| Scripture |
Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And Jehovah speaketh unto Joshua, saying, |
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| 2 'Speak unto the sons of Israel, saying, Give for you cities of refuge, as I have spoken unto you by the hand of Moses, |
Cities of refuge – A step in advance (of other nations) along the lines of tempering justice with mercy. R3092:3
Christ is our refuge from the demands of justice. R4079:6
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| 3 for the fleeing thither of a man-slayer smiting life inadvertently, without knowledge; and they have been to you for a refuge from the redeemer of blood. |
Killeth any person – Nephesh, soul, sentient being. E334
Unawares – The trial sought to determine whether the slayer had laid in wait for his victim, hunted him, or smote him in secret; maliciously or with guile; whether there was previous enmity between the two men or hatred of the slain on the part of the slayer. R3092:5
And unwittingly – Christ is a refuge from unintentional sins only. R3093:2
From the avenger – Anyone who, even through error or accident, took a life was worthy of death under the decree, "He that sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." (Gen. 9:6) R3092:3
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| 4 'When [one] hath fled unto one of these cities, and hath stood [at] the opening of the gate of the city, and hath spoken in the ears of the elders of that city his matter, then they have gathered him into the city unto them, and have given to him a place, and he hath dwelt with them. |
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| 5 'And when the redeemer of blood doth pursue after him, then they do not shut up the man-slayer into his hand, for without knowledge he hath smitten his neighbour, and is not hating him hitherto; |
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| 6 and he hath dwelt in that city till his standing before the company for judgment, till the death of the chief priest who is in those days then doth the man-slayer turn back and hath come unto his city, and unto his house, unto the city whence he fled.' |
He shall dwell – Antitypically, it is necessary that we continue to abide in Christ, that we do not put off the robe of Christ's righteousness, or we become liable again to the demands of justice, and that without mercy. R3093:4
Until the death – Thus putting a heavy penalty upon carelessness, passion, etc. R3092:6
Of the high priest – Until Christ, Head and Body, will have died. Then the new dispensation will be ushered in. R3093:4
As long as Christ continues in the priestly office, until he is able to present all the redeemed faultless before the throne of God, at the end of the Millennial reign. R4080:1
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| 7 And they sanctify Kedesh in Galilee, in the hill-country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim, and Kirjath-Arba (it [is] Hebron), in the hill-country of Judah; |
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| 8 and beyond the Jordan, [at] Jericho eastward, they have given Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain, out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. |
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| 9 These have been cities of meeting for all the sons of Israel, and for a sojourner who is sojourning in their midst, for the fleeing thither of any one smiting life inadvertently, and he doth not die by the hand of the redeemer of blood till his standing before the company. |
Killeth any person – Nephesh, soul, sentient being. E334
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