Numbers 35:6

Contemporary English Version

Six of the towns you give them will be Safe Towns where a person who has accidentally killed someone can run for protection. But you will also give the Levites forty-two other towns,

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
The cities which you shall give to the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the manslayer to flee to: and besides them you shall give forty-two cities.

King James Version
And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites there shall be six cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither: and to them ye shall add forty and two cities.

Lexham English Bible
"All the cities that you will give the Levites will be six cities of refuge, to which the killer can flee; in addition to them you will give forty-two cities.

English Standard Version
"The cities that you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities.

New Century Version
"Six of the cities you give the Levites will be cities of safety. A person who accidentally kills someone may run to one of those cities for safety. You must also give forty-two other cities to the Levites;

New English Translation
Now from these towns that you will give to the Levites you must select six towns of refuge to which a person who has killed someone may flee. And you must give them forty-two other towns.

Amplified Bible
"[Among] the cities which you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall provide for the one who commits manslaughter to flee to; and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities [to the Levites].

New American Standard Bible
"The cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall provide for the one who commits manslaughter to flee to; and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And of the cities which yee shall giue vnto the Leuites, there shalbe sixe cities for refuge, which ye shal appoint, that he which killeth, may flee thither: and to them yee shall adde two and fourtie cities mo.

Legacy Standard Bible
And the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the manslayer to flee to; and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities.

Complete Jewish Bible
The cities you give to the L'vi'im are to be the six cities of refuge to which you permit the person who kills someone to flee to; plus an additional forty-two cities.

Darby Translation
And [among] the cities that ye shall give unto the Levites [shall be] the six cities of refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither,—and besides them ye shall give forty-two cities:

Easy-to-Read Version
Six of those cities will be cities of safety. If a person accidentally kills someone, that person can run to those towns for safety. In addition to those six cities, you will also give 42 more cities to the Levites.

George Lamsa Translation
And among the cities which you shall give to the Levites, six cities shall be set aside for you for refuge, that the manslayer who had slain his neighbor without intent may flee thither; and to them you shall add forty-two other cities.

Good News Translation
You are to give the Levites six cities of refuge to which any of you can escape if you kill someone accidentally. In addition, give them forty-two other cities

Christian Standard Bible®
“The cities you give the Levites will include six cities of refuge, which you will provide so that the one who kills someone may flee there; in addition to these, give forty-two other cities.

Literal Translation
And the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge which you shall give for the manslayer that he may flee there; and besides them you shall give forty two cities.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And amoge the cities which ye shal geue vnto the Leuites, ye shall geue the sixe fre cities, that he which comitteth a slaughter, maie flye thither. Besydes the same ye shal geue the yet two & fourtie cities:

American Standard Version
And the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which ye shall give for the manslayer to flee unto: and besides them ye shall give forty and two cities.

Bible in Basic English
And the towns which you give the Levites are to be the six safe places to which the taker of life may go in flight; and in addition you are to give them forty-two towns.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And from among the cities whiche ye shall geue vnto the Leuites, there shal be sixe cities for refuge, whiche ye shall appoynt [to that intent] that he whiche kylleth, may flee thyther: And to them ye shall adde fourtie and two cities mo.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which ye shall give for the manslayer to flee thither; and beside them ye shall give forty and two cities.

King James Version (1611)
And among the cities which yee shal giue vnto the Leuites, there shalbe sixe cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that hee may flee thither: And to them ye shall adde fourty and two cities.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And ye shall give the cities to the Levites, the six cities of refuge which ye shall give for the slayer to flee thither, and in addition to these, forty-two cities.

English Revised Version
And the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which ye shall give for the manslayer to flee thither: and beside them ye shall give forty and two cities.

