I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 34-36.

    This passage starts out by laying out the boundaries of the land which will be Israel’s. The land inside these boundaries was to be divided up among the remaining tribes, since the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh had already received land in the territory which Israel had conquered east of the Jordan River. The wording leaves some question as to whether the land controlled by Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh was permanently promised to Israel or not.

    This passage also discusses the cities of refuge which the people of Israel were to set up. The concept was that those who had accidentally killed someone could flee there for protection against the victim’s relatives. As part of those instructions it gives us some baseline things to determine if the killing was an accident or not. If the killer struck the victim with an object, the crime is not considered to have been in an accident. If the killer was known to hate the victim, the crime is not considered an accident. The passage then gives several examples of what would constitute an accidental killing. However, even if the community judges that the killing was accidental, the killer does not get off without any punishment. In the case of an accidental death, the killer must stay in the city of refuge to which he fled until the high priest in office when he was tried dies.