of the river. Refuge is pending judgment, not a verdict of innocence, not a hiding place for intentional violence, and not a substitute for care of the dead person's household. It does not replace modern due process or emergency protection.
How this should shape us
Build a real path away from immediate retaliation, and let the outsider use it too. Refuge is not a prize for carelessness. Protect the accused from being killed on the road, and still insist on a hearing that includes the people who lost someone.
Teach it back
Explain Numbers 35:9–15 in your own words. Include its place in Numbers' movement from Sinai to Moab, both movements within this thought unit, one material uncertainty, one affected person or group, and one use the complete context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Interpreters debate historical geography, boundary idealization, settlement, source layers, women's property status, tribal memory, asylum development, and relationship to Joshua and Deuteronomy. The law's patrilineal gains and limits must both remain visible. For “Six Refuge Cities Protect the Unintentional Killer,” confidence is strongest in the received unit's stated sequence and literary function; source, date, demography, geography, mechanism, archaeology, and historical reconstruction remain probable, plausible, or uncertain as the evidence warrants.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Numbers 35:9–15, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, numbers, speeches, poems, legal clauses, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Num.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 35:9–15
Supports: Unit-bounded translation, syntax, lexical, ritual, legal, number, name, poetic, and selected textual notes; silence is not evidence.
NET Bible Numbers PDF, complete 134-page PDF, translation and translator notes attached to 35:9–15
Supports: Moab movement, law, leadership transition, land, war, women, refuge, and compositional framing.
Yale Bible Study, Numbers Part 2, complete two-page study guide sections on Balaam, Baal Peor, second census, women and inheritance, war with Midian, Transjordan, itinerary, boundaries, Levite and refuge cities, and final inheritance, applied to Numbers 35:9–15
Supports: Refuge-city adjudication, intent, blood vengeance, legal revision, due-process gains, and remaining ethical limits.
TheTorah, “Revising the Laws of Murder to Accommodate Blood Vengeance,” complete comparison of Exodus, Numbers 35, and Deuteronomy 19 on murder, accident, asylum, avenger, witnesses, and legal development, applied to Numbers 35:9–15
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Numbers 35:9–15, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Numbers
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, release 2.2, 2021
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, numbers, speeches, poems, legal clauses, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Num.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 35:9–15
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Numbers with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
eBible.org distribution of the NET Bible, source files dated 2026-08-08
Supports: Unit-bounded translation, syntax, lexical, ritual, legal, number, name, poetic, and selected textual notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible Numbers PDF, complete 134-page PDF, translation and translator notes attached to 35:9–15
Open source ↗modern critical open study guide
Numbers Part 2
Yale Bible Study
Yale Divinity School, 2023 course edition
Supports: Moab movement, law, leadership transition, land, war, women, refuge, and compositional framing.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Numbers Part 2, complete two-page study guide sections on Balaam, Baal Peor, second census, women and inheritance, war with Midian, Transjordan, itinerary, boundaries, Levite and refuge cities, and final inheritance, applied to Numbers 35:9–15
Open source ↗modern jewish scholarly open legal and compositional study
Revising the Laws of Murder to Accommodate Blood Vengeance
TheTorah.com named scholarly contributor
TheTorah.com, 2022
Supports: Refuge-city adjudication, intent, blood vengeance, legal revision, due-process gains, and remaining ethical limits.
Exact location: TheTorah, “Revising the Laws of Murder to Accommodate Blood Vengeance,” complete comparison of Exodus, Numbers 35, and Deuteronomy 19 on murder, accident, asylum, avenger, witnesses, and legal development, applied to Numbers 35:9–15
Open source ↗