Berean Standard Bible
Six of the cities you give the Levites are to be appointed as cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. In addition to these, give the Levites forty-two other cities.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe of tho citees whiche ye schulen yyue to dekenes, sixe schulen be departid in to helpis of fugityues, `ether of fleynge men, that he that schedde blood, fle to tho; and outakun these sixe, ye schulen yyue to dekenes othere two and fourti citees,

Young's Literal Translation
`And the cities which ye give to the Levites [are] the six cities of refuge, which ye give for the fleeing thither of the man-slayer, and besides them ye give forty and two cities;

Update Bible Version
And the cities which you shall give to the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the manslayer to flee to: and besides them you shall give forty and two cities.

Webster's Bible Translation
And among the cities which ye shall give to the Levites [there shall be] six cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint for the man-slayer, that he may flee thither: and to them ye shall add forty and two cities.

World English Bible
The cities which you shall give to the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the manslayer to flee to: and besides them you shall give forty-two cities.

New King James Version
"Now among the cities which you will give to the Levites you shall appoint six cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. And to these you shall add forty-two cities.

New Living Translation
"Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, where a person who has accidentally killed someone can flee for safety. In addition, give them forty-two other towns.

New Life Bible
The cities you give the Levites will be the six cities where people can go to be safe. They will be where a man may run to if he has killed another person. And give them forty-two other cities, added to these.

New Revised Standard
The towns that you give to the Levites shall include the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit a slayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two towns.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites, shall be the six cities of refuge, which ye shall give that the manslayer may flee thither, - and besides them, ye shall give, forty-two cities,

Douay-Rheims Bible
And among the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, six shall be separated for refuge to fugitives, that he who hath shed blood may flee to them: and besides these there shall be other forty-two cities,

Revised Standard Version
The cities which you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities.

THE MESSAGE
"Six of these towns that you give the Levites will be asylum-cities to which anyone who accidentally kills another person may flee for asylum. In addition, you will give them forty-two other towns—forty-eight towns in all, together with their pastures. The towns that you give the Levites from the common inheritance of the People of Israel are to be taken in proportion to the size of each tribe—many towns from a tribe that has many, few from a tribe that has few."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"The cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the manslayer to flee to; and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities.

Contextual Overview

¹ While the people of Israel were still camped in the lowlands of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho, the Lord told Moses ² to say to them: When you receive your tribal lands, you must give towns and pastures to the Levi tribe. ³ That way, the Levites will have towns to live in and pastures for their animals. ⁴The pasture around each of these towns must be in the shape of a square, with the town itself in the center. The pasture is to measure three thousand feet on each side, with fifteen hundred feet of land outside each of the town walls. This will be the Levites' pastureland. ⁶ Six of the towns you give them will be Safe Towns where a person who has accidentally killed someone can run for protection. But you will also give the Levites forty-two other towns, ⁷ so they will have a total of forty-eight towns with their surrounding pastures. ⁸ Since the towns for the Levites must come from Israel's own tribal lands, the larger tribes will give more towns than the smaller ones.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

six cities for refuge: Numbers 35:13, Numbers 35:14, Deuteronomy 4:41-43, Joshua 20:2-9, Joshua 21:3, Joshua 21:13, Joshua 21:21, Joshua 21:27, Joshua 21:32, Joshua 21:36, Joshua 21:38, Psalms 9:9, Psalms 62:7, Psalms 62:8, Psalms 142:4, Psalms 142:5, Isaiah 4:6, Matthew 11:28, Hebrews 6:18

to them ye shall add: Heb. above them ye shall give

Reciprocal: Numbers 35:11 - ye shall appoint Deuteronomy 4:42 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 12:8
Abram traveled to the hill country east of Bethel and camped between Bethel and Ai, where he built another altar and worshiped the Lord .

Genesis 28:19
and he named the place Bethel. Before that it had been named Luz.

Genesis 28:22
This rock will be your house, and I will give back to you a tenth of everything you give me."

Genesis 35:22
During their time there, Jacob's oldest son Reuben slept with Bilhah, who was one of Jacob's other wives. And Jacob found out about it.

