Numbers 35: Cities for the Levites / Cities of Refuge / Concerning Murder and Blood Revenge
Numbers 36: Marriage of Female Heirs
Cities for the Levites: Numbers 35.1-8
So what of the Levites - where are they to live? Well, their living arrangements in the promised land will actually be not so dissimilar from their living arrangements in the wilderness. That is, they will not have a place to call their own as a whole tribe, but will rather be split up among the tribes of Israel.
The Levites are to be given cities surrounded by pasture land for their livestock. The pasture land should measure 1,000 cubits out from the city in all directions. The Lord then instructs that the land should measure 2,000 cubits to each side outside the city. That establishes two perimeters, one for grazing 1,000 cubits outside of the city, and one for unspecified purposes 2,000 cubits outside of the city.
The Levites are to possess 48 cities in total. Their distribution among the tribes will vary by tribal population: the more people, the more levitical cities. Six of these cities will serve as cities of refuge, which are explained below.
Cities for Refuge: Numbers 35.9-15
The Lord commands that the Israelites are to designate six cities of refuge for those who commit manslaughter (killing another without intention). Anyone who commits manslaughter - Israelite or alien - may flee there and be safe. Three of these cities are to be in Canaan and the other three "beyond the Jordan," which indicates the land of the Reubenites and Gadites (and perhaps Manassites as well). This particular phrase, "beyond the Jordan" as opposed to in Canaan tells the reader that the author lives in Canaan, on the west side of the Jordan.
Concerning Murder and Blood Revenge: Numbers 35.16-34
The next logical section defines what exactly murder is in this society and designates penalties.
The Lord commands that anyone who intentionally bestows a mortal blow with a weapon or bare hands is subject to death. Death will not just come from anyone, but a designated avenger of blood. The avenger of blood will put put the murder to death in blood vengeance, which has its roots in the eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth idea law of Exodus 21.23-25. The biblical author advocates this for intentional murders only. Unintentional death (manslaughter) will be judge by the congregation, pitting the avenger of blood against the slayer. If it is decided the death was the result of an accident, the slayer will be sent to one of the cities of refuge. The phrasing here is important. The slayer does not flee to the city of refuge, as indicated in the above section. Rather, the person is sent there by the congregation. Therefore there is still a sense of punishment, as the congregation sentences the slayer to life in the town, rather than allowing the slayer to claim sanctuary there.
The slayer shall live in the city of refuge until the high priest dies; afterwards the slayer may return home. This indicates that crimes are considered to be punished under a certain person's jurisdiction, namely the high priest's. With the death of the priest the sentence ends.
Various regulations are then given concerning murder and the death penalty:
The murderer will be condemned only with the evidence of witnesses. The testimony of a single witness is not enough to condemn the alleged slayer.
A ransom may not be accepted in exchange for a murderer's life; murderers must be put to death. Also, ransoms may not be made so that one who killed another unintentionally may return from a city of refuge before the death of the hight priest. The reason given is that the land is not to be polluted by blood (presumably this means by murder). No expiation, save the blood of the murderer, is acceptable. Says the Lord:
"You shall not defile the land in which you live, in which I also dwell; for I the Lord dwell among the Israelites" (Num. 35.34).
Marriage of Female Heirs: Numbers 36
The last chapter of Numbers is similar to the last chapter of Leviticus in that there is no denouement. Therefore it helps to think of the bible as an anthology, a "greatest hits" collection. It is working toward a larger narrative, but in some places the ends to chapters seem rather arbitrary. The bible as literature does not always work on a microscopic scale such as this one. Try not to lose too much sleep over that fact. I don't.
For this story you have to think back to Numbers 27. Zelophehad has five daughters and no sons. Because inheritance traditionally goes to the male next of kin, the daughters sue for the right to their father's property when he dies, so that the land stays within their family. The Lord grants their request.
Today the heads of the clans of the descendants of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh (a descendant of Joseph) approach Moses and point out that if the Zelophehad's daughters marry outside the tribe, the land will go to another tribe anyway (and the men of the tribe would lose possession of the land). Moses commands the Israelites based on the words of the Lord that the daughters of Zelophehad may marry anyone they choose - so long as it is a Manassite. This way the land will stay in the possession of the Manassites.
What an excellent example of the sex-marriage economy! In the traditional sex-marriage economy, women are treated as pieces of property that transfer from male to male (i.e. father to husband). The women had won a small measure of victory over the system with the concession of Numbers 27. But here the stipulations that arise from the concession ensure that the women marry a specific type of man, who will bestow the land on his son. The sex-marriage economy is amended to again support men.
Of course, this clan-only marriage law does not apply to men as the laws of inheritance are patrilineal. A man may marry anyone he wants, and his inheritance will remain within the tribe.
And the women marry people within their tribe. The end.
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