| Scripture |
Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And Yahweh spake unto Joshua, saying: |
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| 2 Speak unto the sons of Israel, saying,–Set out for you the cities of refuge, whereof I spake 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 that the manslayer who slayeth a person by mistake, unwittingly, may flee thither,–so shall they be unto you for refuge from the blood-redeemer, |
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 and he shall flee unto one of these cities and present himself at the entrance of the gate of the city, and shall speak, in the ears of the elders of that city, his defence,–and they shall take him for protection into the city unto them, and shall give him a place, so shall he dwell with them.
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| 5 And, when the blood-redeemer pursueth after him, then shall they not deliver up the manslayer, into his hand,–because, unwittingly, it was that he slew his neighbour, and had not been, cherishing hatred, towards him, aforetime; |
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| 6 so shall he remain in that city, until he standeth before the assembly, for judgment, until the death of the high-priest who shall be in those days,–then, shall the manslayer return, and enter into his own city, and into his own house, within the city from 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 So then they set apart Kadesh in Galilee, in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem, in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba, the same, is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah. |
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| 8 And, beyond the Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness, in the table-land, 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, were the cities appointed for all the sons of Israel, and for the sojourner who sojourneth in their midst, that whosoever should slay a person by mistake, might flee thither,–and not die by the hand of the blood-redeemer, until he should stand before the assembly. |
Killeth any person – Nephesh, soul, sentient being. E334
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