Genesis 48:3
Jacob told Joseph: God All-Powerful appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, where he gave me his blessing

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites,.... The number of which is not yet expressed, but is afterwards: there shall be

six cities for refuge; a sort of asylums, of which there were many among the Heathens, perhaps in imitation of these, for persons to have recourse to for safety, when in danger of life: the Septuagint render the words, "cities of flight" b; or to flee unto, which certainly was the use of them: to this the apostle alludes when he speaks of some that fled for refuge, to lay hold on the hope set before them, Hebrews 6:18, the word c used for refuge signifies "gathering or receiving", for here persons in distress gathered or betook themselves; and here they were received, retained, protected, and sheltered: what and where these six cities were to be, and were, is after shown:

which ye shall appoint for the manslayer; not for any and everyone, not for one that killed a man presumptuously and purposely, through enmity and malice, but for one that did it ignorantly, unawares, and without design:

that he may flee thither; with all haste, after the commission of the fact; and, to facilitate his flight, and that he might have no interruption in it, the sanhedrim were obliged to prepare the ways to the cities of refuge, and to make them fit and large; and they removed everything that might cause him to stumble; and they did not leave in the way neither an hillock, nor a dale, nor a river but they made a bridge over it, that nothing might retard him that fled thither, as it is said;

thou shalt prepare thee a way; Deuteronomy 19:3 and the breadth of the way to the cities of refuge was not less than thirty two cubits; and at the parting of ways (on posts erected) were written, "refuge, refuge", so that the slayer might know (the way) and turn there (as this directed him): and on the fifteenth of Adar or February, they met every year, to take care of this business d; and they also appointed two disciples of the wise men, or two studious and understanding persons, to accompany him, not so much for the direction of the way, as lest the avenger of blood should meet with him, and slay him in the way; and who were to talk to him, and persuade him not to do it, suggesting to him that it was not done designedly, but unawares, and that it would be a bad thing to kill a man for what he did not intend to do, and which was done without any malice or enmity to the person killed, and with such like words to cool and appease the avenger e:

and to them ye shall add forty two cities; according to the Jewish writers these also were cities of refuge; for so they say f,

"all the cities of the Levites receive or are refuges, every one of them is a city of refuge, as it is said, "and to them ye shall add", c. the Scripture makes them all alike for refuge: what difference is there between cities of refuge, which are separated for refuge, and the rest of the cities of the Levites? the gates of the cities of refuge receive, whether according to knowledge or not, (which Mr. Selden g interprets, whether the inhabitants will or not but the sense of Maimonides elsewhere h, and of other writers, is plainly this, whether according to the knowledge and intention of the manslayer or not, whether he knows it to be a city of refuge or :not, and whether he purposely came thither for safety or not,) and he that enters into them is safe; but the rest of the cities of the Levites do not receive, but according to knowledge (when the manslayer knowingly and designedly came thither for shelter); and a manslayer that dwells in a city of refuge gives no more for his house, but he that dwells in the other cities of the Levites gives more (or pays for it) to the owner of the house;''

but though this is their unanimous opinion, it rather seems, according to the letter of the Scripture, that only six were cities of refuge, and the rest were for the Levites to dwell in by themselves.

b ערי המקלט πολεις των φυγαδευτηριων, Sept. c מקלט "receptus", Junius Tremellius "collectionis", Piscator; R. Sol. Ohel Moed, fol. 82. 1. "proprie significat collectionem vel retentionem", Munster. d Maimon. Hilchot Rotzeach, c. 8. sect. 5. e Misn. Maccot, c. 2. sect. 5. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. f Maimon. ut supra, (d) sect. 11. g De Jure Natarae & Gentium, l. 4. c. 2. p. 489. h Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Maccot, l. 2. sect. 4.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The Levitical cities were in an special manner the Lord’s; and therefore the places of refuge, where the manslayer might remain under the protection of a special institution devised by divine mercy, were appropriately selected from among them. No doubt also the Priests and Levites would be the fittest persons to administer the law in the doubtful cases which would be sure to occur: compare Numbers 35:24 note.